I realize I’m a day behind, but yesterday, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama made a joint appearance in Orlando to kick-start early voting in Florida. My husband and I were on the fence about whether we should go or not. Was it worth fighting traffic and thousands upon thousands of people? You betcha it was!

We hopped our bikes and rode to Amway Arena — arriving just in time to hear Sen. Clinton rally her supporters to get out there and help Obama get elected to the White House. According to media reports, there were 50,000 or 60,000 people on hand to hear what they had to say. And, it was totally worth it.

I’ve known for a very long time which candidate would get my vote, so I didn’t attend the rally to be persuaded. I went simply to experience the “hype” — to see what all the fuss is about. It’s not just hype. I’ve attended my fair share of political events — including presidential campaign events for Kerry, in Toledo of all places (a highly Democratic region) — but I’ve never experienced anything like this Obama/Clinton rally.

Let me first tackle the Clinton part. Whatever you’re feelings about her, there’s no denying that she helped the women’s movement jump ahead leaps and bounds. (In fact, she is the reason Palin is the VP nominee. McCain saw the attention Hillary got from women and he wanted to capture some of that same magic. A flawed decision, but that’s another matter.) Seeing Hillary yesterday imploring her Florida supporters to get behind Obama was moving.  She said that if you knocked on doors for her, you needed to knock on doors for Obama. If you made calls for her, you needed to make calls for Obama. When asking her supporters to talk to undecideds, she said, “Tell them Hillary sent you to vote for Barack Obama.”

Up next was Obama. Words can’t describe what that was like. I’m not easily impressed by politicians — but even I had goosebumps during much of his speech and felt the need to stand on my very tippy, tippy toes so I could catch a glimpse. My favorite parts:

At a defining moment like this, we don’t have the luxury of relying on the same political games and the same political tactics that are used every election to divide us from one another and make us afraid of one another. With the challenges and crises we face right now, we cannot afford to divide this country by class or region; by who we are or what policies we support.

There are no real or fake parts of this country. We are not separated by the pro-America and anti-America parts of this nation - we all love this country, no matter where we live or where we come from. There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies. The men and women from Florida and all across America who serve on our battlefields — some may be Democrats and some may be Republicans and some may be Independents, but they all fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America. That’s what this election is about.

And, what really struck me:

We can do this. Americans have done this before.Everybody here think about it. You’ve got a parent or a grandparent or a great-grandparent who said to themselves maybe I can’t go to college but if I work hard, maybe my child or grandchild can go to college. Everybody here, maybe they’ve got a parent or a grandparent who came from another country, said I may not have freedom, but if I take the risk and travel to America then I know I will have freendom in America. Everybody here had a parent or a grandparent  who said I may not own business but if I work in this tough, dirty job, maybe someday my granddaughter or grandson, they’ll own a business of their own. Somebody here has a parent or a grandparent who said I may never be able to vote because I’m black or because I’m a woman, but you know what? Maybe someday I might have a granddaughter or a grandson who’s running for the presidency of the United States of America.

That’s the dreams that America is made of. That’s what we’re fighting for. In this election, if you’ll stand with me … if you’ll work with me … if you’ll organize with me … if you’ll go vote tomorrow and the next day for me — then I promise you, we won’t just win Florida, we’ll win this election. You and I together, we’re going to change the country and we’re going to change the world.

A woman, Hillary Clinton, paved roads for people like me. And, a black man, Barack Obama — on the shoulders of million and millions of community organizers and volunteers — is on the verge of getting elected and on the cusp of helping our great country re-discover its right course.

One more thing that struck me yesterday: There were all these kids — little kids, propped up on thier dad’s shoulders so they could see the state. Thankfully, they will never know a world where only old, white men have the opportunity to be president. They are fortuntate enough to be growing up in a world where a black man or a woman are *this close* to being president of the United States. November 4th cannot get here soon enough.

Pics my husband took at the event:

I’m volunteering for the local Orange County Democrats — helping mainly with events and PR. Thus far, it’s been a good experience. There’s so much going on with the Obama events and all the local candidates — it’s a whirlwind.

One thing I’d like to do is find ways to help the party capitalize on the interest of people in their 20s and 30s. Without question, Obama has brought a new sense of excitement — and we, at the local level, need to make sure that these new Democrats stay engaged in the process.

So, I had an idea: We need to Twitter. If you’re interested in following what’s going on with the Orange County Dems, check out www.twitter.com/orangedems.

Not familiar with Twitter? The easiest way to explain it is a a melding of IMing and status updates. As a NY Times blogger put it, it’s a combination of talk radio, digg and late-night television.

Like talk radio, you get an unvarnished and largely real-time window into what a wide swath of people are actually talking about.

Like Digg, you see people point to the articles and videos that they want to share.

And like late-night TV (or a politician’s sound bite for the evening news), there is a premium on pithy one-liners that try to get to the heart of the matter.

However one defines Twittering, it’s clearly a communication vehicle gaining in popularity — and one that can produce significant results. Just ask www.30lines.com …

There’s a lot going on today to write about, but I had a minor moral crisis today that I want to share.

First, some background: Caylee Anthony is a missing three-year-old girl from Orlando. About a month after she first disappeared, her grandmother finally reported her missing. The mother hasn’t been exactly truthful — nor helpful — leaving investigators in the dark. The mother is currently behind bars, not seeing visitors … and not providing information to investigators.

The story took an odd twist this week, when California bounty hunter Leonard Padilla — at the request of the Anthony family spokesperson, Larry Garrison, who also owns an entertainment production company and wrote a book about is involvement in the Natalee Holloway case — hopped on his white horse to save the day. (Background on Mr. Padilla: he’s the star of a Nat Geo show sensationalizing bounty hunting, a convicted felon, a failed candidate for Sacramento mayor, and known for pulling these kinds of publicity stunts.)He and his nephew are determined to bail out the mother, Casey Anthony — even fronting the $50,000 bail premium. Talk about creating a media circus. FOX News, CNN, Headline News — all the major television outlets have been following this story. And Leonard Padilla somehow has become the voice of the bail industry.

What does this have to do with me? Well, one of my clients is an insurance company that underwrites bail bonds. This company breaks every stereotype you may have about bail. The owners are good people and they hate the fact that the bail industry is misunderstood by so many people. Like much of the rest of the bail industry, they don’t agree with Leonard Padilla’s handling of this situation. Initially wanting to stay away from this story, my client decided Mr. Padilla couldn’t be the face of the bail profession (maybe his comment about Casey’s need to paint her toes was the last straw). He was single handedly damaging the industry’s reputation. She wanted to go on television to set the record straight and to explain that this isn’t how the industry works. At first, I was apprehensive about doing anything to get involved in this media frenzy. After all, a three-year-old girl is missing. Shouldn’t that be the sole focus? But, then I realized that Mr. Padilla’s antics have only taken the focus even more off of finding this poor girl. So, if I have a client who can help put him in his place — and explain that bail shouldn’t be wrapped up into “entertainment profiteering” — than I’m all for it. So, as I’m typing this, my client is getting ready to appear on Nancy Grace! Yes … that’s right … Nancy Grace! I’m not always the biggest fan of her approach, but I’m glad that she’s willing to listen to a sane person who can explain bail and it’s role in this kind of case. Hopefully, that will help put the focus back on finding Caylee.