The XX Factor: What women really think.

Once Again, It's the Economy, Stupid

The poor Old Capitol Blues and BBQs festival—it had the dubious honor of competing today, adjacent to the old state capitol grounds in Springfield, Ill., with the Obama-Biden rally. It didn't fare well, at least during the rally—the barbecue vendors looked like they were suffering as much in the Midwest heat as everyone else, but with the added insult of a lack of customers. Crowds amassed despite sweltering temperatures to see the rally; far fewer came for ribs and music, even though the festival is an annual event and had been planned for a year.

But really, it seemed to me a metaphor for the economy that Biden was busy espousing on (his zinger about McCain not being able to decide which of his seven kitchen tables to sit at and worry whether or not he could pay his bills did get a good response). Few wanted to pay the $5 to get in the festival, it seemed, even for a sight line of the speech that wouldn't leave you packed in like a sardine on an extremely muggy day. (The festival literally backed up to the press tent at the rally. You could see the stage from a distance; you just couldn't get into the Obama event from there.) At first I thought it was just Springfieldians being thrifty—I grew up here, so I know the reluctance of the local population to pay a cover charge. But as I ducked into a restaurant to get water during the speech, I saw that not only were people glued to the big screens showing the speech just outside—when I first went in, you could hear a pin drop—they were focused on the economy; people shouted every time there was a mention of fixing it. 

Festival attendance may have suffered from the heat, all right—it was 90 degrees and humid, and who wants to eat ribs in that weather?—but I couldn't help but think it was eerily symbolic of the haves and have-nots Biden was contrasting, even though the festival's proximity was accidental, to be able to pay to see the speech from a less-sardinelike setting.