Nobody knows.

Yep. Good comment and very true - it is really a perfect example of the difference.

Has Bush said a word about it? Has McLame?

Heh! I love my candidate.

And playing that guitar - remember that picture?

I agree - and I think it's slightly more than symbolic. It really goes right to the heart of a difference in philosophy of government and society.

The Repugs think everyone should fend for him or herself. They do not believe the government should be taking care of citizens, regardless of why they need help.

The Democrats do think government exists in order to provide the kind of support and help that individuals cannot get on their own and that is a basic building block of society.

And I think it really matters to the people whose lives have been torn apart by the disaster to know that somebody knows they are there and can hear their cries for help, for all love!

Thanks, amtitus. That was what jarred me also, as I live in the geographic central Illinois and Quincy is north of me, and more north than south in a state that is long north to south [400+- miles] and narrow east to west [200+-miles] Also, one of my gripes is that to us in Illinois, we say, 'there is Chicago and then there is Illinois'. So many from the coasts just think of Chicago when they think of Illinois.

I live in Quincy and was there. He was in town for maybe two hours. He met with city and state officials to get information on the status on the efforts to secure the town, then went out and shoveled sand into sandbags for maybe 40 minutes. He then went indoors where more workers were filling sandbags and spoke briefly about working together and supporting local and state officials. He shook a hands with people and left.

What everyone seems to forget is that he is still our US Senator. Other elected state and federal officials have been in and out of the area. His staff kept the visit very quiet. It was not announced to the media until one hour prior to his arrival. They did not want to interrupt the work being done. It was not a campaign event here. There were no signs, no flags. Just one baby with an Obama shirt. What was here was several hundred people with shovels and gloves and mouths full of sand.

I'm reading so many things on the blogs about his visit. But no one seems to mention that he is our Senator. He should have been here.

So did he help? Yeah he filled a some sandbags. Did it make a great photo op? Heck yes. But he was also here to meet with local and state officials and to give everyone a boost.

You should know that this part of Illinois votes Republican in national elections. Cripes, Alan Keyes got a lot of votes from Quincy when he ran against Obama for the Senate seat! So many of the people that saw him yesterday are part of the 26% that still think Bush is doing a good job. But we are in crisis mode here. Party lines disappear when you are trying to secure your water supply. And for the most part, the area is grateful that he came.

So for all of you who are commenting about whether or not McCain has stepped up to the plate: we don't really care. This is not about the election for us. We've got 32 feet of water coming Wednesday and that means a hell of a mess for the rest of the summer. We were glad our Senator was here to take notice.

It's wonderful isn't it?

But then explain why the Gallup poll is even close?

Are Americans really this dumb?

The media attention helps. The encouragement helps. The 20 sandbags he filled are 20 less that the other volunteers don't have to fill.

Oh, and b/c of his e-mail, I made a contribution to the American Red Cross specifically directed to victims of the Midwest flooding.

So yeah. He's helping.