On Thursday, March 13th, 2008, I made a pilgrimage of sorts. I traveled from the Lower Merion Township side of Ardmore, past the “Montgomery County/Lower Merion Township/Village of Ardmore” sign, past many familiar streets, into the Delaware County Side of Ardmore.

I had received an invitation from my State Representative Daylin Leach to have the opportunity to see Michelle Obama in a relatively intimate setting, and perhaps even have the opportunity to meet her.

Ok, let’s get the questions out of the way right up front: No, I have not chosen my candidate for the office of President of The United States. Truth be told, I am somewhat ambivalent, lost is a sea of spin, buzz words, and rhetoric coming at me from all sides.

Am I searching for the candidate who will best meet my needs, answer my questions? You betcha’.

Will I vote party or candidate? Well, the short answer is I will vote on the candidate as the person I perceive them to be. What does that mean? It means that I will choose my candidates once again based upon what I can ferret out and sift through about them as individuals, separate from the party machine. Maybe in the end, it will be a vote given to someone from my party, but maybe not. Which is why I am taking advantage of opportunity when it knocks. After all, I have a weird goal since we are in a “battleground state”.

I would like to meet as many of the candidates and/or their spouses and family as I am able to. I want to meet these people not in arena settings that make me feel as if I am at a stadium seating rock concert or tent revival meeting, I want to meet these people in small settings, would like to walk them around one of my favorite places: Ardmore. Two years ago, Jim Sensenbrenner, came to Ardmore and walked around with my friends and I, so why not these folks?

I am not a wealthy patron of politics and candidates, I am just one woman. But I think my vote should mean more than it has, so I believe I should be able to meet whomever I choose. Maybe it would help dispel the sense of political disillusionment and apathy that overwhelms me some days - and that sense comes to me from what both major political parties are spewing. But that is another story for another day.

When I arrived at the Church and Daycare center (The Children’s Ark at St. Georges) you could feel the excitement building. And I had no idea how small a venue this would be. I found a seat in the front row in between two nice mothers who had kids in the school at the “Ark” and looked around the room. I think there were more reporters, cameramen, and photographers then actual guests - and it was quite a big deal assortment of reporters - it was very interesting. I had seen such an assortment or felt such a buzz since I had been a Media Relations Volunteer at The RNC 2000 (my what a difference eight years makes,eh?)

I did not know what to think about Mrs. Obama, and had been going back in forth in my head prior to arrival at the event. (Of course, I also kept going back and forth in my head worrying about what I should wear - utterly female, I know, but seriously, it is a big decision to decide what to wear when you are potentially meeting the next First Lady of the United States of America).

We knew Mrs. Obama was getting ready to enter the room when her cadre if Secret Service Agents took their positions around the perimeter of the room (and they were very nice - yes I spoke to a couple of them - those men and women are cool), and in she walked.

And she wasn’t at all the way I had imagined her in my mind’s eye, the way the media has often portrayed her. She was elegant, tall, beautiful, articulate, down to earth and quite compelling.

She spoke quite naturally and with full ease to a round table of average working moms from the area about raising a family and juggling a career. The roundtable was set up like someone’s living room, and the conversation was so natural and at ease, it was as if they were just there, all by themselves having coffee.

Mrs. Obama discussed a lament most women can relate to: the reality of having it all. She spoke about healthcare, education, lack of affordable daycare, and touched on other things in the mind of every American: Iraq and the economy.

The mothers she spoke with were real working moms: executives, teachers, even a midwife nurse practitioner.

Mrs. Obama said something that made all ears perk up “We’re going to push for change....not waste another four years...Barack gives us something we are missing; we need a “brokeness” healed ”.

At the end of the roundtable with the moms, Mrs. Obama stepped into the audience and took the time to speak to all of us.

Have I made up my mind on a choice for President yet? No, but I think if Michelle Obama were running, I could definitely vote for her. She was equally inspiring and intriguing.

I left that meeting and came back to the side of Ardmore I know and love in Lower Merion. As I crossed the county line on Ardmore Avenue, I once again passed the sign that says “Montgomery County/Lower Merion Township/Village of Ardmore” .

That sign made me weary once again.

I have to be honest: I am fighting serious apathy here in Ardmore as well with regard to the consternation of choosing yet another developer for Ardmore for the RFP. It began at the meeting not too long ago - the Economic Revitalization Committee Meeting earlier this month. At the end of the meeting did a lot of us really see two developers and a publicist giving each other high fives? Or was that a mirage? What was that about?

And that is the thing of it: once again Ardmore is really at a crossroads. Which way do we turn? What do we choose? And does what the citizens really want really matter? Or will be decisions be made that assume they are what is best for us?

Tom Murray, Managing Editor of Main Line Life Newspaper touched upon in his most recent editorial - one thing he said that resonates? “So what’s next for the Little Town that keeps trying?”

Ken Haskin, a member of SAC also was in an Ardmore State of Mind when he wrote his editorial. He said “I am tired of getting more nothing”.

Amen to both sentiments. But will the Board of Commissioners pay attention to those sentiments or what any of us have to say? Are citizens and citizens groups valued? Will it be a public process? As in a nail biting experience where none of us know which developer will be chosen? Or will we have a vague, fuzzy feeling that it is already decided? Come on, do you out there want a horse race? I know I want a horse race.

But I would prefer plans that seemed smaller, as opposed to larger. Why? Because every time we turn around someone somewhere is proposign yet another development plan - plans independent of the RFP process in Ardmore, plans for adjoining communities, plans township-wide and in other non-Lower Merion communities up and down the pike. I am concerned about TOO MUCH development, because let's be honest and ask ourselves, isn't that what we are all worried about here? We're not worried about Ardmore getting spruced up with some new attire, we're worried about Ardmore becoming, well, not Ardmore.

We're worried about Ardmore becoming the exclusive vision of a select few as opposed to the realization of the views of the public at large. We're worried about Ardmore forgetting her roots and her sheer diversity of poulation. We're worried about Ardmore ceasing to be affordable. We're worried we'll end up with a transit "center" that looks like a cross between Grand Central Station and 69th Street with a Ponte Vecchio spanning the tracks. Am I right or am I wrong? Will I be castigated for daring to voice my opinion?

And then of course there is the ultimate question of who do we choose? What plan can we get behind and adore?

Politics by it’s very nature is about relationships. But when do politics get in the way of the relationships between citizen and government necessary to maintain a proper sense of balance and fair play?

I don’t have all the answers, and I am determined to fight the personal sense of apathy because I know in my heart of hearts I truly have no time for it. But I will honestly say that I feel there are a lot of armchair quarterbacks out there that I hope can make the time to get out to the Township Administration Building on Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore for the Economic Revitalization Committee on Wednesday March 19th :

www.lowermerion.org :

Economic Revitalization Committee
Date: 3/19/2008 7:55 PM
Location: Township Administration Bldg - 2nd Floor Board Room
75 East Lancaster Ave
Ardmore, Pennsylvania 19003-2323
Go to E-Subscriptions
Chair: Commissioner Elizabeth S. Rogan

Vice-Chairs: Commissioners Brian A. Gordon & Lewis F. Gould, Jr.

AGENDA
1. ARDMORE TRANSIT CENTER AND BUSINESS DISTRICT REVITALIZATION

Presentations by BET Investments, Dranoff Properties and Strategic Realty Investments followed by discussion of and deliberation on the development proposals. Each team will have 20 minutes to present updated information on their development proposals followed by questions from the Committee. (Exhibit A)
Consider for recommendation to the Board of Commissioners a development team with whom to enter into negotiations.

Public Comment

I know we all lead busy lives, but the simple truth of it is that we all make time for what we want to make time for. So if you have an opinion on Ardmore, and live in Lower Merion Township and/or Ardmore, make the time and attend this meeting. Come exercise your right of public privilege and comment. Participate in your community. Have a say in how tax dollars are spent.

At the end of the day I want to still be able to recognize Ardmore. I still feel that we are a SUBurban not urban community, and that we should walk into the future as a modernized village not some city state with platforms suitable for George Jetson’s space ship.

But it’s not up to me. It’s up to all of you. Tell government how you feel. After all, who do they work for anyway? The public? As in all of us?

My final thought? As in getting back to the beginning of this? When it comes to the primary in April and what will come in November? Vote for yourselves. Don’t vote for any candidate on any level because they are your political party and that is what you are told to do or vote for someone because Sally next door says they are a good choice. Make your own educated decision. You’ll be glad you did.