(Musician is actually in New Orleans)
Name: Adam West*
Age: 31
Occupation: High School Teacher/Musician
Income: $28,000 year for the day job. $280/year for the night job.
City of Residency: Roanoke, Va.
Politics: Democrat
Is Voting For: Barack Obama
(The famed roadhouse and historical landmark The Coffee Pot on Brambleton Avenur in Roanoke, Va.)
My hometown Roanoke, Va., actually matters in the presidential election! Alas, I now live in Burlington, NC**, hence I will not be able to vote in November even though I am in Roanoke so often that many people wonder if I've really left.
Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), the Democratic veep choice, was meant to come to downtown Roanoke today for a rally, but due to the dire sickness of his mother-in-law, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind) came to town instead. I was there, and it was for the most part a good stump speech which illustrated the clear differences between Barack Obama and John McCain, from health care to education.
Virginia is up in the air at the moment. It is a state which is home to the ultra-conservative Liberty University (founded by Jerry Falwell) in Lynchburg, but it is also home to The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, which is considered to be one of the most liberal state schools in The South.
My hometown of Roanoke is known for Las Vegas singer Wayne Newton, one of the leading celebrity Republicans around, but it is also the residency of Democratic political pundit Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, who wrote "Foxes in the Henhouse."
Roanoke has even caught the attention of the British newspaper "The Guardian" which has profiled the politics of The Star City. Roanoke is thus like Virginia in that it is a mostly conservative city with a strong progressive element.
Case in point, Bill Maher's new movie "Religulous" which takes a highly critical look at religion is showing at The Grandin Theatre in Roanoke. It's not playing in Lynchburg, a city that is a mere 60 miles east on Rte. 460. And, it probably never will.
For that reason alone, I'm glad I grew up here as opposed to there!
Amen.........
*-Adam West is a pseudonym. The real Adam West was the original television Batman.
**-I don't actually live in Burlington, but rather another town in NC.
Useful Links:
http://www.roanoke.com
http://www.grandintheatre.com
NOTE: The Rootstone Jug Band will be playing in Roanoke at The Water Heater on Oct. 13. They also play at the Golden West Cafe in Baltimore on Oct. 17
http://www.rootstone.net
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