Today, I went to the rally with John Kerry 窶廣 Fresh Start For America窶� in the U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids. This is the third time that the Democrats nominees come to Cedar Rapids. (Republican came here twice.) I went to see John Edwards last time. At first it was supposed that John Kerry came, but he wasn窶冲 able to come because of his illness. I said in this diary Kerry should come here again; it realized today. Iowa is one of the swing states, so both nominees think Iowa important, and manage to try to get seven electoral votes. My teacher said the State of Iowa is seldom considered highly in the election, and added it is very unusual and exceptional situation. But as for me, it is crucial experience. I窶冦 really glad to come to the United States this year, and come to here.

In the center, I could see great many people. There ware two or three times more people than the vice-president nominee came. Jon Bon Jovi performed some songs before the speech. Then, John Kerry appeared with his wife. All the audience stood, and applauded. The challenger Democrats shook hands with many people, and then started to talk. (Actually, at first, his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry spoke.)

His speech was so persuasive. Not only did criticize the President Bush, but also he explained his plan, and suggested his good way with using specific numbers. He was a good speaker. He used palm cards effectively, and talked to the audience with gestures. He spoke not so fast, I could hear his speech, and figure out roughly. His explanation seemed to be good enough to convince audience. But the contents were a kind of similar to the previous presidential debates. Critically speaking, there was no new information, it was just the repetition as usual. But overall, he did a good job. To come here and to see the people would be important. I still don窶冲 know if the people in Iowa states vote for Kerry, but this speech will work well for Kerry.

On the way to college, I got a very important question. One Coe student asked me how the people in Japan think about this presidential election. Do they support Bush or not? Japanese Prime minister strongly supports George. W. Bush, but personally, I do support the Democrats, and I want them to win the election even though I don窶冲 have a right to vote. But I don窶冲 know the general atmosphere toward the election in Japan. I wasn窶冲 able to answer the question. I haven窶冲 thought about that. That was interesting, perspective question. I can窶冲 imagine how the Japanese government decide the policy if the Democrats win the election. It might urge the government to change the direction in many fields especially and most importantly in Iraq. I had no idea. If you have any good idea or opinion, please let me know. Let us talk about the election.

Nov. 2nd is the day. Just 6 days were left. I窶冦 really looking forward to seeing the result of that. 窶�12 hours decide 4 years.窶�