Dear Senator Obama

First off, thanks for stopping by Iowa City this past November. I don't know if you remember me, I was the guy in the crowd with red hair, standing about 20 feet away from you. You also shook my hand after the rally, so maybe you'd remember me from that. If it helps, my name is Chris. But a lot of people just call me Flenker. You can call me whatever you're comfortable with.

Now I notice that you're going to be coming to my hometown of Muscatine, IA, in the next week. I'm very excited that you'll be in my old stomping grounds (except for the fact you're going to West Middle School, come one, everyone knows Central is the place to go), but disappointed that you'll be there when I'm in another state. Could you do me a favor and maybe push your appearance back a week? Or maybe stop in Minneapolis while I'm there? You don't have to have any speech prepared, we could just hang out, share impressions of Muscatine, get some coffee, or if you'd like, we could find a bar and trade music suggestions over a beer. I'm going to see Of Montreal while I'm up there, on the 16th, so if you're free, I can grab a ticket for you. It's on me. (If that's ok for you to accept a gift from me. You can just get me back some other time.)

You know, Samuel Clemens lived there (Muscatine) for a while. He worked at the local newspaper, and said that the sunsets over the Mississippi River were the most beautiful he'd ever seen (I'm paraphrasing). Sure, he said similar things about other cities, so I guess you'll have to judge for yourself. Also, you should get a pizza from Salvatore's while you're there. I'd recommend a cheese pizza with the white sauce.

I'm going to try to convince my family to go see you while you're in town. I'll tell them to mention my name to you, so you'll know who they are. Tell them I say hi. I've been espousing you and your oratorical skills for a while, so I'm really hoping they can see first hand what I'm talking about. (Boy, I really hope I used the word espousing correctly there. I'm sure you know how to properly use it, maybe you could let me know.)

Well, I'm sure you're a busy man, so I'll let you go. Give my regards to your family (although they might not know me, I didn't see them in Iowa City. Unless you've talked to them about me, in which case they may feel as if they've met me.) Good luck with everything in the future. You've got my vote. And we'll get together sometime soon, if we miss each other in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,
Chris J Flenker