In the lobby of the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel on Monday evening, Scranton, throngs of middle-aged women preen in smart black cocktail dresses, emboldened here and there with an emerald shrug or a chartreuse taffeta wrap - “wearin’’ o’ the green” in a post-Project Runway world. Some drink whiskey sours and discuss the latest Ken Follett novel as possible fodder for their book clubs. In the air hangs festivity, frivolity and not a little bemusement; for the one subject largely undiscussed is the unprecedented and still slightly unbelievable presence of Senator Barack Obama, who will be addressing the five hundred-odd dinner guests—the only one of the three major Presidential candidates who responded to the hopeful invitation issued by this social and charitable organization only a decade old.

“This is our tenth anniversary dinner,” said member Jennifer Lynett. “We decided to get together as women to take this as our time to network, but we’re open to all people. We have men in the organization, as well as people of Italian, Jewish, any descent...we stand for the betterment of women. We don’t put our weight behind anyone politically, but by getting together like this we empower our members both politically and socially.”

This event marks the official beginning of Senator Obama’s campaigning in Northeastern Pennsylvania; his official headquarters opened on Wyoming Avenue just this afternoon. One of the main campaign organizers was Honesdale resident Wes Tudor, who canvassed for the politician during the St. Patrick’s Day parade and was in front of the hotel with supporters all night.

“I’ve been campaigning in my local area for a few months already,” said Tudor. “It’s great to have the communication with the national organization. It really feels like things are getting going now.”

Though no one at the event was able to speak about the possibility of future events, this could be the first of many visits in a campaign which a few days ago seemed poised to leave the Keystone State to Senator Hillary Clinton, who according to a Quinnipiac University phone poll has a twelve-point lead over the Illinois senator. Yet, speaking to the assembled men and women, some of whom carried green and white “O’Bama” signs (and a few of whom wore Hillary ‘08) buttons, his choice of venue starts to make a canny kind of sense.

“If you think about it, Barack is speaking to a crowd who are pretty much everything he’s not,” says Maryann Harrington, a teacher and speech coach at Pocono Mountain School District who attended the dinner. And she had a point. According to Quinnipiac, Senator Obama trails Senator Clinton among women, among whites, and among those over 45. In other words, the Senator was speaking to a group of voters completely outside his most popular demographic.

But not, it turned out, a group of voters with whom he had nothing in common.
“My family story is familiar to Irish-Americans,” said Senator Obama. “A distant homeland, a journey across an ocean in search of opportunity, a determination to grab hope in the American Dream.

“And another reason it might sound familiar is that it turns out I have Irish heritage.”
Senator Obama, whose mother was white, then described discovering a distant relative who hailed from a small village in Ireland.

“I’ve been adopted by the village, and I am looking forward to going to visit...I’ve got a lineage in my past that is similar to so many of you, and it never hurts to be a little Irish when you’re running for President.

“Time and time again, Irish-Americans have overcome obstacles to succeed..through hard work and determination, the Irish thrived. The story of the Irish in Scranton is the story of the Irish in America. It reminds me we still have to extend to immigrants of all nations the hand of friendship, and why I have worked with Senator (Ted) Kennedy to develop comprehensive immigration reform.”

After speaking a little on Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, the Senator spent a few minutes shaking hands and signing programs for an audience that had a few less Hillary buttons on lapels, and some divergent reactions to his speech.

“I had hoped to hear more on his policies,” said Katie Gallagher, a law clerk who recently passed her bar exam. “I was expecting him to talk more about his positions. After a while it was like, ‘I know I’m Irish.’”

“For a candidate whose reputation for oratory already precedes him...I don’t know if I would have given him a good grade if he were in my class,” said Harrington. “I was on the fence coming in here, but I felt like, he didn’t want my vote enough. And I want to be wanted!”

Lackawanna county elected official and Dunmore resident Mary Rinaldi disagreed. “Everything he said was beautiful. He really touched me.” Rosemary Malloy said, “He was fabulous. I like him so much because he’s not the same old Washington. I’m a big Barack fan!”

Most pithy of all, though, would have to be the reaction of Gail Dowling.

“I think I just shook hands with the President!”