Like most of the rest of you, I'm following the situation in New Orleans with Hurricane Gustav. It makes my heart sad. I debated whether I should post this Diary now or not. I finally decided that it might be a nice break from the situation. I'd ask everyone to say a few prayers, send some good vibes, or whatever you believe in, down to everyone in the Gulf.
Anyone that has been to an Obama rally knows a few things:
You're witnessing history. I met a woman in line whose mother attended MLK's I Have a Dream speech, and was pregnant for her when she took part in the Selma march. She said now she got to witness history first hand, and she was thrilled.
You also know that you're there among friends. You don't know each other, you're probably not even from the same place, but there is never any trepidation about speaking to each other or jumping into a conversations, especially if they're about Obama.
These are some friends I met while at the rally. Anthony (Battle Creek), a campaign volunteer (whose name I now forget, yes I'm bad with names), and Massio (originally from Chicago, now Lansing.
You also know that there will be a veritable wealth of merchandise available. If you didn't wear your Obama shirt, or buttons, or hat, not to worry, you can find one at the rally. Here's a few of my favorites.
Love this hat!
And this shirt, boy they cranked these out fast!
That wasn't the only Hillary reference at the rally. There was a older woman wearing a Hillary for President t-shirt, sorry no pic. We started a conversation with her, curious as to why she'd wear a Hillary shirt to an Obama rally. She said, with tears in her eyes, that Hillary would have made a great President, but now she was going to work to get Obama elected. She wore the shirt to let everyone know that Hillary supporters were on board for Obama. She said that she was buying an Obama shirt on the way out and was going to retire her Hillary shirt. Sort of warmed my cold dead heart.
Of course for those that don't want to buy a shirt, there's always the make-your-own variety.
Mom and I got there about 1:00pm. Having been to an Obama rally before, we knew not to bother to bring chairs, or coolers, or anything of that nature because we wouldn't be able to bring them into the rally. It was 90 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful weather, unless you're going to stand in line for four hours to see the next President and Vice President of the United States of America. We took turns standing in the shade, and borrowed some sunblock from others in line.
The paramedics were hopping all day long. There were two faintings that I witnessed in line before we got into the Stadium, probably more. There were at least two more on the field.
Gates opened at 5:00pm, but the speakers didn't come on until 7:00pm. By then the natives were growing restless. Senator Debbie Stabenow fired up the crowd by telling us that when Bush spoke in Battle Creek he drew 10,000, and Obama/Biden had drawn 16,000+.
(I apologize in advance for the quality of the Rally pictures. I wasn't as close as I'd like, and by the time the speakers took the stage it was getting dark)
On the Road to Change Podium, waiting for action to start.
Senator Debbie Stabenow, Fired up and Ready to Go!
Next up was State Senator Mark Schauer, running for Congress.
The Field Organizers for Obama's Battle Creek Campaign office
They tried their best to keep the crowd fired up, but it was past time for Obama to speak, and when they tried to lead the crowd in chants of "Fired up, Ready to Go", after the fourth "Fired Up", the crowd decided they really wanted Obama, and started to chant Obama, Obama, Obama. Whaddya gonna do?
Finally our boys took the stage. The crowd exploded, and suddenly seven hours in 90 degree heat was all worth it. Joe spoke first, hammered McCain and told us that Obama was the one that would bring jobs back to Michigan.
Then the Man himself took the stage. It was the standard stump speech, adjusted for a Michigan crowd of course. It gets more awesome every time I see it. He mentioned that he had been in contact with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the situation with Hurricane Gustav. He said that compared to three years ago with Hurricane Katrina, they had the situation under much better control, and asked that we keep the residents in our thoughts. Obama looked and sounded more Presidential than Bush or McCain ever thought about.
I don't know about you, but after yesterday I'm even more Fired Up and Ready to Go!