What a nice way to start my day, even if it was a very, very early start :)
It was so wonderful to be in a room with a couple thousand (mostly) Women for Obama.
I have to run shortly, but wanted to get a few photos posted and give some impressions.
First of all, I'll be the first to admit that Hillary was awesome this morning. She was pitch-perfect and passionate. It's hard to imagine any Democrat, and certainly any Democratic women, coming away from the breakfast not planning to vote for, work for, and donate to Barack Obama. She stressed what is at stake, and put her full support behind seeing Obama inaugurated in January.
The event began with remarks by Barack's sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, who offered an inspiring and personal introduction to her brother and Hillary.
Barack started out slowly (did I mention that it was very early?), but once he got going he was spectacular. He reemphasized the points Hillary made about all of the things that need to be fixed after 8 years of Bush-Cheney. He talked about equal pay for women, the need for child care so women don't have to choose between a career and a family, and what will happen if we allow John McCain to select the next Supreme Court Justices.
Thanks to my friend Deanna, I remembered to bring a copy of Dreams from my Father to be signed. At the end of Obama's speech, I positioned myself at the side of the stage and mine was the first hand he shook. I asked if he was signing books and he said, "Yeah, there's a tall guy..." I cut him off and said, "Reggie?" He gave me his huge smile and said, "Yeah, Reggie." Of course I couldn't shake his hand, talk to him AND get a photo at the same time. Here he is further down the rope line.
Can I just say that it never gets old. Hearing and seeing Obama live is always a thrill. Hillary's beautiful remarks made today's event all that much more special.
You can read Obama's remarks here.
Here are a few reports on today's event:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
http://ap.google.com/...
http://blogs.reuters.com/...