Barack up close!

WELL.... :)

Danny called me back a few minutes after I posted last and said that he couldn't make it. Jed and I were both sorry about that, though we knew how busy he is. Had he been able to accompany us, however, things could have turned out quite differently.

We left Kokomo as soon as Jed got off of work and arrived on Monument Circle in Indy right at 6:00 p.m. Mind you, the gates to the American Legion Mall didn't open until 7:30, but it didn't take long to see that the turnout was going to be massive. In fact, the lines were already stretching over several city blocks on both sides of the mall. I didn't say it out loud at first, nor did Jed, but I know we were both thinking that we didn't stand a chance of even getting in the gates.

Nonetheless, we had come an hour's journey at $3.65/gallon gas and we weren't turning back without trying so we parked the car and began trudging toward the back of the line for those who had no tickets.

As we were standing on the corner of New York and Pennsylvania Avenues, a young girl with a "VOLUNTEER" pass around her neck approached us from the right and began to chat with us. We told her we had driven from Kokomo for the rally which seemed to please her. It was crowded, even on the sidewalk, so I fell a little behind while she walked beside Jed, talking to him. I watched as she pulled a couple other guys out of line, then beckoned the four of us to follow her. Before I knew it, we had ducked behind a wall and she proceeded to hand us green wristbands. She told us to be discreet about it, but to head back across the mall to the ticketed line and to go through the metal detectors with everyone else. Once we were through, we'd be directed where to go.

Liz (for that was the name of the young enthusiast) was an IU journalism grad who had interned in Obama's office in Washington and is now getting ready for law school somewhere. As she walked us back towards the other line, she questioned me, "So when did you become an Obama supporter? (I gulped...) And when did you first hear about the Senator?" In one of my wiser moments, I chose to ignore the first part of the question and replied that I had first heard about Senator Obama when he gave his speech to the Democratic convention in 2004.

Liz departed the scene soon with pleas for us to be ready to cheer and smile as much as possible. As soon as Jed and I could talk somewhat privately without the other two gentlemen overhearing us, we exploded in muffled guffaws. It didn't take long for us to piece together that we would be in designated seating; in other words, we had drawn the equivalent of the lottery ticket of the year just by being on the right street corner at the right time.

Indeed....we went through security with no problems and were promptly escorted to the special seating area directly behind the stage, no more than 10 feet away. There were about 100 of us there, maybe 150, in a total crowd of 6,000-8,000 (I'm not sure how many actually, but there were people as far as I could see). Jed and I kept turning to each other and saying, "What are the odds?"

We endured a good rainstorm or two before Congressman Andre Carson ascended the stage to warm up the already-frenzied crowd. Carson isn't far shy of a socialist. His first words were "Have we had enough tyranny in this country?" and it went downhill from there, as he announced that he and Obama were going to do a Batman and Robin act on America, and save everyone from the evil of the Bush Administration (the Batman and Robin analogy was his, not mine).

Carson then announced singer Stevie Wonder. Now, I'll admit this was a highlight for me, even though I'm not sure Wonder was completely sober. Wonder's vocal power and range are impressive, and he wowed the crowd with 3 songs or so. When he first walked onto the stage, he kept doing a scale ride with Barack Obama's name, ala "Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti", except he was bellowing "BA-A-RACK-O-BA-MA!!!", then back down the scale the same way. A bit unnerving, but highly entertaining. In case you're wondering, he didn't sing "I Just Called to Say I Love You", but he did do the song that contains the line "I'm signed, sealed delivered...I'm YOURS!" (I just Googled that phrase and I guess that's the title. Give me a break, everyone; Stevie Wonder was a bit before my time.)

Once Stevie was led off the stage by his handlers, the platform was swept and all of the musical equipment was removed. The crowd was at fever pitch by the time an omnipresent announcer's voice intoned, "Ladies and gentlemen: The next President of the United States! BARACK OBAMA!!!!" And there he came down the rope line shaking hands, just a few feet down from us, then he bounced up onto the stage with his characteristic wave.

No doubt about it, Obama has a magnetic presence and knows how to work an audience, but I still found his speech unremarkable. Most of it was boilerplate that I'd already heard in some clip or other. I think, though, that this was the first I'd heard him refer to the potential election of John McCain as George Bush's third term. This went over very well with the crowd in terms of response (think "BOOOOO!"); I've heard him use it several times in the succeeding 48 hours.

Both Jed and I thought Obama seemed weary, but energized, odd as that may sound. I was close enough to him to see that the back of his light blue dress shirt was very wrinkled, which is understandable since it had probably seen a long day since it got pulled out of the closet. Also....the man is very thin. He doesn't look it so much on TV, but it is striking in person, enough that Jed wondered if he is eating right on the campaign trail? (Probably not.)

We got handed the standard "Change we Can Believe In" signs, but passed them on to others or laid them down on the bench. We also clapped hard when things were said that we agreed with (i.e., what a wonderful job our soldiers do and how much they deserve our respect) since there was much that I couldn't honestly clap for (i.e., the bashing of the oil and insurance companies and George Bush and Dick Cheney and the immorality of the lack of universal health care, etc., etc.). We saw a couple people pass out, one right in front of him; he stopped his speech momentarily while he called for a paramedic and threw a bottle of water to the young lady's comrades. I don't think it was excitement that led to the fainting; the crowd was very tightly packed and it was a bit warm, around 70 degrees.

Barack Obama is a master storyteller, and has honed his speaking abilities to an even finer degree after 16 months on the campaign trail. The crowd was rooting for him as I have literally never seen. If enthusiasm holds any portent for the general election....well, I'd rather not finish this sentence, if you know what I mean. Yet, at the end of the night, I have to say that I could recall nothing of substance being said in terms of how to actually accomplish all that he is promising to do (including have the troops out of Iraq in 2009!).

All in all, a night for the history books and one that I was pleased to be a part of, but a disheartening one, too. We McCain supporters will have a real battle on our hands that we must win.