Obama What a Day!

On a whim, my buddy Baggs and I decided to take a half-day off of work to make the trip to see Barack Obama speak in Denver. We weren't sure if it would help or not, but we registered electronic RSVPs (it would help a TON, as you can see by the pix I took). Without those free e-notification tickets, we likely wouldn't have gotten in.

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. this morning. I arrived at Baggs' apartment at 5:40 a.m., and we rushed to beat Tech-Center traffic. By 6:15, we were at a Denver coffee shop not far from Magness Arena.

Unfortunately for our schedule, we began to talk politics at the coffee shop and ended up arriving at Magness Arena at 7:15. Keep in mind that doors for the event opened at 8:30. If it wasn't for the fact that we had our RSVP printouts, we would have been in a line I could best describe as a small town. The stairway was labeled "RSVP Line" and "NO RSVP Line." The RSVP line seemed to morph into the other line, so Baggs and I just jumped in at the bend of the line figuring it was as good a place as any.

Thanks to the RSVP line, Baggs and I were among the first thousand or so in the building. We quickly decided to park ourselves as close to the lecturn as possible. We were about 30 feet from where Obama would speak.

Because security was so tight, the arena filled very slowly, but 10,000 got in. We were told that thousands were being placed in "overflow" gyms and that many thousands more were stuck waiting outside. Barack then spoke to many waiting outside and then to those in the overflow gyms. Meanwhile, we waited.

Finally, at 11:00, the first speaker, Denver Bronco Rod Smith, explained how unusual it was for him to speak out and nervously expressed how Obama inspired him. Next, Caroline Kennedy (daughter of JFK), spoke further about inspiration and introduced the man of the year in Presidential politics.

I think it is important to note that everyone I know who has decided to support Barack Obama sounds just like those two speakers. Inspiration and unity are always mentioned. You could see it in the audience. Obama supporters consist of the following: young, old, black, white, latino, clean-cut, casually dressed, slovenly dressed, long-haired, short-haired, young minorities, senior minorities, young whites, senior whites, and everything in between. We saw it all.

At an Obama rally, it's clear that his appeal is broad.

Then he spoke. Obama lifted the crowd. His presence is amazing, but he is completely under control. I wanted to see the fire in his eyes, and it was there without bravado or arrogance. He speaks with the passion of a man who believes deeply every word, but appears calm and cool.

The people chanted "Yes We Can" while in line outside the arena, performed "the Wave" while waiting inside, and chanted everything from "Fired Up, Ready to Go," to "O-Bam-A" to "Obama '08" while the arena slowly filled. But, when he finally spoke, the energy vibrated.

My feet left the floor at that time, and I've been stuck with my head in the clouds the rest of the day. This man moves people.

Baggs immediately decided he will volunteer and openly recruit. To paraphrase Baggs after the event, "I came in feeling good about both Democratic candidates, but I come out of this feeling like we must do everything possible to get this man elected." I also pledged to volunteer.

What can I say, this message is powerful. As I saw at the event, something special is happening with this campaign.

Unfortunately, my look at the media shows that the only parts being covered are a few typical campaign swipes Obama took at Clinton now that this is a two-horse race with Edwards out. What they missed was a moving speech about important issues like the environment, foreign policy, healthcare, education, fiscal responsibility and on and on.

But, the media didn't miss the energy and enthusiasm for this candidate. No one could miss that. We both noticed that you "can feel it" even when the crowds were in the distance.

After experiencing this event, my new, and only, attitude about this campaign can be summed up by tousands of people who can't miss what's happening to politics: YES WE CAN!!