Even better in person!

I scored two tickets to see Barack Obama at a town hall meeting in Lynchburg, VA yesterday. I tried to keep myself from squealing when the field organizer called and asked me if I wanted to go. I asked him if I could have two tickets, one for me and one for my daughter and he fixed me up.

It took an hour driving over a mountain on a treacherous windy road to get there. We got there around 4pm and the doors were opening at 4:30. The traffic people wanted me to drive a few blocks away and take a shuttle over because the school were the town meeting was being held also had freshman orientation night. I drove slowly through the parking lot looking for an exit and decided to screw it and park right there because I was afraid we wouldn't get in and the line was already looking HUGE!


It was fun hanging with fellow Obama supporters of all shapes and sizes. It didn't even dawn on me that there weren't any kids in the line. Over an hour later, when we got close to the door, one woman asked me how I got a ticket for my daughter because she had been told that only voting aged people could enter. That sent my daughter and me into a complete panic. I told my daughter that, if they told her she could go in and she was sad, she should cry her eyes out! Fortunately, we both got in without a hitch and made it through security camera and all!

Once we were in, we had to wait another hour plus, jam packed into bleachers. We entertained ourselves by calling people and telling them where we were and playing twenty questions.

After about five speaches by politicians and local party activists who I didn't even know, the big moment came and HE WAS RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF US!



He gave a great speech and took some questions from the floor. It was very cool! Some of his more notable points were:

• His story of Michele Obama's dad. His point being, you don't have to be rich or well educated to be a good dad. You do have to be there, though!
• His reply to John McCain's sound bite, "I will chase Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell." Obama retorted, "You don't have to go to hell to get him! He's in Afghanistan!"
• His call to his supporters to help those who have justifiably grown cynical about politicians to see that he is different and will change the way Washington works and who it answers to (it's not corporations and lobbyists).
• His promise to stay on the high road despite attacks that hit below the belt. As long as we keep bringing the focus back on the issues, he thinks the American people will chose him over McCain. I think he's right!
  

YES WE CAN !