(no subject)

[pearwaldorf]

Back from the Obama rally. So many fucking people. Am all peopled out. Half these pictures are zoomed out at 4x because I didn't realize the camera had a 16x zoom until Obama started speaking.


I took the bus downtown to get to Seattle Center, and all the buses to lower Queen Anne were packed, like to the point of being seriously unsafe (I saw people smushing in against the doors on one). Then we got to the area around Key Arena and the line was already stretched around the Fun Village, and more people were arriving as we queued up.





I was told later that there were about 4000 people that didn't get in.



Key Arena holds 17000 people.

I was really surprised at the lack of security, because there campaign warned us and there were big huge signs saying we'd be searched and bags were prohibited, and I didn't see any security personnel. Whether this was by design or incompetence I couldn't tell. Obama's campaign is lucky Seattle is full of peace-loving hippies, because somebody totally could have snuck something in.



It was standing room only. I got crammed into the wheelchair space. There were some people who got into the premium cushy seats by hopping onto the bannisters, but they got chased out by security.



There was much boredom and waiting. On occasion, a video from the Obama website would flash up on the Jumbotron, but it was mostly soul music and random crappy modern stuff I didn't recognize. There were these two doofy white kids next to the press box that kept dancing to whatever was playing. They seemed to prefer "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Power to the People."



The Eastside and central Seattle campaign organizers appeared to remind everybody to caucus and how to find your caucus location, because everybody was totally going to forget. Then more waiting. They passed out signs. I was also surprised to learn that the handmade signs were also given to people by the campaign. So now you know.



I have no idea who these people were, but one of them was named Preacher Dan, and he, the other guy, and the African-American lady wrote a campaign song called "Fire it up" that was filmed at the Columbia City something or other. Preacher Dan read from a pre-prepared statement in which he painstakingly detailed the origin of the song and how Barack Obama inspired him to write it. It was awful (the statement and the song). Be glad you weren't here for this part.



Greg Nickels, the mayor of Seattle, came on stage to make some introductory remarks about Seattle and global warming. I was highly amused to see that half the crowd was cheering and the other half was booing when he got on stage. (He's not particularly well-loved. And also, he hates Ethiopian food, so he's definitely not a good person.)



This guy is a Congressman and also the state campaign director. He made remarks.

Christine Gregoire, the governor, came up to speak as well. There was talk about all the awesome things Washington gives to the nation and the world, from food to software. She hadn't declared her support as a superdelegate yet, so she did so here for Obama. I could feel the arena shake underneath my feet from the roar.



And then Obama came out on stage. Stadium went completely apeshit, it was incredible.


(I also stopped taking pictures at this point because they'd all look like this if I was lucky.)

I can't reconstruct the speech in its entirety, but I can tell you about what I remember. (It'll be up on his Youtube in a couple days anyways.) He acknowledged the campaign, when it first started, was a long shot. But it's not so long anymore, thanks to people like us. who have united and even crossed party lines to support him. ("People would come up to me after the Iowa caucus and whisper, 'Barack, I'm a Republican!'") People have the same concerns everywhere he's gone: [insert affecting examples here]. The loudest cheers came for propositions about how to fix the economy, education, and healthcare. There was also a VERY loud cheer to his remark that George W. Bush would no longer be a choice on an election ballot. I was most interested to hear some of his specific policy decisions, including a $4K tax credit for college students (this made my jaw drop), but on the condition of national service; and promotion of solar, wind, and biodiesel (I noticed that ethanol was not on this list, which made me happy, because it means he's smart and he's looked at the issues!).

He then closed (people were actually going "Aww :(" at this point) with a list of objections people had to his candidacy, including inexperience and a couple other things. The most curious one, and the one he found most interesting, was the charge of idealism, naivete. There's a difference between blind optimism and real hope. Hope is not ignoring the obstacles in your way, it's pushing towards your goal in spite of them. We can change America, but it's not something he can do by himself.

I'm a terribly cynical person, but I think in the heart of every cynic is an idealist who wants to believe in things again. I don't know if I believe, but I will do my best to get this man into the White House. I'm not sure the system can survive the way it is, regardless if it's a Republican (McCain) or Democrat (Clinton). I don't know if Obama will actually be able to accomplish all the things he intends on doing, but I think he'll try. And I would very much like to give him that chance.

(Seattle PI article and gallery about visit, BarackObama.com blog post)

Comments

[cow.livejournal.com]

I really should've skipped work and hopped a train last night. :(

my luck sucks. :-(

[anosako.livejournal.com]

... mother of pearl, I should have been late for work today.