Yesterday, we finally got to see Barack Obama.
Before the Democratic Convention, we applied online for tickets to the acceptance speech at Invesco Field. Didn't get them. We stood in line on another cold Sunday morning for tickets to Obama's speech at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Didn't get those either.
So when we got an e-mail from the campaign that Barack would be speaking in Denver's Civic Center Park at 11:30 Sunday morning, no tickets required, we set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. and hustled downtown, loaded with Starbucks and the New York Times. (We were anxious to read the magazine's cover story on the McCain campaign. It was such a case study in ineptitude that it was almost painful to read.)
Civic Center Park is bordered by the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Public Library, as well as government buildings. (Yes, Sheila, you were there.) The gold-domed Colorado State Capitol building sits across a wide avenue from the park. The weather was colder than had been predicted, but the blue skies and good-humored crowd offset the chill, even during the long lines to pass through the security checkpoint.
We were thrilled to actually make it into the the park. Many in the crowd of over 100,000 did not, and the sea of humanity flowed across the avenue all the way up the steps of the Capitol. I'm not sure those folks could even hear the speech, but they stayed anyway.
Other Colorado politicians spoke before Obama, who didn't come on until nearly noon. (Fashion note: Obama was the only politician who wore a tie; Coloradoans are an informal bunch. U.S. Senator Ken Salazar showed up in his trademark white cowboy hat.)
In the end, we glimpsed Obama only occasionally, given the six-foot-plus, dreadlocks-wearing guy who wedged his way right in front of us just before Obama arrived and refused to move or even duck a little so the rest of us--who were packed like sardines and had been standing in that same spot for two hours--could see. The young couple next to us, both shorter than me, gave up and left, furious. All of my pictures of Obama are blurred, because I had to hold the camera way over my head and to the side to avoid getting a close-up of the tall guy's dreads.
The best part of being there was feeling, given the huge number of people who turned out, as though Americans finally might be ready to throw off their years of apathy and self-centeredness, and get down to the business of repairing our country. Obama made it pretty clear that it's not going to be easy and that some sacrifice--and he did use that word--will be required. I hope we're up for it, because when you finally see him in person, in a huge crowd (as opposed to filling your TV screen), you sure don't want that skinny guy with the strong, warm voice to have to carry all the burdens by himself.
Pictures from the October 26 Obama event in Denver:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Katharine.Gillette/ObamaRallyInDenver?authkey=vLYFGxo4-0A
http://picasaweb.google.com/Katharine.Gillette/ObamaRallyInDenver?authkey=vLYFGxo4-0A
3 comments:
WOW!! Kate this is exciting! When o came to Portland in May 75,000 people turned up, the largest crowd he had spoken to till then. It is exciting to see he is still drawing such large number. I have decided to be optimistic about this election. My neighbor is coming over this afternoon to make sure I fill in my ballot correctly.
You and Jim looked quite happy, and rightly so!
Françoise, we are happy, but we're still anxious about the election. Good luck with the ballot--I heard that Oregon, like Colorado, has a particularly long ballot this year.
Very cool.
we voted early this year because we expected to be out of town on election day. It turns out Dave actually will be, but I'm happy to have avoided what I expect will be record lines. Hopefully all Dems who will brave the lines and vote!!
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