This is not a political blog. And I am not a pundit. But once again I have had the good fortune to spend a little time in the presence of the Obama camp, so I thought you might want to hear about it.
Jason's uncle called Tuesday with an offer of a ticket to the "preferred seating area" at Obama's post-debate rally at the Indiana State Fairgrounds yesterday. Because Jason was taking off for Frankfurt yesterday (here we go again...), the ticket fell to me.
After being searched and wanded at the gate, we brandished our "preferred" tickets and were directed out onto the wet track surrounding the podium. "Seating" was a euphemism, because there were no seats. Our preferential status landed us in the role of mud-encrusted groundlings. (That's us in the bottom-left corner of the above photo--copyright Indianapolis Star.)
But it was still awesome. We were about 40 feet from the podium and felt at one with the crowd of 21,000 fired-up people of all ages, races, and social statuses. Barack's message of hope was so tremendously uplifting to me at a time when we are all tetering on the brink of disaster and despair.
Afterward he did a "rope sweep," but we were too far back to be included. He went to a bunker under the field where he signed autographs on books and magazines that were sent back to him via Reggie. Then the entire New Orleans Hornets team filed in to meet him (they were here for a game against the Pacers).
I was particularly charmed to be in the presence of the Bayh family, including Senator Evan and former Senator Birch. I enjoyed basking in their charisma, and Birch even signed my rally placard.
Anyway, an awesome day at the fairgrounds, despite the rain and mud. Please don't forget to get out and vote!
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