OBAMA-RAMA

i volunteered for the barack obama campaign yesterday.

i went as a volunteer because molly's mom lisa is a precinct captain for obama. the event sold-out to twenty thousand in less than twenty four hours and volunteering seemed like a good way to inform myself and also see the next president of the united states speak in person. i went in thinking that i was going to be handing out buttons and the like...not the case.

we (brianne, lisa, joel, and naomi) were put into the special needs assistance group, helping handi-capped and disabled folks to their seats. probably one of the better jobs, but still really stressful. bri and joel went through the gigantic lines asking for people with disabilities to come forward if they felt they needed help to their seats...naomi and i were posted in the lobby, basically to keep everybody informed and happy until we could then escort them to the elevators and then their seats. there was problems with fold-out chairs and what have you...i think i was treated the way i was because i'm young, and inexperienced and in no position to argue with them as authority figures, but i found that i have little patience with brassy haired women with clipboards, walkie-talkies and a bad attitude.

after alot of hulabaloo and working for maybe three hours we did finally get to find seats, nose-bleed section seats...and see him via the screen cube thing. i was told by molly that i would get goosebumps hearing him speak. she is slightly biased, but the girl told no lie. the skeptic in me says that i would have gotten goosebumps watching a poodle do tricks on a skateboard in a stadium of twenty thousand people with a genuine enthusiasm for trick poodles...maybe not. he spoke with an urgency, he seemed like he had to get these words out, i think thats where it comes from, his speaking power. the things he said were what i thought he'd say, "health care for every american" and "we are gonna end this war in iraq" but those of course are wonderful things. i think that he will do those things.

I was especially interested in what he was saying when he started talking about making college affordable...we'll see obama, we will see.




***on a superficial note: there were two men in the group of two-hundred volunteers, and i fell in love with them. one of them was carrying a sign that said "NORWEGIANS FOR OBAMA" with the norwegian flag on it, and he also had a really exspensive looking digital slr camera with a lense the size of a tree trunk. the other looked like beck but with dark hair. later the volunteers gathered in a small room, under? behind? the stadium and we were getting a picture taken with obama as a group. everyone in charge had these silly, tiny digital cameras and the beautiful blonde one said in his norwegian accent, "you can use my kam er ah, it is proffessional digital kam er ah here" but nobody listened. we did get a picture and it was thrilling to be in a small room with obama himself.

don't forget to caucus for the senator tuesday: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/mnlookupsem