Oh yea, Obama

Not to leave you with the impression that all I did this weekend was watch basketball, I did get out on Friday morning to hear Barack Obama speak in Portland. I joined the 20,000 or so people who got up really early to hear him speak. I was grateful that my friend, Brian, arrived before I did and held a spot for me in line. As a result, we had decent seats. I've never been to a political event that had so many people. In the '92 campaign, I saw the Clintons a lot because Missouri was a swing state. Hillary's speech at KU was memorable and inspiring as she implored students to get out and vote. It was also my first encounter with Fred Phelps and his band of crazy family members.

5 years ago, I heard Obama speak at the anti-war rally in Daley Plaza. I went to the rally so I could hear Studs Terkel speak. I was right up front and off to the side by the media so I could get a clear view of Studs. At the time, Obama was in his Senate primary campaign. As I stood there listening to the other speaker, he was being interviewed by local news for his stance on the pending war. I barely paid attention to him. I didn't think he had a chance of winning the more conservative section of Illinois. Who would have thought that I would hear him 5 years later as he ran for president with a much larger audience? I couldn't help think back to that day in Daley Plaza or the really small posted streetpost signs that would just say "Barack" as he ran against Bobby Rush in the House of Representatives race. He lost that race and the Chicago Reader covered this upstart politician from the South Side who would dare to take on Bobby Rush. For years, I would see those "Barack" signs and wonder what he was up to. Well, he is for real. It also shows that anything is possible.

We had the added benefit of seeing Bill Richardson endorse him. I know that it can be easy to dismiss Obama as someone who is just a great orator and says the right things. It is more than that. My favorite moment of the speech was when he described why he didn't wait to run in a future election. I can't adequately describe the energy that was in the arena. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. It was encouraging to see so many engaged younger people in attendance. Who says the younger generation is apathetic?

I do have to say that Portland doesn't disappoint in crazy. I had the pleasure of chatting with someone in the coffee line who gave me his opinion on Clinton. He thinks her talk about experience is a bunch of crap. After all, she had 8 years to change her hairstyle and she never met with success. He repeated this over and over. Considering that I waver back and forth between the candidates, I wasn't into hearing a lot of Clinton bashing. I definitely didn't want to hear illogical Clinton bashing. Pick a policy to bicker about but not her hair.

Yea, Obama is pretty awesome.