Barack Obama Rally

Saturday afternoon, Greg and I went to Kansas City to see Barack Obama at his rally at the World War 1 Museum at Liberty Memorial. It was inspiring, to say the least.


There were 75,000 people there yesterday, and it was literally standing room only. I've never seen such a sea of humanity. We were fortunate to have press credentials so we had a good view.

The people you see sitting in this photo were in the handicapped section. Other than that, and the risers behind the stage, and some chairs in back for the press, everyone was standing. I stood the whole time. I was standing a few feet back from the person in the red shirt near the bottom of this photo.



There were platforms set up for the press to get photos. One about 60 feet away and one about 40 feet away. Greg went back and forth between them to get pix, but I stayed at the closer one, that had an edge on view of Obama. I was probably about 30 feet away from him. Greg got some amazing photographs.



I have to confess, that while I've met quite a few celebrity types over the years, I don't think I've ever been star struck. But I was close to it yesterday. The only other time I've come close was being in the same place as Bill Clinton when I went to hear him speak, even though I was not at all close to him. Of course, that caused me to think about why I had that reaction either time. I think I've pinpointed it. They both give me hope. Clinton gave me tremendous hope when he ran for president and I still feel it when I think about him - hope. Obama does the same. He gives me hope that things can be better. Much better.

I am in desperate need of some hope. I think millions of other people are, too. When I listen to Obama's plans that's what I feel - hope. Hope that people can live better lives - average people. Hope that people can have health care. Hope that small businesses can flourish instead of being at the whims of the elite on Wall Street. Hope that people can take care of their families and have some money left over to have some fun. Hope that people can maintain a decent standard of living and not be worried about their jobs, their health care and their futures all the time.



I want more hope and less worry. When I listen to Barack Obama I feel he can deliver it. When I listen to John McCain I just hear more about helping the rich. I've got no problem with people being rich. I do have a problem with people being rich by taking from the middle class and that's exactly what has been going on during the last eight years.



I'll be writing another post about the day, with quotes and all from the speech, as well as more photos, but wanted to share a bit of the experience with you quickly.

It was an incredible experience. I found out about it from Samatha Finke Thursday night at the Obama rally in Hutchinson. I had to work a health fair Saturday and didn't know how I could possibly go. Fortunately, I have a great board and a couple of my board members offered to work part of the day for me so I could come. Thank you, Betsy, for working! I'm bringing you a button!

The Obama rally yesterday in St. Louis had about 100,000 people and then another 75,000 in Kansas City - I realize it's not a unique thing to see him in person, but I'm so glad I got to do it.
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