On October 10, 2008 Barack Obama came to Cincinnati. I work in downtown Cincy but live across the river in the great state of Kentucky--and as many of the fellow Kentuckians my wife has met while volunteering for Obama's campaign in Ohio will attest, Northern Kentucky is really just an extension of Cincinnati. Most people "cross the river" to really do anything, from shopping, farmers' markets, restaurants, clubs, etc. Needless to say, we realize how important Ohio is to this election and have been quite willing and able to work to turn it blue.
When I got the email, I RSVPed immediately. What I really wanted is for my son to see Obama. You see, I feel like this man is our icon. He is our Roosevelt, our Kennedy, our Reagan (even as undeserving as Reagan may be of that iconography.) I wanted my son to see Obama and hear him speak and even though he probably won't remember this particular day and this particular event, I hope that I can tell him about this rally, this race; about this election and about this era of, well, hope.
My son. I carried him the entire way for what felt like forever but was probably closer to a mile and a half. We would have arrived earlier but, well, two kids. This is pretty much how we roll these days--LATE.
His stylish monkey backpack all tricked out for the rally.
I've read crowd estimates to be anywhere from ten to fifteen thousand. I definitely believe it, given the distance we had to walk. Ouch.
I should give credit to my wife for all the fantastic photos. I'm in the right hand corner of this one, looking totally awesome if I do say so myself.
He's completely and totally bored out of his mind. Never fear! My wife plans well.
Pretzels? Check. Sesame Street on the iPod? Oh yeah.
The man himself! It's hard to even describe listening to him in person. Which I'm sure quite a few of you have, so I won't even try.
Pretty impressive showing. And a mass exodus.
Totally and completely zonked. Not that I blame him. I kind of wanted a nap myself. And I didn't even have any pretzels before schlepping him back to the car. Not that I'm complaining.
My wife and I tend to stay a little bit farther left of the center than most. We're home schoolers, home birthers, vegetarians, delayed-vaccinating, breastfeeders (well, not me), and probably closer to Democratic Socialists than anything. But in Barack Obama we trust. There's a lot of discussion on various home schooling forums as far as which candidate is the "best" for home schooling. And because we are the home schoolers that believe in giving our children an alternative to the dismal public school experience we had (and to keep Creationism far, far away from them until they are able to understand the difference between Fact and Myth) we know that providing a much better future for them through good leadership means so much more than some pandering to the religious right.
And Security Person, we forgive you for confiscating our Klean Kanteen since it was still in the same place we hid it outside of the gates. Anything to keep the stainless steel water bottle quasi-weapons away from our dude.