So this is a couple days old at this point, but I went to the Obama rally at East L.A. Community College where Ted Kennedy spoke. I've only been in LA for a week and a half at this point, so I managed to get pretty lost on my way to pick up my friend before proceeding on to the rally. As a result, we were a good forty-five minutes late or so, but still managed to show up in time to catch the tail end of it. I grabbed some photos, which you can take a look at below the fold:
Obviously, getting there late, all the prime real estate was taken. Even so, we got a good view of the whole thing when we showed up. I have to say the area was smaller than I expected, but it was packed full of people.
I just love this guy. At one point, he was nodding his head real intently in response to something the Senator was talking about - I think it was health care. This was mostly a rally for the Hispanic vote: Ted Kennedy's presence, obviously, but he spoke mostly about union and immigration issues and the crowd was mostly Hispanic, with Si Se Pueda signs outnumbering Yes We Can signs. But I still love the idea that in the middle of all these Hispanic voters at a Hispanic rally on predominantly Hispanic issues, there's young white boys (including myself) and every other shape and color and background right along side and in the middle of it. That's the country and the party I want to be a part of.
The man himself on stage. Eventually, my friend and I were able to jostle sideways a little bit and at least get a better profile angle on the proceedings.
I love this image because the woman is so seriously holding such a light hearted looking sign. That's dedication.
In addition to the crowd on the ground, there were people on the balcony of the nearby building. I would love to have gotten the view from up there, but I really like this picture too, so I'm happy.
Of course, an adorable baby of a woman standing next to us, doing her part.
Afterwards, the Senator autographed signs for awhile, before taking off. There were truly a staggering number of people and signs - all of the latter disappearing pretty quickly. After the Senator left, people peeled them off the podium pretty quickly. Fortunately, my friend had the idea to grab one off a tree that we saw while walking over from the parking lot.
I love rallies; I haven't been to one since Edwards came to Florida in 2004. The energy is so electric. When Edwards came to Daytona Beach, there were some Bush supporters on the balcony of the hotel or condo nearby, hollering and waving their signs, to which the whole crowd of us responded in kind, in a wave of noise and movement and energy and electricity. Though there wasn't any aspect of that combativeness here, the excitement was there - the palpable energy. I missed it, and I didn't even realize it.