The morning started out early for myself and 5 friends and coworkers who all met up at one of our homes and carpooled out from South Tampa to Dunedin to attend the Obama rally there! Once I heard that Obama would be prepping for the debate here in the Tampa Bay area, I'd been eagerly awaiting word of a rally and so once it was announced, we immediately knew we were going.
Though doors opened at 10:30AM, I knew we had to get there early after having read so many other diaries here on DailyKos.com by people who'd found mile-long lines and people arriving hours and hours and hours ahead of time in order to be sure to get in to the venue - in this case, Knology Park in Dunedin - and not get turned away when the place filled up. (This turned out to be a good call, because around 9000 were permitted in to the park before it was full and, according to a campaign official I spoke with, 10,000 to 15,000 were still outside and unable to get in).
More of the day's highlights and photos inside!
Though we arrived at the venue a couple of hours before the doors opened, there was already a line snaking its way around the front of Knology Park and beginning to stretch its way down the closed off streets that surround it. The entire area was crawling with Obama supporters of all ages, races, sizes and types getting in to line and I was thankful we arrived when we did as it looked like the crowds were just going to keep coming and coming and we'd managed to get a spot in line that would guarantee us entry.
The line in front of Knology Park, snaking around a few times before hitting the gates
Thankfully, as well, there was a nice breeze and some clouds in the sky that broke up the sunshine quite well and made the wait fairly easy.
Doors opened just after 10:30am and the line made good progress to the gates, through security, and inside.
The line behind us that stretched on for blocks upon blocks, as far as the eye could see.
While waiting, we all had the chance to talk to and get to know some of the people around us, resist buying all the buttons and t-shirts being sold outside the gates (not official merchandise!), and really see first hand what a diverse array of people Obama's message appeals to and that are eagerly and enthusiastically supporting him.
Tampa Bay is a very important part of Florida for this election (and any close election, really) as it's not firmly red like it is up north, not firmly blue like it is to the southeast, but solidly purple. It's a huge population center and if Obama can build up a good base of support here and win this area by a good margin, Florida's electoral votes could very easily be his!
As you may remember from some of the coverage of the recent Mason-Dixon poll showing Obama ahead in Florida by 2 points,
Pollster Brad Coker said the Tampa Bay area -- which he defines as Hillsborough, Pinellas, Hernando, Polk and Pasco counties -- is a good barometer for the rest of Florida. In the past eight years, results in the region have been within 1 or 2 percentage points of the statewide tally.
"So if John McCain's going to win Florida, he needs to turn Tampa Bay around," Coker said.
While in line, we met people from all over the Tampa area, central Florida, counties north, south, and east (west would be in the Gulf of Mexico!). I had my "Veterans for Obama" button on and that led to some great conversations with other former servicemembers (and even some active servicemembers) on our shared support for Obama and feelings regarding the GOPs attempts to paint themselves as the only party that cares about the military (Sending young servicemembers off to die in an unjust and unnecessary war... how caring!).
As we made our way to some seats, we got really lucky! We ran in to someone we knew from a local restaurant all of us frequent and it turns out he's been on Obama's campaign staff in the area for quite some time now (I'd wondered why we hadn't seen him at his old job in many months!). He immediately grabbed us and said, "Hey! Follow me!". We did just that, and ended up finding ourselves down on the grass, near the stage, and right along the rope line - the barriers right next to where Obama was going to enter and exit. We weren't expecting anything more than being up in the stands and were quite content with that, but the prospect of getting to be up close and even shake hands with Obama had us all the more excited!
Bob Hackworth - mayor of Dunedin, FL and Democrat currently running for Congress - kicked things off with some words that helped get the crowd fired up.
Be sure to check out Bob Hackworth's website, especially if you are in FL's 10th District, as I'm sure he'd appreciate your support.
Alex Sink, Florida's Chief Financial Officer, then had the fun task of introducing Obama to a loud and excited crowd - the 6 of us included!
At this point, I'll let the photos take over!
Obama's entering the park, which is why everyone's looking off to their left to see him come in!
Shaking hands and saying hey to the people on the opposite barrier from us.
The stands were packed, as was the field in front of the stage and the area immediately behind the stage, as you can see! Sorry I couldn't get better pictures from this angle but there was a spotlight directly behind him and the sign translator kind of between us and the podium.
Because of the light at the sign translator, I had my friend save my spot at the rope line and walked over to get a different angle.
Speech is over now and he makes his way off the stage and back to shaking hands and saying hey!
Making his way over! By this point I'm thinking to myself, "What should I say when he gets to me, if anything?" I also put away the camera and instead decided to actually view it all with my own eyes, enjoy the moment, and get my hand out there to shake his!
What did I come up with while shaking his hand?
"Occidental College!!!"
haha. I'm so lame! Barack Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles before transferring to Columbia, and Occidental is my alma mater. So I just threw it out there.
He looked at me, smiled wide, and said "Hey! Alright!"
And then he had moved to my left. Grabbed the camera one more time to snap another quick photo and that was that!
By the time we made it out of the park, stopped to get some lunch, and got home, Obama's press conference in response to McCain's cheap little gimmick/stunt to try and stop his hemorrhaging in the polls and call for a time out by putting his campaign on hold was live on TV. Obama made no specific reference to any of that in his speech at the rally, though, and it was odd seeing Obama in a room, on TV, in suit and tie, just a short while after leaving the rally, and answering questions about this major development. It made it that much more clear just how busy his schedule is and how there are constantly things to say and do and places to be.
I can picture his smiles and upbeat demeanor at the rally and while shaking hands, and then getting in to his car in the motorcade, getting a serious look on his face, and saying "OK, let's handle this."
All in all, had a blast today. Did not expect to get that close and shake his hand when I woke up this morning but am so thrilled to have done so. Am also thrilled to do my part - with volunteering and donations - to push Tampa Bay from purple to blue and get this area to help put Obama in the White House!
UPDATE - Yikes! First time on the Rec list! Thanks, everyone! I hope others find the photos as fun and inspiration as I have found previous rally photo diaries by other Kossaks!
I do want to mention that several campaign staffers I spoke to were excitedly talking about offices that have recently opened in FL, including in the Tampa Bay area. They can always use volunteers, office supplies, money, and assistance! So if other Tampa Bay area folk happen upon this diary now, think about helping them out!
Tampa Bay is hugely important to an Obama win in FL and our local campaign offices can use all the help they can get to make that win happen!
Florida For Barack Obama
UPDATE #2 - Well I just got to my office but, on the way to work, decided to stop by an office supply store and buy some stuff for the local campaign HQ. The Obama campaign's FL HQ is here in Tampa - another indicator as to the importance of the area to the campaign.
At 9:30AM there were a bunch of young, college-age looking men and women hustling and bustling and keeping themselves busy, clearly. Phones were ringing and everyone looked so animated and motivated!
I delivered my in-kind donation of a bunch of office supplies (printer paper, note pads, legal pads, pens, Sharpies, Post-Its), for which they were very thankful. They offered me some free Obama gear but I declined. I will happily keep paying for my Obama gear (t-shirts, stickers, signs) at Obama's website and let them hold on to the supplies they do have to give away to others.
FYI, they had what appeared to be hundreds upon hundreds of yard sign stands all over the front lobby. Like they'd just gotten an order in or were expecting one (didn't see any signs themselves, just loads and loads of the wire stands for them). Thought I'd mention that since it's a hot topic ;)
Also gave them a Starbucks gift card that I'd loaded with money as I'm sure they work some long hours and could use the caffeine!