My father and I woke up at 4:30am to make the 88-mile trek to Newport News for the Obama rally today. The wake-up time sucked, the event was worth it.
We got there right around 7am and set up camp. The doors weren't supposed to open until 10:30, but we went through security and were let in around 9:45. The setting was Victory Harbor Park, a gorgeous green space on the James River. We picked a spot right along the barricades on the front row, to the left of the podium, since my dad was deadset on getting to shake the Senator's hand.
So we waited, and waited, and baked in the sun, and waited, until finally 1:00pm rolled around and Senator Obama made his grand appearance.
The topic of the day was health care, we were told, and Obama nailed it. He went through his health care plan point by point, explaining in detail the problems in the current system, how he would fix them, and how he would pay for them. Mixed in with all of that was an extremely detailed description of how truly ridiculous, "radical", and all-around fucked up McCain's health care plan really is. As Kossacks, you probably already know this, but his supposed $5,000 tax credit would be paid for in part by taxing your employer-paid health plan. So, for example, if you make $40,000 a year, and your employer pays for a healthcare plan worth $10,000, you'll be taxed on $50,000 a year. Not to mention that the average healthcare plan these days costs about $12,000, so that $5,000 credit isn't covering anything. As Obama said, there's a reason the similar Bush-proposed plan was DOA in Congress.
You can read the full remarks for yourself here. The best line was, without a doubt, when Barack was explaining why the insurance companies and lobbyists are so opposed to universal health care, and how McCain has 69 of them working for his campaign -- "And if you think they're working day and nightto get him elected so they can put themselves out of business, I've got a bridge in Alaska to sell you."
The crowd was very responsive and fired up, despite the heat and the long wait. I haven't seen official numbers, but the Washington Post estimated 18,000 and that seems about right to me. There were people of all different races and backgrounds, but from what I could see it was heavily African-American.
We did get to shake the Senator's hand afterwards and briefly exchange remarks as he was coming down the line. I simply said "Thank you for being you" (same thing I said to him the night of the South Carolina primary), to which he responded, "You're welcome. Thank you for helping me." My dad said "God bless you" and when Barack responded with the same my dad said he was going to tell everyone Barack himself blessed him, haha! I also got my copy of Dreams From My Father signed, to accompany my copy of the Audacity of Hope that I got signed in South Carolina. And Reggie was the one to give me my book back afterwards! I was so excited, then immediately felt like a stalker for being so excited about interacting with Obama's bodyguy.
Anyway, all in all it was a great day, and I'm glad my dad and I got to share it. He's the one who originally got me into politics, and I was the who finally convinced him to switch from Hillary to Barack a few weeks before the Virginia primary (after 3 months of trying!). I live in DC now and don't get home to Richmond that much, so for us to not only experience the rally, but also shaking his hand/talking to him (however briefly), was truly priceless.
On to the pictures! I'll post video as soon as I get them on youtube.
The line around 8:30am
I like to imagine him dancing when I look at this picture
Reggie!
And just an endnote -- this area of Virginia (Newport News, Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach, Norfolk) is supposed to be "McCain Country" due to the high military population. I'd like to see McSame draw anywhere close to this crowd, even with Caribou Barbie tagging alone. More evidence Virginia is going blue!
UPDATE: Three minutes after I posted this, I saw they had the full video up at BarackObama.com (and they also confirmed the 18,000 in attendance). Here it is.