Witnessing History

The three DK editors who set out for Invesco Field yesterday got their chance to stand in a line six miles long (no exaggeration), but they also got a chance to share sunscreen, water, and good humor with the others in that line. Once inside, our seats were... less than terrific. We were in the lesser rungs of the print media section, which meant sitting behind the CNN and ABC booths, with only a peephole sized spot through which we could get a glimpse of the podium. We got a better view of the speakers by twisting around to see the "Jumbotron" than we did by looking toward the stage.

Really, those at home and the editors back at the Big Tent had a better view. Except... except...

That image is of the folks inside CNN's booth -- the techs and crew that helped the booth operate. At the moment Obama began speaking, even though they were sitting behind CNN's own cameras, they produced their personal cameras, help them up and started to take pictures. The same thing happened next door at the ABC booth, and at CBS, and around the curve at FOX. Each of these people was there to do a job, but they realized they were witnessing history, and they wanted to connect with it in a personal way. They wanted an image of their own to mark the occasion -- something they could look at and say "I was there, I was really there, the day Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech."

I was there. It was glorious.