100 feet from wow today!! I saw Barack Obama in person!

[Timsterino]

Erika and I attended the Barack Obama rally at Bicentennial Park in Miami this afternoon/evening. This is the first time I have ever attended a political rally and I have to say wow! The electricity in the air was amazing. There were tens of thousands of people there and it was unbelieveable!

When we got there, there were already scores of people outside Bicentennial park. There were vendors selling everything Obama! You name it they had it. After purchasing some items we went to the security line. After going through metal detectors and being frisked by the Secret Service we were off to find a spot on the lawn. I did not realize how close were we were going to be. A band entertained the crowd for an hour and then they played a mix of top forty tunes.

First out were the Florida Democrats including Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Senator Bill Nelson, Former Senator and Governor Bob Graham and Congressional candidates Raul Martinez and Joe Garcia. Then Michelle Obama came out and spoke to the crowd followed by Barack Obama. Barack was literally 100 feet in front of me and I can not explain what a thrill it was to see him in person. This was like nothing I have experienced before.

Regardless of your political party affiliation, you should attend a rally like this. They are fun and electrifying.

Wow!

Tim

P.S. As soon as I figure my new phone out and how to get my pictures, I will post them.

[NellyLunatic1980]

I got the same feelings when I saw Mr. Obama in Lexington in August 2007. (Back when everybody else was coronating Mrs. Clinton.)

[VAdame]

Rallies are fun! Too bad the pictures I take usually turn out like this:



Obama is on the right side of the stage, in a white shirt

[littlebeast13]

Rallies are fun! Too bad the pictures I take usually turn out like this:



Obama is on the right side of the stage, in a white shirt

I think I can just make out his halo......

lb13

[Jeemie]

Rallies are fun! Too bad the pictures I take usually turn out like this:



Obama is on the right side of the stage, in a white shirt

I think I can just make out his halo......

lb13

I'm feeling a tingle go down my leg right now!!!!

[NellyLunatic1980]

Rallies are fun! Too bad the pictures I take usually turn out like this:



Obama is on the right side of the stage, in a white shirt

I think I can just make out his halo......

lb13

I'm feeling a tingle go down my leg right now!!!!

Unlike Chris Matthews, I don't have a tingle down my leg every time I see or hear Obama.

I also don't swoon or faint.

Cheering and clapping suits me just fine.

[danielh41]

The bad thing about living in the non-battleground state of Texas is that neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin are doing any rallies here. The good thing is that Obama and Biden aren't stopping in the state.

[nitrah55]

The bad thing about living in the non-battleground state of Texas is that neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin are doing any rallies here. The good thing is that Obama and Biden aren't stopping in the state.

Kind of like living in New York. Some states have all the fun.

[BackInTex]

Regardless of your political party affiliation, you should attend a rally like this. They are fun and electrifying.

Wow!

Maybe I'm just a dull guy (maybe the APs were right). But I don't think political rallies, regardless of the side, should be like football games with chanting to the 'heroes', etc. They should be more like graduation ceremonies or stockholder meetings or something. All the hero worshiping (regardless of party) scares me. Of course I dont' dance and scream at concerts either.

[gsabc]

The bad thing about living in the non-battleground state of Texas is that neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin are doing any rallies here. The good thing is that Obama and Biden aren't stopping in the state.

Wish I had that kind of luck. McCain will be less than 2 miles from my workplace today, fortunately on the other side of the river so I won't likely hit traffic problems. All four of them have visited NH recently, so their shayna and not-so-shayna punim get plastered all over the news on Rally Day. Political ads for NH races are wall-to-wall on the Boston broadcasts. I can only imagine what it must be like on NH's one major network station, and the one or two minor ones.

[Flybrick]

Maybe I'm just a dull guy (maybe the APs were right). But I don't think political rallies, regardless of the side, should be like football games with chanting to the 'heroes', etc. They should be more like graduation ceremonies or stockholder meetings or something. All the hero worshiping (regardless of party) scares me. Of course I dont' dance and scream at concerts either.

BiT, I'm with you.

There have been some doozy rallies in history.

Those ones in Nuremburg and Munich spring to mind...

[Hello, Mini!]

Rallies are fun! Too bad the pictures I take usually turn out like this:



Obama is on the right side of the stage, in a white shirt

I think I can just make out his halo......

lb13

I'm feeling a tingle go down my leg right now!!!!

It's a miracle! My arthritis is cured!

(Okay, so I don't have arthritis.)


That's the kind of picture I always seem to take myself. Kinda like the barber in the comic strip "Curtis"......

[Timsterino]

Maybe I'm just a dull guy (maybe the APs were right). But I don't think political rallies, regardless of the side, should be like football games with chanting to the 'heroes', etc. They should be more like graduation ceremonies or stockholder meetings or something. All the hero worshiping (regardless of party) scares me. Of course I dont' dance and scream at concerts either.

BiT, I'm with you.

There have been some doozy rallies in history.

Those ones in Nuremburg and Munich spring to mind...

While I respect the views of you and BiT on what a political rally should be, I find any comparison to the Nazi/Hitler rallies of the 1930s to be disgusting.

[Flybrick]

While I respect the views of you and BiT on what a political rally should be, I find any comparison to the Nazi/Hitler rallies of the 1930s to be disgusting.

A. The point, exaggerated for effect, is that rallies tend to whip people into non-thinking hysteria.

B. I shall try to carry on.

[BackInTex]

While I respect the views of you and BiT on what a political rally should be, I find any comparison to the Nazi/Hitler rallies of the 1930s to be disgusting.

FTR, I didn't do it. 'you' did it.

[ne1410s]

timt:

find any comparison to the Nazi/Hitler rallies of the 1930s to be disgusting.

Me, too, also, Tim. I guess the Nazi reference was supposed to end a thread that wasn't goose-stepping in the direction they wanted.

[Timsterino]

While I respect the views of you and BiT on what a political rally should be, I find any comparison to the Nazi/Hitler rallies of the 1930s to be disgusting.

FTR, I didn't do it. 'you' did it.

No, actually Flybrick did it when he mentioned Nuremburg and Munich. I am sorry I included you in that comparison. I agree you did not make it, my apologies.

[MinisterOfPropaganda]

timt:

find any comparison to the Nazi/Hitler rallies of the 1930s to be disgusting.

Me, too, also, Tim. I guess the Nazi reference was supposed to end a thread that wasn't goose-stepping in the direction they wanted.

As Minister of Propaganda, I say that I am offended that our Nazi rallies have been compared to these shenanigans you crazy Americans hold nowadays. We had grainy stock footage of large crowds, and plenty of canned applause! We only wish we had VaDame's wonderful photography skills to record them for posterity....

[Jeemie]

While I respect the views of you and BiT on what a political rally should be, I find any comparison to the Nazi/Hitler rallies of the 1930s to be disgusting.

DISCLAIMER- I am not calling Barack Obama Hitler nor comparing him to Hitler.

But I am fascinated by such thinking.

What if a true Hitler-like person rose to prominence in this country?

If we're going to bar ourselves from thinking of Hitlerian terms because of the major "non-politically-correct" nature of them, how would we ever stop such a character from gaining power and influence?

Flybrick and BiT have it right- getting worked up into a lather at a rally tends to dampen critical thinking skills.

One can be excited about a candidate but should also soberly realize that said candidate is not a gfod, and will most likely not be able (or willing) to fulfill even a modicm of the heady promises he/she makes at such rallies.

[CharlesFoxSingers]

Look into my eyes, what do you see?
Cult of Personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality

Neon lights, A Nobel Price
The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your T.V.
I'm the Cult of Personality
I exploit you still you love me

I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi
I'm the Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality

Neon lights a Nobel Prize
A leader speaks, that leader dies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set you free

You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You me power in your God's name
I'm every person you need to be
I'm the Cult of Personality

[WheresFanny]

I stayed away a week, but I guess it wasn't long enough.

Tim posts to share an experience that really made an impact on him. He was excited about the event and to be closer to a person he respects and admires than he ever thought possible. And people have to immediately start shitting on his enthusiasm and get into pissing matches that have nothing to do with the purpose of his post.

Tim, I enjoyed reading your initial post. It's a moment that you'll never forget and don't let others sully something that is yours and yours only.

PS to the naysayers: I don't really give much of a tinker's dam about Obama, my feelings have nothing to do with where it was and who it was. Just that it made a big impression on Tim and enriched his life.

[Timsterino]

Thanks, Fanny.

[WheresFanny]

Flybrick and BiT have it right- getting worked up into a lather at a rally tends to dampen critical thinking skills.

I agree. Sarah Palin was here two days ago making an appearance at the baseball stadium that is near me. Scads of people were lined up before it was even light out in the cold, foggy, windy drizzle (it had been warm and sunny for a solid week prior, Mother Nature must be a Democrat) and were spontaneously dissolving into paroxysms of giddiness at the very thought of her speech.

The frenzied masses were coming unglued every time they heard "Johnmcain" (it's always one word), "Maverick" (and it wasn't even Bret) and "he knows how to win a war" (really? Couldn't he have shared that magic with somebody else in the past 5 years?).

And, worst of all, they interrupted Judge Judy to tell me about this!

Judge Judy for president!!!!1

[Tocqueville3]

WOW!

Did he walk on water and feed the masses with a loaf of bread and five fishes, too?

Did he have Lazarus there with him?

Would you have fainted if he touched you?

[Jeemie]

Flybrick and BiT have it right- getting worked up into a lather at a rally tends to dampen critical thinking skills.

I agree. Sarah Palin was here two days ago making an appearance at the baseball stadium that is near me. Scads of people were lined up before it was even light out in the cold, foggy, windy drizzle (it had been warm and sunny for a solid week prior, Mother Nature must be a Democrat) and were spontaneously dissolving into paroxysms of giddiness at the very thought of her speech.

The frenzied masses were coming unglued every time they heard "Johnmcain" (it's always one word), "Maverick" (and it wasn't even Bret) and "he knows how to win a war" (really? Couldn't he have shared that magic with somebody else in the past 5 years?).

And, worst of all, they interrupted Judge Judy to tell me about this!

Judge Judy for president!!!!1

"judge Judy" I could do without.

Now if they had interrupted "Seinfeld" to tell me that, I would have gotten mad.

I'm an equal-oppotunity basher. I saw the same thing happen 4 years ago at a Bush rally in Pottstown near where I live, and the worshippers drove me nuts.

You're right, though, we probably shouldn't have shit on Tim's experience. But for my part, I've just become too cynical about the entire political process...there's nothing inspiring about any of the cardboard cutouts we have manning or wanting to man the leadership positions in our government.

Slick prose and empty promises doesn't do it for me anymore.

But if Tim found more at his rally- great!