JayFublerHarvey.com

Since I was still deciding on which candidate to support, I decide to check out “Barack Obama Comes Alive” (circa 2/23/08). I wanted to see in the flesh how much things have changed since I saw him last year at Cleveland State. And to just “enjoy” the group political experience once again.

The times listed below are approximated. The quotes are paraphrased. “I” and “We” become interchangeable depending upon how close I felt to the people around me at the time. My verb tenses switch with reckless abandon. You have been warned. :)

Location: John S. Knight convention center in downtown Akron, Ohio

Temperature: Supposedly in the teens…felt much worse as the waiting time increased.

1:30pm: Drove by the convention center 2 1/2 hours before the doors opened. Already 200+ people in line near the entrance.

4:00pm: Lucked out and got one of the last parking spots in the lot across from the center. Got in the back of the non-ticket (RSVP) line which was technically half a block from the entrance, but heading in the opposite direction. I had to go completely around the block to get into the nearby entrance. Those who went down to the local Obama headquarters to get tickets got to join the much shorter line (smart bastards).

4:30pm: I traveled halfway down the block and hadn’t even gotten to the corner. What the hell is going on?

4:45pm: Made it around the corner! No one is paying any mind to the Obama swag sellers…or at least most of them. If you’re going to pretend that you’re selling for the cause, and not your own pocket, I would suggest improvements in hygiene and dental care…

4:46pm: Ahh…someone started paying attention. I heard a number of “Do you have a vendor’s permit” from the patrol men…

4:50pm: A BarackObama.com filming duo showed up to pull people out of the crowd for interviews. They chose a Sam Elliott clone (and his family) as their first mark. Family makes fun of the duo after they leave.

5:00pm: “Buttons! T-Shirts!”….How about some Hot Chocolate? (Damn!) What vendor thought it was a good idea to stay home while thousands of cold Obama supporters cried out for anything warm?

5:15pm: I’d heard that today’s teens love wearing hoodies, but I never knew they’d replaced winter coats for some of them until today. Glad to see that they were bitching and moaning about being so cold. Maybe that’ll slap some common sense into them.

5:20pm: Recent City of Akron mayoral loser Joe Finley worked the crowd in his bid for County Executive. He seems to think giving the crowd updates on why things are moving so slow is enough to make people care about his candidacy. Considering how cold it was, I wonder if he’s not onto something…

5:21pm: Looks like the secret service is slowing up the process with their security. Understandable. Please…hurry up anyway!

5:25pm: Noticed a twenty something in a short sleeve shirt and *shorts*. Upon my WTF exclamation about him, a nearby purple haired sista said, “You don’t want to know my answer to that question. I don’t want to start nothing…”

5:30pm: People started to get doubly concerned. The show is supposed to start at 5:30, but we’re only half of the way there…

5:40pm: Previously mentioned purple haired sista exclaimes, “If Barack gets finished talking before I even get in there, we’re gonna have a serious problem…”

5:50pm: There’s light at the end of the tunnel! We see the police that are holding up the line. They’re letting only 25 people go at a time in an attempt (I’m assuming) to maintain a total count. I said assuming…perhaps they were limiting the number of people who could go by the entranceway that Obama would take when he arrived.

5:52pm: A sneaky, intelligent kid got in behind us after we got past the police. We had just waited two hours. He waited five minutes. Yet, I wasn’t mad at him. I was just happy that heat was close by.

6:00pm: Finally, finally, finally we entered the convention center. No visible security at the door. You can hear “Obama!” everywhere.

6:03pm: We enter the convention area where Obama will speak. I noticed the security people looked like they were packing up shop. The security gates weren’t being used; no one was being wanded anymore.

6:05pm: I get about a couple of hundred feet away from the podium. The crowd is wonderfully diverse in terms of race, age and gender. (Definitely more so than Kerry’s Akron rally in 2004). Looks like we missed the speeches from most of the local yahoos (Yes!)

6:06pm: I think to myself, “What happened to the security? Does the secret service truly believe that danger could only befall someone from close up? Or are plain clothes security mingled in among those of us father back?”

Right Before Speech: A local (non politician) gave the intro for Barack. She did an OK job relating her experience (insurance woes) to the future Barack has planned, but she got zero respect as the crowd was restless.

Very Beginning of Speech: Screams of “Put down the signs!” come from the back half of the crowd as Barack began to speak. Giant sized “Ohio 4 Obama” letters were blocking the view of about half of the back crowd. They eventually got the hint as the yelling got louder. (Yes, I admit it…I was one of the yellers ^^).

Speech itself: If you saw his Wisconsin post primary speech (or any post primary/caucus speech in the past few weeks), you saw 85% of what I saw here. Engaging. Inspirational. Hopeful. More specifics than usual, but no more than you’ve heard from any other candidate.

Contrast during speech: “Change”, “Hope” and future plans were much more appreciated by the crowd than Barack responding to Hillary’s attack du jour.

Great line from speech: “My cousin Dick Cheney won’t be on the ballot this fall. *crowdlaughs* You heard about that, right? It seems Cheney and I share an ancestor. When I found out we were related…that was just embarassing.”

Great line from speech 2: “Some people think I’m not tough enough. *dramaticpause* I’m from Chicago! The south side! *crowdlaughs* I’m skinny, but I’m tough!”

7:25pm: On the way out, I grabbed the worst cup of hot chocolate on the face of the known earth. Ever had piss flavored chocolate? I drank it all regardless….

Is You Mind Made Up?: Nah…just reaffirmed what I’d already seen and read. I still need to do more digging.

You spent two hours in the cold and you’re going to tell me you still haven’t made up your mind?: Yes. The overall experience was new…what I heard from the candidate wasn’t…(both were entertaining, tho…)

So you’d stand two hours in the cold for Hillary?: Errr…I didn’t say I wasn’t leaning…

Final Thought: For the love of god, I hope there’s tonnes of plain clothes secret service at these events. Thousands of people showed up after security packed up shop. Who knows what crack pot could have been in there…