Obama Rocks

We attended the last minute Obama Rally in Roanoke today. We got there about 2 hours before the doors opened to wait in line. Of course the gorgeous fall weather we've been enjoying flipped to cold drizzling rain this morning, a perfect example of Virginia's mercurial weather. It wasn't too terrible, but the dampness made knitting difficult. You can see my consternation as I try to work on my damp barack-sock.Speaking of socks, there were tons of peddlers out selling everything you could imagine with Obama on it, including tube socks. Tube socks?? This guy below was pretty funny, hawking both "wet and dry t-shirts". He was stopped by a bike cop for his license, and the guy had the balls to ask the cop if he wanted to buy a t-shirt.
After a while it was just too cold to do anything but wonder when we were going to get in and wish someone was selling hot coffee. My lips & nailbeds started tinging blue, but D. said this photo is nowhere near as pale and blue as I looked in real life. My toes were so cold and numb it actually felt good when D. stepped his full weight on them, since I think it forced the blood to flow. But it was all worth it once we were in the doors. The Secret Service was phenomenal getting everyone through security. I've never seen such fast and efficient screening - they unzipped, emptied, and restored every pocket of my purse; checked my phone and camera; and passed all the contents of my pockets in the time it took me to walk through the metal detector. TSA eat your heart out! We were deciding where to sit when we learned the floor was still open. We had floor seats for the Metallica show in the same venue and I knew how close you can get if you're willing to stand for a few hours. And we weren't disappointed! We were only 10 people (about 25 feet) away, directly in front of the podium. Close enough to notice when Obama walked out he seemed to have something in his mouth. After a minute he said he needed a sip of water, since he was "chewing some almonds" offstage and Jim Webb finished his introduction sooner than he expected. There were a number of small personal touches - mentions of specific local businesses that have closed, direct comments to audience members, and a funny moment where he chastised a girl who was up on her boyfriend's shoulders. It was awesome to hear the crowd respond to Obama, and amazing to think we were that close to a President of the United States.

We watched MSNBC when we got home, and they were playing clips from the Virginia Rally. When they pan back from the podium you can see us down on the right of the screen. You can see my red-clad arms raised, and D. standing next to me in his beige hat. Vroot! We were on freakin national TV. hehe. If we had any doubts about McCain, the banner at the bottom of the news show helped clinch it.