Barack Obama

Amy and I got to go see Barack Obama speak at Penn State Behrend on April 18th. It was a MUCH nicer day than when we went to go see Hillary, and an all together pleasant experience. It was also great to get to play hooky from work.

Sen. Obama held a townhall meeting, spending most of his time answering questions from the audience, which I loved. It was great to have an opportunity to see someone in person answering questions that pretain to our local community.


Got to get pretty up close and personal. I didn't get a hand shake or anything, but I thought this was pretty close.


And of course, got a book signed.

I'm feeling so lucky that in a place like Erie, I was able to see both democratic candidates in less than 3 weeks. This election is so exciting, I've never felt like as a Pennsylvania voter that I've had much to influence in the presidential primaries -- it feels fantastic to be able to make a decision, cast a vote, and see how it influences what's going to happen.

great stuff.

HILLARY!!

Very belated update. But too exciting to skip.

Amy and I went to go see Hillary Clinton speak on 4/1/2008. It was a fantastic day. I left work a little early, Hillary was supposed to speak at 7:30 and they were letting people into the auditorium at 5:30 so I thought it would be a good idea to get an early start. Amy and I got to Mercyhurst at 4:45 or so... I was still thinking we had PLENTY of time. Then I saw the line to get in. I am pretty sure there were like 2000 people (seriously) ahead of us in line. The end of the line was on the opposite side of campus from where the event was happening.





Here is a little taste of the line we were in. I still can't believe how many people were there. It was REALLY cold out there, and we were completely unprepared to be out there for that long. After we were in line for 90 minutes or so (remember, they began letting people in at 5:30) and hadn't moved much, Amy and I began to worry that we would never get in. So we took a couple of pictures of us in line, just in case that's as far as we got...







Once we got to the entrance, we realized that it just was taking a LONG time to get that many people through security. It was necessary for everyone to remove their snappy Hillary buttons and with everyone all bundled up, it was apparently pretty time consuming.


Once Amy and I got inside, we were shocked at how close to the stage we were able to stand. It was pretty great. and of course Hillary was great, it was awesome to see that many people fired up and excited about her campaign. for the record, there is still no word on Sen. Obama's plans to visit Erie. is there a plan? Here are a few more pictures for you...











There is another important and fairly entertaining aspect of my Hillary experience, but I'm missing an important visual necessary to blog about it, so that's gonna have to wait. it's great though!

Bill

Almost a week late, but I'm getting better. :-)

Since I didn't actually get to go to see Bill Clinton speak in Erie last week... and Amy did... I'll share an excerpt from an e-mail she sent some friends about the event. It's safe to say she was a little starstruck.

Bill Clinton was GREAT. Funny, smart, charming,
inspiring...

After he spoke, a couple hundred people stuck around in an attempt to get a handshake, photo, autograph... I was the shortest in the crowd. If I stood on my tiptoes, I could catch a glimpse of his soft, flowing white hair. I was waving my book (Giving) in the air as high as I could. We made eye contact. There were probably 10 people in between us. He pointed at the book and I handed it to him. He disappeared for a few minutes, but we found each other again. When he grabbed my hand, it felt as though I was placing my hand between silk sheets. He has the softest touch. I screamed, "THANK YOU BILL, THANK YOU BILL!" and he drowned into the crowd.

I thought I would never get my book back. Somebody told me you were supposed to write your name and address in it, and they mail it to you. I hung around for 15 minutes or so, after Bill left the gym. A guy comes out with a stack of 20 books. He was reading the names off in the books. When he got to mine, he said, "No name, Giving!" Everyone was claiming it as their own. Who is he going to give it to?! I yelled, "It has a Borders sticker on the back!!" He looked, then said, "Good call! Here ya go!" Phew!

So anyhow, a great time was definitely had by all. Here are some pictures...

Bill talking. I'm sure he was being brilliant.

Bill about to shake Amy's hand. She still hasn't washed it.






and the signed book! so exciting, this is just the motivation I need to finally buy a bookshelf for the living room.


Here's to more exciting political events in Erie!