OBA-MAMA

Ok, so we're really slow getting this one posted... The evening of Monday November 3 (the night before the election for those of you whose lives do not revolve around Election Day), Barack Obama came to UNC Charlotte. Despite my professional and personal interest in politics, I rarely go to rallies because they are a huge waste of time. You have to wait in huge lines, the candidates are always really late, you can barely see them and they say the same things you've heard many times on TV. But when the next president of the United States is showing up on YOUR campus, 4 measely miles from your house, on the night before the election, you really do have to go--to avoid kicking yourself in butt for the rest of your life out of regret that you had the opportunity and didn't go, if nothing else. And, when you have a child, you want to be able to tell them, "You were there when..."

So T left work after her early afternoon meeting and we all went to campus. On the way, we told C he was going to see Obama and tried to get him to say it. The closest we got was Obamama, which to C was probably like saying Oh Ba (dad) Mama (mom), which wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, but his parents often ask him to do things or say things that don't make any sense.

I expected long lines when we got to campus but I didn't expect the tremendously long lines we found. Fortunately, we found colleagues from the poli sci dept and were able to jump in line with them. (I had tried to get VIP tickets earlier in the day from the university PR dept, but despite all the media work I do for them, they put me in my place and told me I wasn't really a VIP. Humph!) Anyway, the line was probably about a mile long--so by skipping in line, we only had to go about half a mile. And then it started to rain. And once we got to the field in which the rally would be held, it started to pour. And, of course, Obama was an hour late, so we had to stand there in the cold rain just waiting for something to happen and wondering at what point we should cut our losses and save our child from pneumonia. T and I put C on the ground--much to his displeasure--and made a human umbrella over top of him. It's all part of the story right? Getting drenched just adds to the adventure. And by the time we're 60 and telling the story, there will have been flooding, trees splintered with lightening, and Republicans wailing for forgiveness for having voted for W. See, it gets more interesting every time I tell it!

Let's review. I hate rallies because there are too many people (Yes, there were!), you have to spend way too much time at them (Yes, we did!), the candidates are always late (Yes, they are!), you can't see them (Yes, we could see a little hand motion waving when he first appeared on stage, then he disappeared into the background of people and signs behind him. We were about 300 yards away with people crammed into one another the whole way to the stage.), and they give the same speech you've already heard many times (Yes, he did! With one key exception. His grandmother passed away that morning and he gave a moving tribute to her in the beginning of the speech. The newspaper reported that he cried throughout that section of the speech, but we were too far away to see that. His voice was normal--how he could give such a tribute and not let his voice crack is pretty amazing.) Was it worth going? You're darn right it was! How many times in your life do you get to be present for HISTORY?

And election night was pretty sweet too! I've got to give Obama credit. When reporters asked me during the summer whether he would really pour all those resources into NC and whether it would really be competitive, I said he would be wasting his money. As it turns out, he had plenty of money to waste, but in this case, it paid off. And Elizabeth Dole lost to a Godless American. So North Carolinians voted for an atheist and a Muslim anti-christ in the same election!? Wow, the Bible Belt sure ain't what it's cracked up to be. Times they are a changin'!

Here's a great picture of C and me at the rally. Gotta love C's natural smile in this photo. Did I mention we were really wet?