Day 2 Part 1- Rally at Target Center

Up at 8:30 and in the shower at the dorm. Fortunately Kari loaned me a pair of shower sandals. I felt very slow. It's been a while since I showered in my dorm and I had to remember how to balance my clean clothes on top of the shower door and hope they don't fall. Specifically my socks because I hate wet socks. I changed in the bathroom because of Kari's friend who couldn't make it home because he was too drunk to take the bus; he'd stopped by just as we were going to sleep. Kari had righteously banned him to the floor (and not just for my benefit), which I think was disappointing to him. Silly college boy!. After we'd gotten up in the morning, he seemed to want to hang around but Kari would have none of it and told he'd better not miss his bus. Ha!

We walked my things out to the car and drove down to grab a bagel before heading to the Target Center. Parking was pretty easy to find, since we got there at 10:45, and when we arrived in the lobby we were greeted by a swarm of people, all apparently there to volunteer. It was fairly obvious that people who hadn't gotten tickets were hoping to get in as volunteers. I called Johnny and he said something I couldn't really understand over the crowd, but he so we just kind of hung out, waiting. The head organizer got up on a table and made a disclaimer that volunteers would NOT be in the event, so if we wanted to see the Senator speak it'd be best to go outside and get in line.

People were making signs at a nearby table, saying such things like "This Mama is for Obama" and "Women over 60 for Obama (a neat looking group of older ladies used that one, they were my particularly fun). "Latinos con Obama". My favorite, which I saw later once I got inside, was a very small homemade sign held by a young Somali muslim woman behind me that said in proud, glittering letters "Immigrants for Obama"! She held it up triumphantly, hoping the camera panning the crowd would catch it and give it a little air time. I was hoping too. They didn't see it, but she and her comrades cheered their hearts out anyway. While the rest of the signs had been made by campaigners to hand out, this one had been made ahead of time, at home. I also wondered if she was an immigrant herself, or a daughter of one and thus able to vote. I'm hoping for the latter.

Anyway. After about 10 minutes, one of the other volunteers texted me and said he'd been told that they had enough volunteers and that he was just getting in line to see the event. I somehow managed to find Johnny, who told me to do the same. I didn't have my ticket with me as I'd been expecting to volunteer, but Kari had printed a second copy of hers (they were just emails), and Johnny told me to use that. I shrugged, met up with the other volunteer (Nicholas) and we all waited in line for 2 1/2 hours until they let us in. They did end up letting me in, as no one was actually checking the names on the emailed tickets, but I found out later that people were photocopying 5 or 10 copies and handing them out to people. I don't know how the organizers didn't see that coming, because it seemed pretty obvious to everyone else, but at one point they apparently started checking IDs as they feared people with legitimate tickets wouldn't be let in. Fair enough.

It was cold outside, and within a 1/2 hour we were all doing the cold-toes dance, but the mood remained cheerful. More superficial Hillary bashing by some nearby, which I promptly (but lightly) shut down by pointing out that pasty old white men likely did not have very nice legs either. I may be supporting Obama but that doesn't mean I'm not still a feminist.

A little while later a man with his daughter and son (maybe 12 and 10, respectively) arrived in line across from us (by this point it had snaked around the the corner and back up again). None of them had coats on. I think they had left their coats in the car and just planned to run inside, but the girl was particularly poorly dressed in a thin cotton shirt, skirt, and sandals. I imagine she'd had an argument with dad before they left the house and she'd won. She and her brother were taking turns wearing his sweatshirt, which was just maddening to watch. One of the guys in line with me was holding a coat for a woman inside, so I put my coat on her shoulders, told her to wear pants next time, and put on this other woman's coat. People were concerned I would lose my coat, but she kept track of me and we did the quick switch once they opened the doors.

The crowd cruised inside and we found some great seats 10 rows from the front, right behind the stage. This meant we got nice little signs to wave behind him so the cameras could see them. The Target Center holds I think 20,000 or 30,000 people. A LOT. It was half full within the first 15 minutes after opening the doors, and the rest filled up (including standing room only on the floor) over the next 2 1/2 hours. The mood was positive, expectant, hopeful. Rock, funk, pop played over the speakers, people did the wave (briefly), and started small group cheers. A friend of Kari's happened to sit behind us, and they chatted a bit. (Her friend is deaf, by the way, and she's really good- I didn't know she signed so well!) Later we spotted an interpreter, which elated her friend, and he scooted down to get seating with a group of at least 6 or 8 other deaf people attending.

More later.