Monday I attended the Obama rally at the George R. Brown convention center. I was one of those people who got there early. 4:30p early. They didn't open the doors till 8p. And for those who live in Houston, Monday was one of our COLD days. I was one of the first 50 people in line, so I had company as we froze our tushies off.
The upside to getting in line early is a choice of a prime seat (as seen here, about 10 rows back) or a spot on the rail in front of the stage.
Guess what I chose.
Uh huh. The rail. I was on the rail. 12 feet from the stage with nothing but the rail,
the Secret Service agents
and some of the photographers from the traveling press corps between me and Obama.
And because I was on the rail, I was THERE when Michelle and Barack worked the rope line at the end of the rally!
(I know the pictures aren't that great, but between the crowds pushing me forward and the Secret Service detail pushing the rail back, I thought my iPhone did a decent job.)
The rally was AMAZING! Besides the fact that I like him as a candidate (if you want to get into that debate, let me know), he's a great speaker to listen to. I've read a number of his transcripts and listened to some of the videos of his speeches, but he's such a phenomenal orator to hear in person.
Tuesday I went to my precinct convention to caucus. I got there early because I knew parking was going to be an issue. The powers that be decided this year they would group my precinct and a neighboring precinct in ONE polling place. In years past, my precinct would vote at the middle school and the other precinct would vote at the elementary school a block away. This year, the Dem. primaries and caucuses for both precincts and the GOP primary for the other precinct was in the lobby of the library. Only the GOP primary for my precinct was at the middle school.
Why am I mentioning this?
Because when the polls closed and it was time to start the caucuses, not everyone was able to get into the building because the fire marshal said we had hit capacity. In fact, there were about 200 people waiting to get inside to get into the caucuses. Needless to say, caucus proceedings started late. (BTW, I'm a delegate to the senatorial district convention.) Afterwards, I joined my friend/fav bartender to watch the results into the wee hours of the morning.
Like I said, I am a little disappointed with last night's results, but the race is FAR from over. There are still 10 more states coming up and it's a tight race, so I'm not disheartened.
YES WE CAN!!!
4 comments:
True to my red blood, I went to vote too. Although I was a little miffed. The roads around my apartment were closed and to my favorite bar! Nevermind that I had to keep a library open until 11:45 Pm to let you dems caucus or whatever it is that you do.
Joel, don't hate because we were doing our civic duty. And don't be jealous because we Dems outnumbered y'all 4 to 1 at the primaries. You should be proud that you were assisting us trying to change the country and making our voices heard.
Eh. I voted, too. It was kind of a funny scene at the polling place--the volunteers emphasizing which primary that you came to vote in. I swear, can you Dems not tell which arrow goes left for Dems and right for GOP? *wink* I'm serious there were at least 10 people arriving at the GOP side while I was there. I should've said, "Well, come on in!"
I voted in Montrose - y'all know where I live, please explain this!
The lady at the table: "pardon me for asking this, but are you voting Republican or Democrat?"
Me: "Huh?"
Lady: I've been yelled at all day because this isn't a Democrat polling place."
Again, why was my polling place in Montrose?
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