Gobama!

Tomkin and I went to the Obama rally in St. Paul on Tuesday, and we got to hear him announce that he is the Democratic candidate for president of the United States! (You can read his entire speech here.) It was an emotional, historic evening, and my heart swells with pride at having such a strong, exciting candidate, who I think could help to heal our nation after eight years of hateful fear-mongering and divisiveness (not to mention the war in Iraq, our worsening economy, etc, etc, etc). There was incredible positive energy in the crowd--I especially loved the guy in front of me, who kept jumping up and down and yelling "Obama! Yes!" We enjoyed talking to the Obama supporters around us and watching the various Minnesota politicians come through and wave to the crowd.Tomkin's friend Mark flew in from New York to cover the rally for Air America. You can hear his piece here; click on the link with the musical note next to it. (If one of the voices at the beginning sounds familiar, it's because it's mine!) When the speech was over, we walked onto the floor and tried to get through the throngs of people hoping to shake Obama's hand or see him up close. We did a peek at Michelle Obama and got a good view of Obama's assistant, Reggie Love as he gathered up items for his boss to sign. (I actually got to shake hands with Obama when I campaigned for him in Iowa last year! You can read that blog post here.) So now the primaries are over and the real fight begins. I just hope with all my heart that Obama can beat McCain in November--we need him to! (Here are just a sampling of the reasons why.)

Below is a video clip I took at the rally. What an amazing night!