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Last night was historic for America, for Denver, for me, for my daughter Renee and ironically for my Dad (more on that later). Last night Renee and I were dropped off at Invesco Field about 5 p.m. filled with anticipation and honor to watch Barak Obama accept his nomination. It was an inspiring, fierce, humorous, rousing, warm, and close American night for the Barak supporter family that gathered to watch him accept his nomination.
Renee and I were greeted with that line you see in the pictures, which at times seemed to have no beginning and a far out of sight end.
However, nobody seemed that pissed and were more interested in finding a good solution to the problem of getting in on time to see Barak then mad at somebody for screwing things up. We ended up standing next to this couple from Brooklyn, Ullyses and Sarah, just married and attending an event like this for the same time. We chatted with them for some time in line and Sarah asked Renee all types of smart questions, so I immediately liked her. We shared an adventure together when we overheard that on the east side of the stadium there was no line, which was hard to believe. Ullyses told me to go to the top of the hill and look how long our line was to see how bad it was. Renee and I got to the top of the hill and waved them to follow us as the line was very long and I wanted to make a run for the east side. The came scrambling up and we were off. We got lucky and found a taxi who took an awesome U-turn and dumped us very close to the east side where we needed to be. On the way there I learned that Ullyses was a descendant of Mark Twain and he and Sarah planned to celebrate their 1 year anniversary in Hannibal, MO at the same Gates mansion at which April and I shared ours. Not that anybody gives a shit about that, but since that was one of the most romantic times of my boring marriage, that endeared them to me a bit more. We then rode a rickshaw the final few blocks and finally triumphantly walked right into the stadium with not one, not one person backed up in the security line. We said goodbye to this very cool couple (Ulysses does pro bono Guantomo bay prisoner defense)
All night, the volunteers and supporters were very cool, diverse, friendly, and warm. Obama seems to bring out the best Americans to his events, you know the smart ones, who are all shades of colors and ages and are not ugly redneck idiots. I first noticed this at a rally I attended in KC where I had never seen so many cooly dressed and smart looking and people you just want to know and talk to.
The Obama speech was so strong it was exhilirating. I felt like I did when I watched Bill Maher live, completely intellectually stimulated and laughing at times at the barbs Obama took at Bush. I think he should use humor more, such as the line about Mccain not even willing to chase Osama to the caves of Afghanistan much less the gates of hell. Naz and I goofed off the whole speech, riffing on lines, cheering wildly, and talking about Nancy Pelosi’s big tits. Oh yeah, we made fun of Kate a lot too. Kate is awesome, and so is her grandma. With me last night was my daughter Renee, the Nazman a mexican trail running hip-hop loving globetrotting porn star, Kate who got us the tickets and has no shortage of enthusiasm for the labor movement, running, or beautiful Colorado trees, and Kate’s grandma and her friend, 2 ladies who had traveled all the way from Indiana that morning to see Barak.
Internally, what I felt was more powerful. Obama inspires excellence but excellence in people, togetherness, and family. Having Renee there was most special of all, watching her soaking it all up in her way of not getting too involved but being a smart observer. I breathed in Obama’s combination of strength, warmth, and compassion and felt connected to everybody else who admired Obama for the same reasons. As he waved goodbye during the final dramatic and very intimate moments with that stadium, we waved back watching him leave and knowing that he is our man. He really brings out a very cool side of his supporters. As we walked out, everybody seemed so confident, mature, and self-assured.
Obama also brings out parts of people you never knew existed. Much like finding out somebody is a Mac lover (not just user), finding out that somebody is an Obama supporter tells something about them very quickly, and how they can recognize quality and embrace it. One of these people is my Dad (also a Mac lover) who has recently been embracing Obama full-on and after the speech last night, was so moved, that he donated (and my Dad rarely gives donations) $100 to his campaign proudly. Damn, that is inspiring. He also has been fiercely defending Obama to all his conservative friends. To watch my Dad admit this to his Mom, a very conservative Christian voter, is very very gratifying. Way to go Dad, showing some serious courage!
So this isn’t terribly well edited. But I am going to post it anyway, since it’s only a damn blog and I am too tired from last night to edit it much more.
