Obama, live and in person

I arrived at 12:30 Sunday and stood about 5000th in line at the Target Center. Doors opened at 1:30; I made it inside at 2:30. I spoke to a woman who had recently visited India and a man with ties to the East Coast. The crowd was young, mostly around 30.

The stadium filled to 95% of capacity. If Target Center holds 23,000 for basketball games, then 25,000 were there including the people on the arena floor. (Media has reported 19,000 or 20,000, but they were being conservative.)

Golden Smog played 6 or 7 songs as the opening act. Spirited introductions were given by R.T. Rybak and Jane Freeman, whose husband, a Minnesota governor, introduced JFK at his nominating convention in 1960. The Obama speech riveted the crowd, and you can read about it in the Minnesota Monitor.

Why would one vote for Obama? You might vote for Obama because you identify with the younger candidate. You might vote for Obama because he is black. You may believe that in order to move beyond the Iraq war, we must get beyond the divisions of the Viet Nam war. Most likely, you see someone idealistic enough to work with others to solve problems, someone who sees potential allies instead of enemies, someone who asks you to help him make changes.