Cousins Are Supposed To Be Cool

These past couple of days have sucked me away from reality. Literally. First, Claire McCaskill. Then, Chelsea Clinton. And as if that wasn't enough, Obama. Stuff like that doesn't happen every day.

This is the first Presidential election I will be able to vote in. The first I have been active in paying close attention to what the candidates have to say. And the first I have seen the candidates and their supporters in person. This will definately not be the last time I do this.

Two of my friends and I drove to Kansas City yesterday to see Barack Obama. We got down there pretty early in hopes of getting as close as we could to the Senator from Illinois (yeah Illinois!).

Of course we went down there in our red ONE Mizzou shirts. And of course I brought one for Obama. And a ONE band. And a personal letter thanking him for going on the record and basically rocking and making me proud to call him my Senator (ps, I was a sophomore when he ran for Senator and remember him coming to the train station in my town, and we meet again). Needless to say, I was not going to leave until Obama had a new addition to his wardrobe.
After standing in line for who knows how long, we entered the arena. We neared the stage and positioned our selves as close as possible - about seven rows back from where history would happen.

Anticipation grew and the minutes seemed longer and longer as we waited for The Man to come out from behind the curtains. Kathleen Sebelius, governor of Kansas, spoke about her endorsement for Obama while we all waiting ever more anxiously. And if you're ever going to have someone from Kansas speak, you better follow it with a Missourian. That's right, my BFF Claire was there to introduce the candidate she speaks so elloquantly about. I held up the ONE Mizzou shirt as she spoke on stage in hope that she would see it and be like, "hey, I have one of those shirts." But she never vocalized it. I'm pretty sure we made eye contact, but there's no telling where she was looking in that sea of people.

See, total eye contact in this picture

The moments before Obama's entrance were the most hyped, energized, unreal minutes of my life. Let me set the stage.

I cannot even express what it was like to be a part of that crowd. We literally witnessed history. Right there in Kansas City. They will talk about this Presidentail campaign for years to come.

I wish blogspot would allow me to upload video from youtube of this speech. You'll just have to look it up.

I realized something about Obama that night. He is funny. Ligitimately funny. He was talking about how Bush will not be on the ballot this year. And neither would his cousin Dick Cheney. "When you find out you have a cousin, it's supposed to be someone cool. But Cheney? ...Really?" That's pretty much how it went.

Sometime during my being in complete shock of my surroundings, a lady near the front and to the right of us started to faint. Obama stopped what he was talking about, right in the middle of his sentence, asked if she was alright, and made sure a chair was brought to her. He did not continue with what he was talking about until that lady was in a chair. People helping people. This is what it's all about.

I'm not even going to try to attempt to sumarize what he spoke of for fear, no, knowledge, I can't do justice.

Then came the time at the end of the night when everyone shoves up to the front in hopes of touching hands with Barack Obama. Like I said, I was not leaving with that shirt and that letter. I darted forward and became "that girl," you know, the one who pushes everyone out of her way. I got right up to the front, behind some blonde chick. I was trying to get next to her and she informed me Obama was not signing stuff and pushed me back. I resisted and told her I did not have anything for him to sign. Once I got passed her, I had to reach over some youngins to reach the Senator. I was not about to push little children out of the way. And there were so many of them there. So many.

The noise was unreal and Obama did not hear me call his name right behind him. He was not accepting anything himself as it was for he needed his hands for shaking. Luckily, his publicist was right behind him and I asked her to give the items to him. She said she would give them to him and looked at me like I was nuts.

This is the video. If you have motion sickness I do not suggest you watch it.

I was shaking for a good ten minutes afterwards.

So like I said, Claire McCaskill was there. Her and Obama are tight. And now, they share a common shirt. It is my fantasy that they went back to the hotel, Obama showed her his rockin' new shirt. And before she could say "let me borrow that top," she realized she has the same one and packed it with her. Then they put on their matching shirts and had a pajama party discussing poverty and the Global Child Survival Act. That is what happened that night after Obama blew Kansas City away. In my mind anyway.


Ps, I feel this blog should not be overshadowed, so tomorrow I will continue with the On the Record commitments since more candidates have dropped (Obama Edwards 08?). And the story of my visit with Senator Bond's office today.

Stay tuned.