A day of firsts

With 9 days left before the election, Obama followed suit and came for the last time (or so we think) before 4 Nov. to Colorado. Our office, which is located northeast of Denver, was given the opportunity to attend.

I had never been to a political rally, which is odd, I know, given that I love politics, but this was an unique experience. Since I am staff I didn't have to wait in line, which was awesome given this crowd:

I was feeling slightly guilty for being there. I was extremely tired, cold, and thinking that this wasn't going to help win the election in Colorado, especially in Brighton where my office is located, but I thought it would be a nice change of pace. Hey, we might even get some volunteers out of the deal.

When he began speaking I got really excited. I was about 100-200 feet away from him, and it finally dawned on me that we, as in everyone in that crowd and I, were making history. His speech, even though the same information with little twists we have been hearing via the media, lifted spirits and was received with tons of enthusiasm. I heard older women screaming like they would have at a Beatles concert in "their day," and bragging that this was the 9th time they had seen him speak and that they would follow him all over the country. I left the rally feeling great, energized and ready to hit the doors.

Then the unthinkable happened. I got back to the office and was the first one there. Good thing, too, because I am the key holder. I had been waiting around for my Field Organizer, Stephen, for about an hour, so that I could go out and knock on some doors, when I received a call from my regional director, Nick, looking for Stephen. He said that he really needed to get a hold of him immediately, and that he would call me right back. I was a bit nervous because I didn't know what was going on. Did we not meet our goal? Should we have been doing something more? No, in fact completely different, Barack Obama was on his way to our office and he would be there in 30 minutes.

At that point, I didn't really know what to think. I wasn't freaked out or worried, I just listened intently as Nick rattled of instructions of cleaning the office and getting on the phones to get as many people there as I could and said he was on his way.

Thank God Vicki and Sarah showed up when they did with a handful of other volunteers. I tried to print call lists from our database, but I couldn't find them, so luckily they had the volunteer lists to call from. We were actually able to get 60+ people here before he arrived.

We (Nick, Stephen and I) along with our core Brighton volunteers lined up in the foyer to our office as sort of a "greeting team" for BO. He walked in the door and started shaking hands and greeting people down the line. I was last and got skipped over. I really didn't mind because at this point I wanted to be anywhere, but in the office. I got a little shy and wanted to be as far away from him as possible. (Yes, I think this is silly too, he is after all, just a person. An incredibly intelligent person running for president of the US, but still just a person).

Needless to say, I did get to meet him. I'll post the rest of the story after the election. But here's a picture for the time being: