Obama in Miami Beach

This event was an interesting one considering I had just left the Miami Dade county auditorium. Taking place at Mansion, a premier night club in the heart of South Beach, and asking for $100/person brought out the bling in full effect. Unfortunately, these standard tickets didn't get you close enough to shake hands with the senator, it cost another $150 for that. I was definitely disappointed since it gave a sizable pricetag to simply make contact, but I can see the need to raise funds for the campaign at this point. I guess I'll have to move to Iowa or something.

The speech was pretty informal and I was amazed at how well Barack can play off the crowd. At one point while talk about today's administration, someone yelled out "Get out of the Bush's!". This had everyone rolling including the senator...he shifted into a full breakdown of why GW has failed the American people. At another moment on the same thread, a shout of "and the constitution" came to complete Obama's sentence on how the white house has word-played with our trust. It made for a great "stump speech" that proved a solid connection between the speaker and the audience.

He closed out as a great story teller... without embellishing, I'll describe it briefly. He recalled a previous experience on the campaign trail that showed him one person can make a difference. He had made a promise to an endorser that he would visit her hometown in some place in South Carolina. Turns out it was "an hour and a half from everywhere". Arriving in the rain and after a long drive with his crew, he was grumpy and unmotivated. Walking into a city hall with about 20 senior citizens, he saw little worth in being there. Making the best of it and approaching the group, he heard someone enter the room from behind. I small old lady with a large brim church hat mustered a commanding "Fire it up!". The group reluctantly replied "fire it up...". She followed with "Gettin ready'a go" to receive a louder response. Turns out this lady was a 20-year councilwoman known to be an awesome chanter. She incessantly repeated the phrases to louder and louder replies. "Come to think of it, I was starting to feel a lil....fired up myself", Obama explained. This one lady made all the difference. "So what I can say to you is... Fire it up!"..."Gettin ready'a go"... Each iteration elicited a louder and louder response from us. After the fifth time, he shouted "Let's change the world!!!...thank youoo..." and through up a recognizable Peace Sign.

I felt like I witnessed history.

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