I am very thankful I had the opportunity to attend the Obama rally last night at the Xcel Energy Center. My friend Jeff and I got downtown at 6 p.m. and had a 30 minute walk to the end of the line. At the time I was estimating that there was little chance we'd get in, as we walked well over 15 city blocks. Regardless, I was happy to see the throng of highly enthusiastic people waiting on the historic night.
The line did get moving, albeit slowly, and after 8 p.m. I thought for sure that the Xcel had filled up, but had not heard anything. The line moved faster, and before we knew it, we were outside just a few feet away from the entrance. Jeff and I made it in just a couple of minutes before Barack took the stage.
I am still processing the evening. I am filled with a huge amount of respect for him, but also for the voters as a whole who came out to vote. Despite that racism is still a problem we as a society need to grapple with, I am very proud of our country having moved from the violence and chaos of the civil rights movement to nominating an African-American to be a Presidential candidate. It does speak positive volumes about how we have grown as a country!
I'm sure I'll have more to say in the next few days, but I wanted to share my initial set of thoughts about last evening, and to say thanks again to Jeff for getting me out to the rally! You are a great friend!
