My awesome experience Tuesday night, and a funny story. (Obama rally in Raleigh)

[adoraz]

So, it was Monday night and I knew Obama was more than likely coming to NC for his victory party. I kept refreshing the site to see where it was going to be, and finally after midnight on Tuesday morning, I saw he was only going to be 20 minutes away (NC State campus) so I quickly got a few tickets. When I woke up, they were all sold out.

I went with my mom, and while we were walking there a man stopped us and gave us red wristbands for VIP tickets behind the stage. Usually only volunteers get these tickets.

We went through a ton of security to move to the back of the stadium, and they had all us line up. Eventually, we got out onto the stage and we were standing on the platforms behind where Obama was speaking. Then a man came up and asked my mom if she wanted to move to the center so she would be on TV behind him the entire time, as well as a few other women. She tried asking if I could go as well, but I am a young white male so it didn't work.

The funny thing about this was they purposely did this to have the middle age white women behind him. If you watched the speech and saw a bunch of white women in pink shirts, this was no coincidence.

The seating was extremely limited in the first place, only a few thousand people were there and there were literally dozens of tables set out behind the cameras for the press.

at the party/rally, they played the "Yes We Can" song, and had CNN on so everyone went crazy when they announced he won NC by a large margin.

I'm surprised Obama can see as well as he can during these events, because the lights were incredibly bright and I had trouble looking up.

Overall though, it was pretty sweet. This was the first time I ever got VIP tickets for anything. I was on TV for about 30 seconds, and my mom was on for the entire time.

Very cool experience. :)

edit: Oh, and the other people around us were all very kind. More so than the average group of people.

Also, we got about 30 calls from people who said they saw us (mainly my mom) on TV.

[DerekJ]

1. When is he going to start campaigning in Ontario, Canada?!!

[mmonk]

2. Yes, a certain amount of staging occurs at all the candidate events.

I'm glad you had a good time. I know how bright the lights are as well. When I was at the JJ Dinner, I got up from my table to get a good picture of Obama and as I walked over to the side of the stage and turned towards him, the lights were like someone suddenly shoving high beam flashlights in your eyes.

[flpoljunkie]

3. A couple of photos from the event...

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks to supporters in Raleigh, N.C., after winning the North Carolina Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, May 6, 2008.
(AP Photos/Gerry Broome)