Obama and Kennedy Address Overflow Crowd in DC

And I was there, along with a gazillion others. They represented a broad spectrum of America–young and old, black, white, Asian and Hispanic, men, women and children.

I noticed one woman–black and well dressed, who must have been at least 80 years old. She got out of a taxicab in front of Bender Arena, the sports complex at American University in Washington, DC, where Ted and Caroline Kennedy had come to endorse Barack Obama. The woman could barely walk and had to be helped out of the cab. She hobbled up to me and asked, “Is this Bender?” I thought, this woman probably figured she’d never live to see to this, to see Ted and Caroline Kennedy come out to endorse a black man for president of the United States. And there was no way she was going to miss it.

A lot of people seem to feel passionate about Obama, for one reason or another, like the woman below who happily let me and others snap her picture, a picture that says a thousand words.

I had heard that Ted and Caroline Kennedy were going to endorse Barack Obama at American University, so I thought, why not attend this historical event? I remembered my father going to see Dr. King when he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the memorial in Washington, DC. I was a child at the time so my father didn’t take me and my sister. He always said he regretted it but he didn’t know how historic an occasion it would turn out to be. I now live less than an hour away from American University, I attended graduate school there, and I thought, I’m not going to let this chance to see the man who could be our first black president get away.

So I nudged my husband away from his computer, and we ended up waiting for hours in the freezing cold and rain…OK, so the weather was actually rather nice, but we did wait for a few hours. We knew to expect a big crowd. I mean this was DC with Obama AND Kennedy. We didn’t know that half the people who showed up wouldn’t even get into the sports arena, and we were among the unfortunate many.

BUT…this crowd–patient, pumped up and determined, wasn’t going to let a little thing like a solid brick building and dozens of security guards and secret service agents deter us. We weren’t going anywhere until we saw our guy. Luckily, American University officials and security people understood, and they set up tables to search and scan us and then moved us to a sectioned-off outdoor area where we waited for Obama. After the event inside the arena was over, he and Kennedy graciously came over and addressed a very fired up crowd before hopping into their vehicles and going to the next event.

What a morning! I really hope that elderly woman was able to hold out and see it all.