Barack Obama Rally

I don't have much time for a long post so I'll just put up a few details and pictures.

The weather was overcast but overall very nice. Our VIP tickets meant we could stand in a section with a slightly better view located next to the Clark Atlanta University Pep Band.


The CAU Pep Band.


CAU Pep Band dancing a little.



The crowd in one direction.


Another.

The Reverend Joseph Lowery led an introductory prayer. The prayer had some neat couplets on racial solidarity that went a bit like this.

When black
Doesn't have to step back
Brown
Can stick around
Yellow
Is mellow
The Red man
Can get ahead, man
And white
is alright.

Then the daughter of former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson sang the Star-Spangled Banner.


Here he is!



A very excited crowd.



Excellent public speaker. There were mic problems but they didn't throw him off his stride. He seemed to pick up a bit of a Jawja accent as he progressed. That's quite understandable; anytime anyone sells something they have a tendency to match their accents to what they think other people want to hear. He was basically selling himself. I think he put his resume across successfully. He stressed his knowledge of constitutional law and community activism work, during which people often referred to him as Yomama and Alabama. It's a good thing he can joke on his own name, because his enemies are attacking him nonstop about it. The fact that he doesn't have a lot of experience within Washington was advanced as a positive, which I agree with. Less history means less debts to crooked lobbyists.

The speech had a very positive message and advanced a progressive platform. Without mentioning Bush or Republicans by name, he also gave some brief but concentrated criticism of where we've gone horribly wrong. I like how he puts it that "we're funding both sides of the war on terror". He also promises to give me universal healthcare and employ ex-offenders to install more efficient insulating material in my house. Yay! As long as they're not ex-burglars I'm totally fine with that.

I'm still not firmly in the Obama camp, but I might be by the end of the year, depending on how things go.

Does he have a chance? It's hard to say. A potential third-party candidacy from an insane white supremacist like Tom Tancredo could split off the rightmost wing of the Republican coalition and ensure a victory for practically any Democratic candidate.