Obama Drama

I think the fact that our next U.S. president comes from Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago may have a teeny bit of influence over whether we get the Olympics in 2016, don't you? The only real drama at the Obama rally in Grant Park on Nov 4 was Oprah crying on the shoulder of a random stranger; there were no "incidents" or any form of violence. The crowd was estimated to be somewhere in the ballpark of 250,000 people, so he's already proven that Chicago can handle crowd control.

I was there (not in the special people section, but in the overflow areas watching Senator Obama speak on the big screen), and this place was PACKED. Zack and I rode our bikes down there on a whim after his flag football game, and were glad we went. Really, this was a historic event and it was very exciting to be able to be there for it in our very own city of Chicago. On the bike ride down, most streets were blocked off. But for whatever reason, there were still cars on State Street, and you could hear the echo of honking horns from blocks away. There was honking, waving of flags, crying, cheering, chanting, screaming like crazy people, and much more. I can't even explain the sound of it... you really had to be there. But as soon as Obama took the stage, the crowd fell silent to watch and listen.

Either way, I'm glad we maintained a tame atmosphere in Grant Park on Nov 4 and I'm also crossing my fingers that our "good behavior" gives us brownie points when it comes to picking the location for the 2016 Olympics next year.

I know this is a terrible picture of the Obama rally, but it was the best I could do with my camera phone! I'll get better photos off Zack's camera later...