OBAMA IN CORPUS CHRISTI
My 12 year old niece went to an Obama rally in Corpus Christi Texas yesterday. She wrote this last night and sent it to me. Notice the reflection on the window in the first picture? That's the U.S.S. Lexington parked by the port entrance.
OBAMA COMES TO CORPUS CHRISTI
Friday, February 22, 2008 , Barack Obama, Senator of Illinois and presidential candidate came down to Corpus Christi, Texas for a campaign rally. Being the first democratic candidate to come to Corpus Christi since Hubert Humphrey, Obama’s Rally was at the American Bank Center, Corpus Christi’s newest arena, which seats approximately 8,000 people.
By 2:30, two hours before Obama was scheduled to begin his Rally, the line to get into the arena was wrapped and twisted back beyond the building’s end and onto the sidewalk by the beach. People waited patiently, basking in a warm sunny day and watching the waves drift calmly. A very few hacklers protested loudly, shouting rude comments about both Obama and Hilary Clinton and holding signs reading nonsense such as “You cannot be Christian and vote for Obama.” Yet the atmosphere was calm and peaceful for the most part.
the line to see Obama
The line moved quickly once Obama arrived from the Corpus Christi Airport, the same airport which Hillary had been at only about a week ago before her Robstown Rally, and after a few minutes the arena was getting fuller and fuller. Soon the stadium was filled with cheering supporters, who were all different ages, races and sexes. A confident “Yes We Can” roared through the center as excitement began to build. When everyone was seated (about 6,000 people showed), Gilbert Moralez, an A&M Corpus Christi college student, opened the Rally with a wonderful introduction. Then, with an uproar from the crowd, he introduced Barack Obama.
stadium ground level
A tall, skinny and sleek young man with a grin from ear to ear walked out into the crowd shaking hands amiably with strangers while making his way to the platform. When he finally got there a boom of excitement exuded from the crowd. He politely thanked the audience, assuring them that he loved them too. Soon the hubbub abated, and he began his speech. He started by thanking a few people, including the audience for coming. Then he explained the Texas two step; no, not the dance, the mixture of both the voting and the caucus in Texas. He especially pushed early voting, but of course he said that he mainly wanted us, the Texan voters, to vote before or during March 4, which is the deadline for votes.
Barack Obama on his platform
Then he began speaking about the big issues, such as the immigration situation, the war in Iraq, which he was opposed to as senator in 2002, the schools and their lack of true teachers, “I want our young people to learn everything there is to learn…”, and the American financial situation. “ We’ve got some big problems to solve,” he said in a serious tone.
Lastly, he spoke about the propaganda going around about him. He began with the statement being said by many Americans, he is too young to be the president, too fresh and new. “The American people understand that the last thing we need is the same old folks doing the same old things, playing the same old games.” He explained that he is ready to be the commander and chief and that he will come through. “I’m skinny but I’m strong!” he joked.
Then he addressed the people who scolded him for having so much “hope.” He explained that he has a different definition of hope than most people. His head is not in the clouds, as he put it, but he does have his definition of hope, and he knows that everyone else needs it. “I have been fighting for 20 years. I know how hard change is; that spirit of hope has to come through. This is our moment and this is our time. ” And with that his rally was through. Everyone seemed to leave the stadium with “hope” and happiness.
To learn more about Obama’s campaign, go to http://www.barackobama.com.
UPDATE: A video stream of the event is HERE. HERE is a report from the local newspaper.
