Barack Star!

Greetings,

I spent today with thousands of my closest friends at the Comcast Center in College Park, MD watching Barack Obama lay out his plan for the future of America. The day started with me arriving on campus at 8am for a 12:30 speech. With the temperature hovering around 18 degrees, the crowd swelled to an estimated 30 thousand that wrapped through the campus for nearly 2 miles.

I have been a fan of Barack Obama for quite a while. So yes, it is fair to say I was a little biased when I entered the building at 9:30am. What transpired over the next 5 hours solidified my support of Obama to be the next President of the United States. The crowd slowly filtered into the arena, filling in every nook and cranny of a stadium that hosts 18,500 for a Terrapin basketball game. The crowd contained all walks of life - blacks and whites, old and young, male and female. For a college campus you would expect a young crowd, but there were many there just like me - 30 something white professionals. I couldn't help but wonder why would so many take a day off from work to hear a presidential candidate make a stump speach in a state that is most likely going to go for this candidate anyway?

At approximately 12:55pm, my question was answered. Barack Obama took the stage and the crowd was electric! Jonathan had shared that something was different about this politician when he saw Barack in Iowa. You can't explain it or understand it until you see it. I have been to many political events in the last 20 years and never have I witnessed a scene like this before. I have been to many sporting events on this campus (Terps vs. Duke) and never have I seen a crowd this energized for an event.

He went through his typical stump speech, which I have heard on CNN at least 100 times. What is different is that when you are there and you not just see the interaction with the crowd but feel the interaction it changes how you feel about politics. Barack Obama is politically far to the left of me. However, I believe that Barack has the ability to unite America. Our politics are too fractured to fix what ails us with the current cast of characters in Washington. Maybe Barack is too young and naive to fix Washington. Maybe Barack is the change and enthusiasm that this country needs. Whatever side you take on that you can't help but recognize that Barack Obama is the pied piper for the American electorate.

Barack Obama is being greeted like a rock star wherever he goes. The crowds get bigger at every venue. The more people know about him the more they like him. He is causing the Clinton Political machine to lose sleep. Dare I say he is bigger than the Beatles. I will predict that he clinches the Democratic nomination and goes on to win the Presidential Election in November. I will proudly be following him chanting - YES WE CAN! Barack Obama is something different than anything you have ever experienced. Barack Obama is the right choice for 2008!

YES WE CAN!