Obama is Coming to The City of the Angels

[Dihannah1]

Is anyone still awake? 10 p.m. Monday.

I need some encouragement regarding attending the Obama rally tomorrow. Since September 11, I am skeered of big crowds.

I'm determined to go. I found out it is an outdoor arena so I'll wear a hat.  

I'll log on in the morning to see if anyone has read this and has encouraging words for me.

You will be fine!  We are anxciously waiting for you adventure today!  We will all keep you in our prayers for your strenght and safety!  You GO girl!  

[Sam]

You can do this Louise. You are strong. Plus the Monkeys will want to know about your experience.

Go Girl

[LouiseVargas]

Thanks to everyone who posted words of encouragement. I really appreciated it. It helped a lot and I got a sense of excitement and my fears faded.

[mrs. red]

LV... I am looking forward to hearing about your impressions.

[LouiseVargas]

Hi Mrs. Red,

I'm working on the story. I'm uploading pics and trying to integrate them into the post.

I'm almost done.

[LouiseVargas]

Ok, here we go. I left my place at noon. The rally was to take place at 2 pm. I arrived at 1 pm and the cops wouldn't let me into to the VIP parking lot so I eventually found street parking on the north side of the field. As soon as I got onto the field, I was stopped by a cute young guy with red hair who asked if I had an E-ticket, if not I should fill out this form. Then I was directed into one of three lines. There were six other lines. So I got into line only to learn we would be standing there for another hour until 2 pm.

Waiting in line


I was chatting with the people in line, talking about many subjects ... Obama, Clinton, JFK, etc. I saw a beautiful couple and they let me take a pic. Look at this love and beauty.  


This man was a MAIN, the way Muddy Waters sang about it. I had to talk him into this pic. Why are they all married?


At 2 pm they let us past the gates (not real gates, just yellow police tape) and the huge crowd of people ran towards the stage area. I got two cardboard Obama signs and I stopped along the way to take some pics.

Banner Above the Stage


I wound up way in the back, about 50 feet from the stage, in front of the iron fence behind which were the press, reporters, camera people and officials.

The Press


Look at this Creativity. This woman was standing next to a another woman with a baby in a stroller. She wanted to attach the cardboard sign to her hat. The mommy with the stroller just happened to have two little pink hair clips and gave them to the woman. Mommies have everything.


I was able to take some pics but although yesterday I charged up 4 Sony batteries, all of them went dead. I sat down on the cement, got out my glasses and was fiddling with the camera wondering why it would not stay on. Five minutes ago it was working. I took out the batteries, put them back in, got the extra set and installed them but they were just dead. I was so upset thinking I came all this way to take pics for the Monkeys and my camera was not working. A guy with a "Press" badge tapped me on the shoulder. He said, "I've been watching you struggle and I just can't stand it anymore. Give me your camera and let me check it out. All these batteries are dead." He gave me two regular AA batteries and voila! my camera came back to life. A random act of kindness. I thanked him so much.

So now it's 2 pm. People were saying Barack won't be there until 3:15 pm. OMG, I was already exhausted. People over 50 cannot stand for hours. I had one bottle of water in my purse. There were no food vendors and I was hungry. I strolled back and forth and talked to various people but it was a long exhausting period of time.

I noticed a pretty woman behind the press fence and she started talking to me. She asked my name, where I live, how I got there, did I come alone or with others, am I a democrat, and how did I arrive at the decision to come to the rally. I said I'm still checking Obama out, I love his charisma but I want to know more about his plans. She said, "So you're on the fence?" I said yes but I feel favorably inclined towards him. I asked what she was writing down (duh) and she said she was interviewing me. She works for the main Spanish language newspaper called La Opinion in Los Angeles.

Maria


Then came 12 singers and dancers onto the stage singing the Star Spangled Banner. Then they did some more singing and dancing. Next, an Afro Jazz group played percussion instruments. After that, another group with African dancers that jump and dance in contortions. I love African music and have a good sized collection.

I was so tired, I was ready to leave but I didn't let myself do that. I came to see Obama. Next, a man spoke and talked about how two years ago, he was homeless and on the street but (I couldn't heard what he said) then came back to life and here he was in such a wonderful position to be able to introduce the candidate. Another thing I noticed was that I cannot hear very well anymore. Too much loud rock and roll on headphones.

At 3:15, a group of drummers paraded across the stage and then I heard a huge cheer as Obama came onto the stage. I had very little opportunity to get pics of him because of the crowd in front of me waving the Obama signs. I was standing next to a tall man and asked him if he could take some pics for me or else hoist me up on his shoulders. Lol. He took a bunch of pics. His pics were of the trees above the stage. Bless his heart. I tried to take some also but Obama was moving around so much I couldn't get a good pic. So I took at least 20 shots and 2 of them are included.

Then I remembered I had my small Nikon concert binoculars in my purse. You cannot even buy those anymore. They stopped making them. But I was able to zoom in on him and follow him as he walked around the stage. I shared my binoculars with the tall guy so he could get a closer look too.

When Obama arrived on stage, he wore a charcoal grey suit (probably Armani) with a white dress shirt unbuttoned at the neck. After a couple of moments, he took off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves. I noticed his only jewelry was a huge gold wedding ring and a watch with a black strap. His pants were pleated in the front, had flat pockets on the back and he had a cell phone on the left side of his expensive leather belt.

Obama


Obama


I found the racial crowd mix to be about 70% black and 30% white/other. The 30% tended to be young, under 30 and committed.

I found Obama to be better looking in person than in photos and on TV. Yet he has more charisma on TV. A couple things he said: "If you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching before us; if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe past and future generations, then I'm ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with you:
To Put America First
-  Health care for all Americans to be phased in over a six year period.
To Invest in America
- Reduce our Dependence on Imported Oil
- Use Foreign Relations as a Tool for Peace
- Create the Urban American Core, People Helping People
- A Housing Ownership Plan for all Americans

Other than that, with my poor hearing, his message was that of hope and idealism and his plans to infuse America with those virtues. Basically, he is a breath of fresh air and a new face. That's all. Obama is all about charisma and speaking,but something is missing. I do not think it is possible that he could be the nominee for President. He's smart but I didn't hear anything substantial at this rally. . Just charisma and music. (Remember I mentioned above all the singers and dancers that performed?)

I heard Bill O'Reilly talking to pundits about how the Obama machine would not sell him a ticket to the Hollywood Fund Raising event last night. It cost $2,300 for a ticket. Bill sent someone from his staff to find out why he was locked out. They said NO, period. Further talk on BOR's show was something like this: This was my first and last political rally. I can't stand that long, I can't hear well and without my strong glasses, I cannot determine what the camera window shows. It was an experience and I'm glad I attended.

[nonesuche]

Louise !

You did a great job !!!!!! Kudos to you !! Plus you were interviewed by a journalist? We should send you more places, you should have mentioned to her about SM  

I know it had to be tiring, much like visiting Disney and having to wait and wait in the sun - it is very tiring and no seat to sit on!

I appreciate you went and you shared so much with us. Thank you !!

[LouiseVargas]

Thanks so much, Nonesy.

[A's Fever]

Wow, Louise, thank you very much for this interesting and informative report.  Your second to last paragraph speaks volumes!  I hope you went home to a nice hot bath and a good nights sleep!

[Sam]

Thank you Louise for being the one to do this. I can certainly understand how you might not want to try this again but always enjoy your stories.

It does make you wonder if your thoughts might have been different if you had a place to sit, if the speaker had been on time without the wait. It does look like they did have some nice entertainment for you though. So evidently he was always scheduled for the 3:15 time.

[Bobo2]

Louise, thank you for facing your apprehension about the crowd, attending the rally and giving us such a great report.   Your story gives interesting detail and makes me feel like I was there too, and I'm sure many other agree.

[Mere]

Louise....thank you for attenting and reporting back to us....he may not be the next president, but you are part of American history....and your pictures are part of your "memories".....

[LouiseVargas]

Hi Monkeys,

I noticed I made a little mistake above in my last paragraph.

I wrote: "I heard Bill O'Reilly talking to pundits about how the Obama machine would not sell him a ticket to the Hollywood Fund Raising event last night. It cost $2,300 for a ticket. Bill sent someone from his staff to find out why he was locked out. They said NO, period. Further talk on BOR's show was something like this:"

(This is the part I left out.)  Obama does not want influential and analytical political reporters to ask hard questions and pin him down regarding specific issues, in the way only BOR can do.

I also noticed at the bottom of one of his political flyers it said "Should Senator Obama decide not to run for President, the campaign funds raised will all be donated to one or more 501 (c)(3) not for profit organizations." That means he already is considering the fact that he may not have a chance in 2008.

Perhaps this campaign is to make his name well known and bring him to the forefront of American politics.  If we elect the next President, who will probably have two terms (from 2008 to 2016), Obama will have more experience under his belt he will be 56 and the people may be more ready to embrace him. That is, if the world is still here in 2016.

[LouiseVargas]

Hi Sam,

Sam wrote:
"It does make you wonder if your thoughts might have been different if you had a place to sit, if the speaker had been on time without the wait. It does look like they did have some nice entertainment for you though. So evidently he was always scheduled for the 3:15 time."

Thank you for you interesting thoughts. I believe this was a relatively small political rally. There were no seats and everybody had to stand, except for the Press. There were bleacher seats and they could have changed the location of the stage so people could sit down. So I think they decided people should stand. Pooh on them. I would never go to a rock concert FOR ANY PERFORMER if people have to stand up.

Sam, if I were able to be sitting down and have a good view, I would have enjoyed the entertainment. Standing up, I could hardly see above the crowd. I do believe that Obama's appearance was scheduled for 3:15. However, if I had a front row seat, and a hot dog or something, my thoughts would still be the same. I didn't see enough substance.

[LouiseVargas]

I forgot to mention the issue of security. There was a low key police presence on the periphery of the crowd. I saw a couple of LA Fire Department guys walking by but that's all.

The invitation said bring as little as possible and not to bring bags. So I got out a large black purse and put my camera, binoculars and water bottle inside.

I saw people coming in with bags. No one was searched or "wanded." I could have had a gun in my purse and pushed my way forward into the crowd and killed him. Why wasn't there any security?

Just want to let ya know I don't own a gun and would never in a million years want to shoot anyone.

[Dihannah1]

LV!  I am so proud of you and so much appreciate your sacrifice of standing all day, hungry and tired to report for us.   As always, I love to read your stories as you are so discriptive and observant of even the minute details.  I too felt like I was there.

For all your sacrifice, it sounds like you also benefited from it and if nothing else, got some of your own questions answered.  That is the most important, that YOU gained something from it.  AND even got to meet some diverse and interesting people on your trip.

That was so nice of the reporter to get your camera working and the interview you did!      

Thank you so much for such a complete report!  I give it an AA++  

[Dihannah1]

Also,  Note to political organizers.  Always provide proper seating, food and drinks for your supporters at the VERY least!

[mrs. red]

Louise Vargas,
Thanks so much for the report... I was going to write to you last night, but I wanted Red to read your report without my imput...

Basically out of the four or so people I know that saw him at UNH, three felt exactly as you did.  One of them is going to vote for him come hell or high water, because basically she thinks that he is cute... (her words not mine).

What a most excellent report you wrote, like everyone said, it's like I was there... I am so proud that you went and shared the experience with us!

Thanks so much!!

[klaasend]

bump

[LouiseVargas]

Thanks, Klaas for finding this and bumping it.

It has been one year since I went to one of Obama's first rallys in Los Angeles. He was unknown then and now, a year later, he is almost the democratic nominee. This is certainly the most exciting race of my life.