Barack Obama in SF: A MOMocrat Eyewitness Account

I had the privilege of attending a fundraiser for Barack Obama in San Francisco on Sunday night, and came away with a renewed feeling of optimism and hope that this man could be our next President.  I was on the fence between Hillary and Barack for a long time, after the crushing blow of John Edwards' withdrawal from the race.  I now know that if Barack wins the nomination, he will go all the way.

My husband, our 7 year old son, and I drove up to a gorgeous home in San Francisco, and were met with a long line of well-dressed Northern Californians who were all excited to meet Obama.  We met our hosts at the door, a real estate developer and his lovely wife.  There were about 300 people in attendance, all crowded into the downstairs living room, dining room, and foyer, munching on appetizers and drinking wine. 

When Obama's motorcade (actually, two giant champagne-colored Suburbans) arrived, we all had to squeeze together and back up to make way for him to come through the crowd without freaking out the Secret Service.  My son, Alex, met a 9 year old girl at the event and the two of them weaseled their way up to the front to position themselves at the bottom of the staircase that Obama was use to make his entrance.  The Secret Service stoically stood by, eyeing the crowd and talking into their sleeves from time to time, and the crowd was calm, but excited.

Our hosts welcomed us, and introduced Congresswoman Barbara Lee.  Barbara Lee represents California's 9th District, which includes Oakland and Berkeley.  She is famous for being the only Member of Congress to vote against the authorization to allow military force after 9/11, because she presciently knew that the President would use it for more than what he claimed.  She stood in a hallway between the living room and the foyer where everyone had gathered and said a few words about why she supported Barack Obama.  She was so tiny I couldn't see her over the heads of the crowd in front of me.  She introduced Obama, and he camed striding down the staircase, and the crowd cheered.

Alex was up in the front and I was in the middle of the crowd, so I didn't get to see what happened when Obama reached the bottom of the stairs.  The next thing I knew, Obama stepped into the foyer, took the microphone and said, "What's wrong, little man?" and a mom in the crowd replied, "He wanted to shake your hand," and indicated the child in her arms, who was about 3 years old.

Obama smiled and reached out to the boy, and said, "We're all good now, right?"

He went back to his position between the two rooms, and thanked the hosts and started talking about campaigning.  He said that he'd met thousands of people criss-crossing the country, shook a lot of hands and kissed a lot of babies.  "A LOT of babies," he quipped.

A woman in the other room shouted, "Will you kiss mine?"

He turned and looked at her and said, "Where's the baby?"

She must have pointed to a child sitting with her, and he said, "You always know the moms.  They always think their kid is a baby, even though he's what? Ten? Now you've gone and embarassed him."

The crowd laughed and applauded at this line.  Even though it had gotten pretty hot and stuffy in the room, everyone was in a good mood.  I'm sure the boy was mortified.

Obama's remarks were, in some ways, fairly typical of things we've heard before, but he seemed so much more relaxed and sure of himself than he did when we saw him with a much larger crowd last July.  He was funny and charming, and engaging in a way that I had not seen before.  He's gotten a lot of flack for using a teleprompter during his well-crafted speeches, but I don't think he needs it.  He is much better just talking to people, just being himself.

This was his third event of the day, but he seemed very much in tune with the crowd, and energized by it.  The woman standing next to me said, "I don't know how they do this...I don't know how he doesn't just drop dead from exhaustion."

I was juggling cameras, video equipment, and my son's stray Power Ranger action figure, trying to capture photos and videos, and wasn't paying attention to much of what he was saying.  At one point, I just put everything down, and looked intently at him, and saw him looking back.  It was at that moment that I knew that he believed what he was saying, that he is not the solution to our problems, but that we are. 

He talked about the current economic crisis, but noted that as a nation, we've been through worse. We've endured the Great Depression and several recessions, World Wars, and problems at home and abroad.  He said that he hears people say that the racial divide in this country is tremendous, and he responds, "Maybe so, but just try slavery." 

The African-American man standing next to me whispered, "Amen to that, brother."

He said that we are facing challenges today that we can solve, if we work together, if we reach out and try to understand not just what leaders are telling us, but what people across the globe are telling us. He talked about living in Indonesia and visiting Pakistan when he was in college, and about his family members who live in impoverished villages in Africa.  He said that it's not enough to know what foreign leaders want, but what people want. He believes that he has what it takes to understand the problems we face and the judgment to make sound calls (at 3 am and otherwise).  For the first time, I actually believed him. 

He only had time for a couple of questions, and I raised my hand, wanting to ask one of the many we received here at MOMocrats from our readers.  Unfortunately, I didn't get chosen, but I was thinking about those questions, and felt as though I could answer some of them.  I think what he would say was that he doesn't have all the answers, and that he will find the best and the brightest people and put them to work on it.  People like you and me. People who care enough to ask the questions and work for the solutions.

About this time, my son snaked his way back through the crowd and found me.

"Mom! Mom! He shakeded my hand!" Alex said as he held out his hand for me to inspect, as though there were some residue of Obama magic on it that I could see.  Actually, the real Obama magic was apparent in my son's eyes, which sparkled as though he knew he had just touched a bit of greatness. 

I didn't get a picture of that handshake, but I don't think I need one.  I don't think my son will forget that moment as long as he lives.  I know I won't.

Photos by Glennia. More photos on Flickr.

Comments

[cynematic]

I <3 Barbara Lee!! SHE needs to be president next.

What a wonderful glimpse of a person we'd be lucky to have as our next president.

[Julie Pippert]

Glennia, this is so awesome! Thanks for the great recap. It's too bad you didn't get chosen for a question but good point about the answers. I bet your son will never forget.

[Devra]

Glennia,
Your recap gave me chills! Loved it!

[Lia]

I am a little teary reading this. Of course, I also have PMS but still. Very cool post. I learn so much from you Glennia. Thanks!

[Stephanie Brown]

Such a great post! "...try slavery..." indeed. We can get past all this. He's so right. This is not the worst our country has suffered. I had the fortune of seeing him in Fort Worth and it was exhilarating to hear him speak. Then I ran one of those crazy caucuses (4 delegates for Obama, 3 for Hillary in mine) and even though it was disorganized and chaotic, it was the Democratic process and it was exciting. It was thrilling to see everyone participating, fired up, taking a stand, getting along despite all the differences. The Hope aspect of it is so true... everyone just seems to have a little more hope. I think it's incredibly motivating.

[Frank S.]

Great photo.
Really good description, too.

[Debbie]

Glennia.

This post.

It deserves a medal.

You r.u.l.e. I am honored beyond words to know you.

xo