On Saturday, October 11th, Philadelphian's were Obama-struck. All day long he made appearances at events throughout he city. My friends and I walked over to 52nd and Locust for an open-air rally at around 10am and filed into a line that stretched several blocks, where we would stand and wait for three hours. If our excitement waned or our feet hurt, one of us would remind the others that "we were going to hear Obama's voice!"
A little after 1pm, we flooded into the main two-block arena. I took in the patchwork beauty of the diverse crowd, always a little fearful at any surprise gust of movement (or sound) that something might happen. Perhaps, I was worried that someone might have strayed from the mobs at the McCain-Palin rallies to wreak havoc on ours.
But ultimately, my trepidation was unfounded and I was left with the prevailing feeling of the day, which truly was the exuberance, diversity, and intensity of the enthralled crowd. They were there for one reason only: to hear Obama.