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Barack Obama in Medford

Barack Obama in Medford. March 22, 2008. Photos by minnersthecat.

Presidents and those soon-to-be are distant sorts of characters, especially for someone as small as me. Bush Jr. famously came to Medford during the last election, sparking off some unpleasant events (also called "rioting," but whatever). Imagine my surprise when I heard Barack Obama would be at Kids Unlimited in Medford today. Eager to bask in the madness that follows cultural (cult of?) personalities, I packed up my camera and hitched a ride with some friends.

Demonstration outside of Barack Obama's Kids Unlimited appearance.

Of course, none of us had tickets to the speaking engagement, but addressing overflow crowds is standard practice on the campaign trail. True to form, officers of the Transportation Security Administration guided me through the metal detectors and carefully inspected my camera, bag, and keys. They wouldn't allow me to photograph their security checkpoint, but were no more invasive than the airport.

Obama briefly addressing the overflow crowd.

A crowd of several hundred supporters and at least one detractor filled the front room, while the ticketed guests were whisked away to the back of the complex. After some "Obama! Obama!" chanting (much easier than "Barack! Barack!"... go ahead, try it) and a few false alarms spooked the crowd, the man of the hour appeared with dozens of body guards.

He spoke very briefly to the crowd, mentioning how Oregon usually gets left out at this stage of presidential elections, but this time we really counted. He thanked us, he shook some hands, signed an autograph or two, kissed a baby, and skedaddled to address the folks at the back of the house.

Barack, on his way out.

His speech was projected onto a screen in the front room, a courtesy to the non-ticketed crowd, but my friends and I looked at each other with the same notion: We'll catch it on YouTube later. We'll probably never get any closer to this Presidential type, and though only a few rooms away, he might as well have been in Kansas. A projector screen is no more personable than a computer.

On the way out, a vendor in the parking lot rapped about Barack:

Tell your Momma/We gonna vote for Obama

Then he tried to sell us $3 campaign buttons.

The parking lot of Kids Unlimited.

Meow.

Published by MinnersTheCat on 03/22/08 01:32 PM

Viewing 1 - 4 out of 4 Comments

From: MinnersTheCat

03/24/08 10:31 PM

Well, since you asked, roguewriter:

1. What did he say?: I don't listen too closely to politicians, salesmen, and actors.

2. Was it more of the same?: It'd be on the front page of every newspaper if it wasn't. Campaign speeches are pretty formulaic.

3. Was it specific to Oregon?: Some of it. The Medford Mail Tribune published a good article on it.

4. How close did I get?: 2-3 feet.

5. How did he smell?: Like sunshine.

6. Did I shake his hand?: No. I don't have hands. I'm a cat.

7. The pics?: Yes, I took them.

8. Am I on the Obama campaign?: No. I don't put much faith in any particular faction of government.

I'm not a political journalist, or even a citizen journalist, though I do have some formal training and I read the news voraciously. I leave that stuff to FOX and CNN and the various Posts, Times, and News.coms. They get paid to toe the line. I'm just a fly on the wall.

I'm not interested in Obama. My interest is in everyone else's fascination with this man. His personality obviously resonates in the American psyche right now. It seems everyone has something to say about Barack, whether it's a quick dismissal, a feature article, or an entire book. The vast majority will never get closer to him than I did on Saturday, and I barely brushed past him. Why have we so adopted Barack into our iconology?

Meow.

From: shields

03/24/08 10:04 PM Ummmm.... when was the last time you got within 4 ft of the potential next president of the United States of America!!! Nuff Said... blog or no blog... Minners got the photos. MEOW... MEOW...

From: marick

03/24/08 09:26 PM Great job on the story! Thanks for posting it...I wanted to go, but had other obligations!

From: shields

03/22/08 02:14 PM This is Citizen Journalism!!! All Praise Minners the Cat!