by Gary Gagne

Created on: November 11, 2008

Three days before the election I received an e-mail saying that Barack Obama was coming to Charlotte again, "a miracle from God", I thought. Shortly after that I received another e-mail saying that I could get preferred seating if I canvassed for his campaign, miracle number two. I had been supporting and following the Barack's progress for about two years and during that time my devotion to his cause had grown and grown. I had the same feelings for him than I have for John and Bobby Kennedy and the Beatles all rolled up into one. I had been waiting to vote for Barack Obama for about 40 years. After the assassination of Robert Kennedy I kept waiting and waiting for a worthy successor to continue the dream of creating a better America, but nobody ever came. It was as if all the really gifted and inspirational people went somewhere other than politics. I had never voted for a winning president my entire life, either! I didn't care who you were, whether you were black or white or even his brother, I felt seeing Barack Obama was more important to me then to anybody else in the crowd. To me it was like an act of God to have Barack Obama appear just down the street from where I live, the day before the election. I thought "well this will be the last time that I have a chance to see him in person" and I felt a compelling need to do whatever it took to see him. I felt that this would be a pilgrimage of sorts and going to see him was as sacred to me as any religious pilgrimage. So I put the world on hold for him that day, because nothing else mattered.

I started canvassing for Obama's campaign at 9:45 in the morning and when I finished, I parked my car at the volunteer office. The office was about 2 miles from the rally site, although I'm not as young as I used to be, I joyfully walked to the rally.By the time I reached the site there looked to be about one or two hundred people in front of me, "not a bad place in line for a rally that was supposed to 'seat' 30,000 people" I thought. So for about four hours I waited in line and met some great people. Because I canvassed, I was carrying a blue ticket, my secret weapon for better "seating". For some reason I felt deep inside me that I would be able to shake Barack Obama's hand, I didn't know how I expected that, it was just a feeling. But my rational mind knew that I probably would be a football field away from him. Again, I didn't care one way or the other. There were only three bathrooms to use while waiting, they were

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