UPDATE: These amazing photos have been linked hundreds of times since I posted them. They’ve been featured on some really high-profile sites, which is gratifying, but I’ve been frustrated by not being able to credit the photographer.
Today I got an email from Nida Vidutis. She was there that night, and took these pictures.
NIDA IS 17 YEARS OLD.
I asked her to tell me about her experience at the rally, and this is what she said:
“We went to Obama’s very last rally, at the Prince William Fairgrounds in Virginia. We were part of 90,000 people who came to show their support. We stood for five hours waiting for him, after having stood and walked all day. But it didn’t matter. And I know it’s cliche to say, but the crowd was so diverse. We made friends with the people around us, and when we took a picture, we managed to cover pretty much the entire skin color spectrum. And this fact cannot be undervalued. Obama is not black, he is not white–he is Indonesian, Hawaiian, Kenyan, Caucasian, and about a million more.
Obama is, in part, an idea man, but in his being, in his person, he takes these ideas and gives them a reality, and this is what you understand when you see him. He gives lofty thoughts and progressive dreams substance and tangibility. Yet, he is a pragmatic progressive. His ability to address problems gains its strength from his ability to recognize nuances, to turn a problem up and down and mold it into something that can be changed, that must be changed and that will be changed.
And there was this kid at the rally, I think he was about six years old. He was black, and sitting up on his dad’s shoulders. He had an Obama-Biden sign, and for what I swear was about 3 hours straight, he held the sign straight up, with the most determined look I had ever seen on a six-year-old’s face. And then this other kid appeared, a white kid, on his dad’s shoulders. And all of a sudden they were sharing the sign back and forth. And then, then they held it together. And…it was so simple, SO simple. Yet, at the same time, it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen, and the great part was that they had no idea what they were doing. Everyone looked at them, people took pictures, but they were just holding a sign. “Little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls…” It was so simple.
And then Obama came out. We listened to him talk, we wondered about the emotional roller coaster he was experiencing–his grandmother had just died hours before, and here he was at one of his biggest rallies ever, after 21 months of campaigning, only 21 hours away from winning the presidency. It. was. amazing. And I was so proud to be just one of those 90,000 people, to blend into the crowd, just to be there to listen to this man. It was incredible.”
Last night, I put up a piece John wrote about the election.
Basically, it was a reflection on John McCain, and how difficult it’s been for John make the decision not to vote for him.
You can read it here.
I’ve gotten several comments on that post, which I expected. But one of them was so interesting to me that I thought I would post it here, and offer my response.
Obama strikes me as a nice guy who loves his wife and grandma. He also strikes me as someone who is curiously devoid of any feeling for the uniqueness of this country. He has accomplished essentially nothing of note since law school aside from running for president. His past and present associations are of great concern to me and his decidedly anti-capitalist economics should trouble anyone trying to start a business or simply build a better finanvial future for themselves. He doesn’t appear to recognize the genuine evil in this world that would try to destroy us. Bottom line for me: when it comes to the presidential ticket, I vote for the guy who’ll be more likely to protect this country and less likely to pick my wallet. This time, it’s McCain. Obama needs to go back to the minors, get some actual experience in the Senate and we’ll talk again in 2012.
“He has accomplished essentially nothing of note since law school aside from running for president.”
I disagree. But even if we limit his resume to “running for president”, it’s enough for me. Because within his campaign there is a world of accomplishment that no one on earth has ever come close to.
Barack Obama is the first black man to receive the Democatic nomination for president, and may well become the first black president of the United States. He is poised to end 216 years of presidential rule by white males.
Barack had record crowds in traditionally Republican territories. He has turned red states blue, changing the electoral map and reaching across party lines with a spectacularly successful message and presentation. The energy his campaign has created is changing the face of government, and by this evening, Democrats will have more seats in the Senate than they have had in the past 30 years.
He has utilized new media and technology more effectively than any candidate in history, which has assisted him in galvinizing what may be the largest youth voter turnout in the history of the United States. While the Republicans were printing flyers, Barack’s team was buying strategic ads in video games and projecting your text messages onto historic buildings in major cities. By creating an interactive campaign, he created a feeling of unity and control, which is just what we needed.
Contrast that to the Republican campaign, which, by using old methods to pander to old thinking, reduced itself to a small, angry party mired in religious dogma. In marketing terms, they branded themselves as the party of fear, and fear only works when you have something to lose. Obama understood that people who are already frightened need a different message, and he gave it to them.
So let’s not take the position that Obama running for president is just like every other campaign. This is not Ralph Nader debating Cynthia McKinney on public access. This isn’t even John McCain, trucking busloads of school kids in to meet a plumber. This is a movement, and that impresses me more than I can say. He brought a positive message to a weary nation, and damn if he didn’t sell it to us. We’ve lost our homes, our 401Ks are worthless, we have no health insurance, our jobs are going to other countries and here we are, in the rain, buying the hope.
I’m one of the most cynical people I know. And yet, I don’t feel silly for buying it. I actually like feeling a glint of cautious optimism and a little enthusiasm. I like feeling transformed in some small way.
What I feel today is not what I’ve been feeling for eight years. What I’ve been feeling has been what McCain has been selling, and that’s why the fear mongering adopted by the GOP was ultimately, ineffective. Aligning himself with loss and panic made McCain feel like the status quo.
Transforming a nation simply by running for president is not a small accomplishment. Ask John McCain.
Personally, I have come to believe that someone so savvy, progressive and eloquent can change our relationships and perception around the world. I’m read for that kind of change.
I’m ready to be a citizen of the world.
