So I made the joke the other day that I'd probably walk out of the Obama event talking about how dreamy he was. And while I'm better in my old age at keeping the gushing crushes to a minimum, my geeky adoration for Senator Obama is still going full force.
Friday night, he was very much doing the charming politico thing. It's a pretty good mark of popularity when a guy can walk into a room of people who have been crammed into too-close folding chairs for well over an hour and a half, apologize for being late, and get a standing ovation for his efforts. Bob Herbert, the moderator for the forum, joked after his own introduction that he knew the crowd hadn't lined up for him--and sad as it is that people aren't clamoring for seats to hear a NY Times columnist speak, he was right. Thankfully, they didn't mess around too much with soft questions, and Herbert asked the necessary ones with good humor. Overexposure? Obama agreed that even he's getting sick of seeing himself (though not as sick as his wife, apparently) on magazine covers, but that it's an honor, yada yada yada. Then there were questions about the current political climate, and Obama spoke passionately for a while about the midterm elections. He also put in a direct plug for Deval Patrick, the Democratic candidate for governor here in Massachusetts. I don't know if Political Operative Mike was there at the forum or not, but wherever he was, I'm sure he felt a warm shiver of joy down his spine at the moment of endorsement. Anyway, Obama was very emphatic about creating change via the elections in three weeks.
Then, before the lame audience questions started coming in, Herbert asked the big question, the one that everyone from Oprah to Tim Russert has been asking: will Obama run for president in 2008? For over a year now, the stock Obama answer has been something along the lines of, "I will serve out my Senate term," "I will not be running for president," etc. Not so much anymore. His answer this time was a rather long soundbite about how a person needs to be completely willing to sacrifice himself to the country to be President (with some witty jabs at the current president's vacation time, I might add), and that such a sacrifice can't be taken lightly. But he didn't say whether he had done this kind of thinking. And when Herbert pushed the issue, Obama answered that he's concentrating so fully on the next three political weeks that he can't even begin to think about the presidency. Which all just means that yes, unless something drastic happens, Obama will be in the field in '08--probably being hip-checked by Hillary and John Kerry.
As things wrapped up, the Kennedy Library rep made an unexpected announcement: Senator Obama would be signing books in the I.M. Pei atrium. Chance to meet Barack Obama? Yes, please. So I fought the crowds making their way, books in hand, down to said atrium. The line was long, but not so long that the outlook was discouraging. After about ten minutes, though, museum employees started working the line, telling people that the senator was on a tight schedule and would have to leave soon. Disappointing, but not so shocking--I assume there was some kind of fundraiser or other media event going on in Boston. But then the senator himself stood up to address the crowd; and instead of sneaking out under security cover like a lot of celebrities would have done, he announced that he was sorry he had to go. Then he proceeded to greet and shake hands with everyone standing in line. So the flyleaf of my copy of The Audacity of Hope is unfortunately still naked, but I totally got to shake his hand. And got eye contact and a "Hi, thanks for coming." Yup. Dreamy. Anyway, I'm really glad I went, and tried so stubbornly to get tickets. I don't think I'll do the whole "JFK T stop after dark, by myself" thing again, but, y'know, that's something you can only learn by experience. Between this and Bob Woodward last week, I think I've done my good liberal duty for a while. Until Election Day, at least.
No comments:
Post a Comment