Welcome to Obama City

Welcome to Obama City. On your left is an Obama swag stand. On your right is an Obama swag stand. Straight ahead is an Obama swag stand. Some pretty cool stuff, too! As I stepped off the tram from the arrival terminal and entered the main terminal, it was an Obama feast for the eyes. Men and women dressed up in western outfits to direct all arrivers, a welcoming line from every lobby group, special interest concern and people scattered through with signs welcoming Obama delegates from all over the country.

I have been to dozens of conventions all over this country, but never had I gotten on an airplane mostly filled with people all heading to a city to attend the convention or activities surrounding that convention. And unlike most flights, people are energized, talking to others as if they’ve known them for years, and everyone decked out with an Obama shirt, hat or button. It is hard to describe my excitement as I sit on the plane and listen to the conversations flowing around me dripping with anticipation and a promise of the time of their life.

Last week, I had the pleasure and honor of speaking before a group of Obama supporters and voters at a fundraising party in San Carlos, California, and in addition to raising $5500 for the Barack Obama campaign, I had the pleasure of getting to meet most of the attendees. They were a wonderful group of people, and as I sat on the plane thinking about that event and also imagining what is in store for me in the coming week, I casually turned around to peek through the opening in the seats to see who was having the interesting and spirited discussion behind me, and sitting there was one of the lovely couples I met last Sunday at the fundraiser. It is a small world.

Waiting in line for the SuperShuttle with hundreds of my closest new friends was like old home week or like rush week at college, each of us trying to figure out which one of the dozens of shuttles and buses was heading in the direction of our hotel. In my shuttle was delegates from Ohio and North Carolina, and it was fun sharing a couple of stories with them and realizing that we’re all coming to Denver to accomplish something very important, but also to rub elbows with the bigwigs and to have a great time. When we stopped at a red light in the center of downtown, I looked over to my left and saw Senator Carl Levin of Michigan sitting in the passenger seat of his car.

As I approached my hotel, it looked like Obama City Hall. My hotel will be my home for the next six days and for the delegations of both California and New York, and it was a feast for the eyes to walk into a lobby filled with delegates checking in, visiting the Obama swag table (they’re like Starbuck’s coffee stores) and gathering together to meet and greet and reacquaint with each other and share their excitement and thrill to be part of something this big. The lobby is filled with reporters and party officials bustling about.

Once I got into my room, I had to go get something to eat because it was well after noon and I had not eaten since 6:00 AM. As I sat there alone at my table in the lobby restaurant rifling through the two bags stuffed with literature and goodies from the California Democratic Party, a woman at the next table behind me, a delegate from New York, was curious as to what all of that stuff was. As I showed her some of the things and as we started talking to each other about where we were from, I had the opportunity to meet a really fabulous person who is as enthusiastic and as supportive as I am about our candidate, Barack Obama, and about our country and its vast diversity and the promise of better days.

Tonight I have the choice of three equally compelling events, and I will try to present myself at all three. This is the land of opportunity, Obama City, and it is one beautiful place. Tomorrow starts the big festivities, starting with a California delegation breakfast, and in the next few days, I will be in the presence of the vast majority of the Democratic leadership of this country. I can honestly say that this is one of the greatest things that I’ve done in my life, and I am honored and humbled that I get to live this unique privilege, and although I guarantee that I’ll have lots of fun and eat everything that’s not attached to the food tables, I am also here for serious business, and I do take this business very seriously.