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As I approached the Amway Arena earlier today, several hours before Obama was set to take the stage, I was shocked by what I saw. After turning a 15-minute drive into an hour-long struggle with bumper-to-bumper traffic (most of those bumpers bearing Obama-Biden stickers), and paying $10 for parking some five blocks away from the Arena, I began walking toward the location when I saw the crowd. Never before, in Orlando or elsewhere, have I seen so many people gather together under a single cause. Nearly everyone in that gathering of some 50,000 individuals was there for one reason: They want change, and like me, they believe Senator Barack Obama is the person best qualified to bring that change to America.
I spent a good fifteen minutes walking along the densely-packed queue of people, looking for the end of the line. I still had not even caught sight of where the line of people ended when police officers riding by on bicycles began telling people in my area that they probably would not make it into the event. Fortunately, at that moment I received a text message from a friend, who had the foresight to arrive a couple hours earlier than I did, inviting me to join her in line. I managed to find her just outside the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, and there we waited for another hour as the line slowly advanced.
Finally, we made it through the metal detectors and into the already-massive throng of people gathered around the north staircase of the Amway Arena. We made our way to the barricade to the left of the stage, near the Secret Service detail and tents from where Barack would be emerging in about an hour's time. The man on stage was reiterating the importance of early voting - which began today in Florida - and advised the group on what to do if, for whatever reason, they are turned away from the polls. He then introduced Florida Senator Bill Nelson, who took the stage to speak momentarily, encouraging us to "consider the next fifteen days as if our lives depend on it - because they may."
Then, at last, cheering and applause erupted as Senators Obama and Clinton emerged, smiling and waving, from behind the curtains to the rear-left of the stage. Cameras and cell phones shot into the air to snap pictures of the couple over the heads of the crowd. When Hillary approached the pedestal to speak, gone and long forgotten were the hostilities of the brutal primary campaign that had divided the Democratic Party in two just months previously. Through cheers of admiration, she expressed appreciation for those who supported her in the primary, and urged them to support Obama just as vigorously. "If you made phone calls for me, make them for Barack. If you walked streets for me, [walk] them for Barack. If you talked to your friends and your neighbors, do it again for Barack."
Finally, Barack took the microphone. Chants of "O-ba-ma!" and "Yes we can!" began almost immediately, before he quieted the crowd.
From there, Obama wasted no time turning McCain's ugly campaign strategies against him. "It's getting so bad that even Senator McCain's running mate denounced his tactics last night. You know, you really have to work hard to violate Governor Palin's standards on negative campaigning," he said to responses of laughter and applause.
Amidst broad accusations that the Democrat would "raise taxes," Obama took a moment to clarify his tax policy. "Raise your hand if you make less than a quarter million dollars a year." The audience laughed as nearly every hand in the crowd shot into the air. Barack explained, yet again, that for individuals making under $250,000 annually, which includes 95% of Americans, taxes, including income tax and capital gains tax, will not be increased "by a single dime." He went on to decry the Republican doctrine of trickle-down economic policy and urged that America needs to be rejuvinated "from the bottom up," likening his strategy to that of the Clinton administration, under which the United States built a $230 billion surplus and created 22 million new jobs - both record-breaking figures.
Other topics that were touched on included healthcare, forclosures and the mortgage crisis - which Florida, in particular, is suffering a great deal from - and former Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent endorsement of Obama for president.
