By: Sean Balewski
sbalewski@gmail.com
You just had to be there! That is the best way I can describe what I experienced last Thursday at a rally for Senator Barack Obama on the campus of Shawnee State University in Portsmouth.
We arrived at the rally site before even the Secret Service showed up. We wanted to be nice and early, so that we could plot out a good spot. Not only did I have to cover the event for 19 Action News, but I was also doing a live-shot for WOUB's evening newscast, NEWSWATCH. So, I wanted to make sure that we had enough time to get what we wanted for both stories.
The line for the public to get in grew larger and larger by the hour. At roughly 2:30 in the afternoon, the line consisted of about 40 to 50 people, but by the time the gates opened at 6:00 pm, the crowd had swelled to what some estimated at 20,000.
Of course, I had lined up an interview with the first person who was in that initial line for WOUB's 6:30 hit, but by the time my live-shot was supposed to go off, the man was nowhere to be seen. However, Jessica found a perfect person to interview in our last minute scramble. Her name was Sherri Culbertson, and she was there with her 3 daughters. She had already decided to vote for Senator Obama, but was still excited to see him for the first time in person. Thus that statement alone became the focus for my story....
The aura and magic that Senator Obama brought to the stage was truly a sight to see. The entire crowd was literally hanging on every word he spoke. It was the first time that I was seeing him in person, and I was impressed at just how good of an orator he is.
After the speech was over, and after we had rubbed elbows with Lee Cowan from NBC News, we set out into the crowd to find Sherri, and see what she thought of the speech. She said that there was an electricity in the crowd, that you just couldn't feel through the television. Another man we talked to said he was pumped up about seeing Obama. This man, who looked in his 50s, said that his young son had turned him onto liking Obama, and now after seeing him in person, he too felt that Obama was well-qualified for the job.
And to supplement the behind-the-scenes piece, I found a local resident who was volunteering at the event. She said that there had been many long days of hard work in preparation for the event, but that it was all worth it. She felt strongly that the message and the excitement that was present at that night's rally would spread throughout Southeastern Ohio, and Obama would carry the region in November.
It was truly, a spectacular event to be at. Plus, on a side note, for my reporter on camera part of the story, CNN let me use their set, with all their excellent lighting!! That was pretty awesome as a journalism junkie!
Again, as we near the end here, the campaigns are making their last great push for success. I am hoping to line up an interview with someone big, so again, stay tuned...
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