boatsie
A report from Obama in San Francisco, February 19, 2008

Oh, how I wish I still had a press pass last night.

It's 4:45pm downtown San Francisco. Union Square, across from the venerable St, Francis Hotel where the Senator will soon be speaking to honor Senator Boxer's 30 years in politics. No kidding, you can tell just by looking at people's faces who has a ticket and who has no idea Barack is coming. A few news vans, cameras set up. One of those incredile San Francisco afternoons, a crescent moon rising over the skyscrapers. Sportcoat temperature.

A troupe of African drummers and dancers are performing just outside the square, so perfect we walk over to snap pictures and ask if they are here for Obama. They had no idea but when I tell them he's coming they churn it up big time and soon people are stopping to watch.

The line heading into the ballroom are wide and long --about 1400 paid from $100 to $4000 (for private session) to listen to Barack. Nobody's pretending otherwise, even Boxer when the progrm finally begins at 6:45, thanks her supporters and turns the microphone over to Obama.

But during the wait, I spoke with just about everyone I could in the group around me. A long married couple who had attended a global warming conference the day before and said they'd been waiting for a moment like this since the 60s; a middle aged mom proud that her son would be at the LA rally the next day and was determined to shake Obama's hand (she did!); a group of college students looking dazed and a tad out of place in such opulent surroundings. The room quickly became quite stuffy, one of the girls passed out. A doctor came. They found her a chair because there was no way she was leaving now after getting so close.

When Obama takes the stage? Well, it is one of those moments when you just wish you could get your head into your body so you could actually experience what was happening. All these cell phones rolling reminds me of how accustomed we are to mediating our reality. Be in the moment, we have to be in the moment if we're going to win this thing.

The stump speach is impressive, and you really get the feeling that Obama knows is quite clear about exactly what's happening. When he says its all about you, there is just no doubt about it. And it makes me realize how wise he is right now not to flesh out his policies just yet; how much sense it makes in this point in the campaign to stick to identifying the problems, to continue to drill them into our minds for the time being. We all know what's wrong, he says. But Im going to lay it all out for all of us from up here, on the podium, under the spotlight, to give voice to them. Here comes your power, guys.

There we are, I tell you it feels like we are all on that stage, talking about the rift between the government and the people, comparing it to the rift that existed between slave and master. And look what the American people did with that.

You all know the rap. But if you haven't had the chance to see him yet, don't wait too long. Obama is so comfortable in his skin, unrehearsed. I wanted to find him an armchair and pop open some beers. He's like one of us; they haven't taken him over yet. We've got to claim this man as ours, find innovative and exciting ways to fund this campaign. We don't want Obama owing too many favors.

After the speech, I turned around. The room was one big smile. Buoyant, like all our feet were a few inches above the ground. People were just smiling and hugging each other, no strangers in that crowd.

There's frustration in these blogs about organization, guidelines, the web experience. But let me tell you this. Boxer's son arranged last night's event. They had no idea when they announced this fundraiser that 1400 people would show up. He took to the stage 20 minutes before his mother came out, and apologized profusely for not being prepared to handle the size of the crowd. It usally takes Boxer 6 months to sell an event for 300. This event sold out at 1400 in two days.So we all had to stand, waiting as the crowd filled the room. Things were a little out of control. I remember that's how it was when the web was born. back in the days of The Well and Magellan and Yahoo. All these learners drawn simultaneously to participate in a communication revolution.

Seems a lot like that to me. If Im right, we'll figure all this out just fine. And it will be years, YEARS before those other guys even have an inkling. By then it will be too late. We will have taken back America while they're still struggling to conceptualize what's happened.

We just have to stay in the moment. Something so much of the world has forgotten how to do.

I have to admit, I did try to take a few pictures with my cell phone camera to send them to my daughter. She called me up and said "Mom, he isn't even in the picture! You've got to learn how to focus."

But that's just the point. I was focusing