“Change never comes without a fight!” ~ President Barack Obama
It’s not every day you get to see the president of the United States in person, let alone the president and vice president together in one place. After all the years I’ve spent working in television news, it took my first week out of the business to actual get to witness history first hand instead of being in a newsroom responsible for delivering the story to others.
If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you already know I attended President Obama and Vice President Biden’s town hall meeting at the University of Tampa yesterday.
But first, it started with waiting in line for more than two hours.
Apparently the wait made some people hungry.
The event was scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m., but we heard it was delayed to 1:15 right about the time we were about to cross the street and head into the Martinez Sports Center.
Once we got inside, we went through security.
You were only allowed to bring a phone and/or camera, your ID and your keys– essentially items that could fit in your pockets. No bags allowed, including purses. And yes, I managed to choose an outfit to accommodate– sadly one of my biggest concerns before I left home in the morning.
Once inside, you could just feel the excitement, the energy. It was seriously more like being at a concert. Many of us taking pics of ourselves with our tickets, including yours truly.
The place was packed!
And the event didn’t start at the delayed time of 1:05 either.
So finally around 1:15 p.m. Vice President Joe Biden took the stage. That is him in the pic below if you really squint your eyes.
Then he introduced President Obama and the crowd went wild. Again, think rock concert not town hall meeting (or what honestly sounded more like a reelection campaign).
The screaming got louder when the president took off his jacket before taking questions from the audience, like he was Elvis or insert whatever rock star/movie star you think works here.
Now I know this blog is about the experience, more than the politics. To me, that could be a separate blog altogether. But by now most of you have seen or read coverage of the event and already have your opinions. So whether you’re a democrat, republican, independent, etc. I just wanted to share my experience of being in that crowd– of being a part of history.
Stylishly yours,
Miss Attitude
P.S. I later learned some ticket holders, including faculty, staff & students, were turned away because the building was filled to capacity. One of those people included a great friend, loyal blog reader and one of the hardest working women on campus. It breaks my heart to learn she didn’t get inside while I got to. I’m so sorry doll!
Tags: attitude, barack obama, miss attitude, obama, president, university of tampa
Awesome!
I agree completely no matter which party you are from it’s an experience in itself to get to see the president speak in person. That’s something I can say I’ve never had the privilege of doing, so thank you for bringing your experience yesterday to your blog for all of us to read.
Excellent Post!!
Awesome! I’m so excited that you got to see the President. I wish I could have been there with you!
As soon as I heard those words from the Presidents mouth watching him on t.v, I got an index card wrote it down in bold sharpie and put it on my fridge. I can only imagine how inspiring it would have been in person.
Cool blog coverage Miss A. Thank u for sharing!!!
The words…. CHANGE NEVER COMES WITHOUT A FIGHT… Amen. Rock On Mr. President!!!!
I would like thank you for your smashing thoughts connecting to this good post! Moreover, you know, that the freelance writing would like to take this for the essays.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by topsurf, Jeannette T.. Jeannette T. said: Fun Read…RT @MissAttitude: Nice to finally see you Mr. President http://bit.ly/9Jy2eF #ObamaTPA [...]