You may have heard that Obama was in Grand Rapids last night. I got to meet him. No I didn’t, that was a total lie. But Brad and I did go to the rally. I’m a Clinton supporter (as you may know), but I also like Obama. I never got swept up in the mania – I’m not really a get-swept-up kinda girl – but there hasn’t been much action in Michigan during this long crazy race (remember, we broke the rules and were shunned). So I thought I’d go down and check it out. Be part of history and all that.

You may be thinking that I’m going to tell you I’m now a convert, I’m on the Obama bandwagon. But no, the rally didn’t do anything to change my mind. I’m still with Hillary until there’s only one Democratic candidate, and then I’ll fully back him or her. But anyway. We got into the arena after having our belongings searched by the Secret Service, and even found decent seats. The only people who got good seats were the event volunteers who got to sit in the sign-wielding crowd behind the podium, and the couple hundred people who waited in line for ten hours and got to stand on the floor. Everyone else was either on the other side of the arena from the podium or behind the press stage. So basically Obama was a tiny blip in the distance—he could have been anyone really—but that didn’t matter much to me.

It was just really cool to look around and see 12,000 people of all ages and races who all believed in ending the ridiculous shit and getting down to the business of making things better. There was a lot of chanting (I did not participate) and clapping (I did a little) and even a couple rounds of the wave (can’t pass up a good wave).

My youngest sister called and decided to join us. We met a nice girl on our walk to the arena who waited in line and then sat with us, and even bought us soft pretzels and popcorn because we had no cash. Mom called and said she saw us on tv when they panned the crowd pre-Obama. She mentioned that there was reportedly going to be a “really important democrat” there to announce his endorsement. Brad got on the Blackberry and confirmed that we’d not only be “meeting” Obama, but John Edwards too.

They both said the usual stuff—better this, better that, we want change, yes we can—nothing new. Lots of standing and clapping and chanting. Even some fainting. Obama came to the rescue when he casually interrupted his speech to ask for the EMTs and threw his bottle of water into the crowd. What would he do if his throat went dry from all the inspirational speaking?! Didn’t matter, he’s willing to sacrifice for the common people. He’s Obama.

For real though, it was pretty cool to be there. Except, despite all the energy and uplifting speeches, Brad and I couldn’t stop yawning. We admitted later that we could have fallen asleep in the middle if given a pillow. Surely that’s sacrilege, almost dozing at an Obama rally. But I think by the time the crowd started their third round of O-BA-MA chants, it started to get a little repetitive. I was glad to be part of something memorable, but by the time he wrapped it up at 7:20, I was satisfied. And home in time for the Top Model finale.

*I hadn’t heard this phrase before last night. Why didn’t I think of that?

Edited to add: I didn’t get a single good picture, so I didn’t even bother uploading them before writing this post. I did get a couple shots of the protesters out front though. They had signs that said things like, “My pastor isn’t a racist” and “Aborted babies: where is their hope?” Like suddenly I’m in line and see your sign and I want to be a Republican.