Just got back from seeing Obama today in Indiana.

[JTFrog]

There is no doubt left in my mind that I just met the next President of the United States.

People were lined up since 5:45 this morning. They tried camping overnight, but were turned away. Even tho they only gave out 1500 tickets, they still managed to squeeze in the people who couldn't get tickets online. I had to drive about an hour to get there, but it was definitely worth it. This was by far one of the most electrical and exciting events I have ever attended.

The crowd was incredibly diverse. Obama even took a question from a 12 year old young man who asked about the lack of black history being taught in schools today. Obama talked about wanting to enusure that the history of all of our mixed cultures were being taught and preserved. He also had a most excellent line about having little pieces of all of America inside of him. I will have to look up the exact later because it was incredibly insightful and sincere.

Anyway, it was incredible seeing this kind of support in this reddest of red states. I honestly think that we may see more of the trend we saw in 2006 this November.

I've volunteered for his campaign for the next few weeks (April 7 is the deadline to register) and I hope that anyone who gets an opportunity to experience this grassroots movement (either volunteering or just coming out to see him speak) will take advantage of it.

The number of young people attending today and their excitement was one of the most encouraging and rewarding things I have seen in over a decade.

GOBAMA!!!

[TexasLady]

1. Awesome! Thanks so much for the report!

Watched it online.

[easy_b94]

2. great post

[Scurrilous]

3. K & R

[VolcanoJen]

4. Watched it on CNN!

You guys, you people in that Indiana crowd, lifted me up.

My favorite part was the woman who asked him how we would convince Americans to be patient with him, considering the enormous mess he would inherit as President. She said, "When you are president..." and that crowd burst into cheers.

Hoosiers Rule!!

[ClayZ]

5. I watched online. It was great, Yay! K and R

[slinkerwink]

6. I'm glad to hear that!

[writes3000]

7. I watched some of the event on CNN. The crowd support was obvious and encouraging.

So glad you got a chance to be there.

Thanks for posting this. It's been my favorite post of the day.

[npincus]

8. thanks

the MSM has been so carelful about reporting anything that might be favorable to the Obama campaign, it's nice to hear that the energy and enthousiasm is still out there... even though it's not getting reported.

[EFerrari]

9. That happened in INDIANA?

Thanks for your report.

[JTFrog]

17. Yes, Plainfield Indiana.

It really was awesome!

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Thanks for the update!

AP has some photos of him in Indiana here:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/galleries/595.html?SITE=AP...

Don't know how long they will be at this link but hopefully for a little bit today.

[Capn Sunshine]

11. Politics as UNUSUAL

That's what we have in the Obama package: some chance we can turn this around through positive interaction.

Or we can choose the solutions of the past eight years with a new coat of paint.

[FrenchieCat]

12. Thank you for your report......

I believe that Americans are about to fall in love with Barack all over again.

His RFK quotes on race was awesome!

[bigbrother05]

35. FrenchieCat, I love that poster

where did you get that, if you don't mind my asking

[FrenchieCat]

42. Just googled Image with search words "one race" n/t

[bigbrother05]

43. Thanks

[SKKY]

13. Ok guys, now here's what you need you to do...

...we need for you to "wander" on down south, take 65-S to Louisville and spread that around down there as well.

[bhikkhu]

14. Great post, thanks!

If you only watch the news (or lurk here) you can get mired in the drama and doom of the moment...if you actually go out an look at what the candidates themselves are doing and saying, and look at the people and the turnouts...history is handing us on a platter one of the greatest opportunities of an age.

[lligrd]

15. K&R

[me b zola]

16. K&R

[ampad]

18. I watched it online

Hearing the 12yr old ask such a great question really warmed my heart. It's great to see the youth get so involved. From where I was watching it online I couldn't really tell how big the crowd was. Thanks for the first hand account.

[Nitrogenica]

19. Sounds the same as the crowd here in Minneapolis at the Target Center.

It was packed right up to the rarely-used cheap seats.

Everyone was so enthusiastic and happy.

I'm sure it would be exactly the same if that rally was held here today.

[JTFrog]

20. Some video footage from this afternoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FsqDTVmlKk

We have to come together.

"What I continue to believe in, is that this country wants to move beyond these kinds of divisions, that this country wants something different. And so, I just wanna say to everybody here that as somebody who was born into a diverse family, as somebody who has little pieces of America all in me, I will not allow us to lose this moment."

[jefferson_dem]

24. Full video here -

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8021671

[JTFrog]

26. Tyvm! n/t

[fadedrose]

29. This is awesome video - Thank you very very much nt

[IndependentDem]

40. Thanks! i was looking for this. n/t

[silverweb]

59. THAT's what I'm looking for!

Thank you!

GObama! GObama!

[Cha]

21. What an excellent report from the

field, JT.. almost feel like I was there, thank you! What with the pictures and Obama's speech and your report..almost there.

[rocktivity]

22. What's that on the door--bullet holes???

It looks like he really DID "dodge a bullet" on the Pastor Wright scandal!


rocknation

[Cha]

30. What a good eye you have, rocknation.

..a beaming Obama emerging unscathed from the latest dino plot.

[Blondiegrrl]

23. That's wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

[NickMorgan]

25. Awesome

Great! I'm envious!

[greguganus]

27. but does Indiana count? n/t

[locker13]

28. what pin is he wearing?

[jefferson_dem]

31. Surely, it's either a miniature Koran, an image of Farrakhan, or it says "Wright is Right"

Not sure which one though...

[IndianaGreen]

32. It's an Al-Qaeda lapel pin

with McCain's quote that Osama will attack US if Obama is elected President.

[IndependentDem]

39. dont know, that was one of the first things i noticed.. would like to know n/t

[1776Forever]

33. Here the link to the video of his speech today and a transcript of it.........

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Wish I was there with you!

[bigbrother05]

34. I went to two of his events in Texas

they were great, I watched the one today on line, never get tired of hearing him.

[casus belli]

36. So wanted to go....

but I wasn't anywhere even close to getting a ticket seeing as how all the tickets were gone within a half hour of announcing it.

Glad you and yours had a good time! It's exhilarating to see people excited about politics.

[JTFrog]

46. Yeah I hear you. Just imagine, tho. Well over a couple thousand people near a little red city

were stalking his site waiting for those tickets to be put up. It's just amazing.

Someone posted a link not too long ago that showed donations by area on a google type map layout. Democrats were getting the lion's share of the donations. I know that won't mean much to folks that haven't spent time in Indianapolis, lol, but it is freaking phenomenal to me.

[tabasco]

37. I don't care how far I have to drive.

when he comes to West Virginia, I'll be there!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

38. Sounds like Obama has not lost his stride. GObama!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

41. here's a link to his speech...

he gave the same one 5 times today


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FsqDTVmlKk



.

[SunsetDreams]

44. At least he's consistent...

I'd much rather have that, than someone saying what a particular audience wants to hear, and no I'm not talking about Hillary

I'm talking about the politicians of our past

We need a Dem in WH Desperately, whether it's Hillary or Barack

Thank you for posting the link

[JTFrog]

47. Didn't Hillary call some news conference yesterday? Haven't seen or heard anything about it. n/t

[LibGranny]

51. Hillary & her "Speeches"

are filled with lies, inconsistencies, and vagaries as proven by the people who were there - i.e., Ireland, Kosovo, and in Congress when S-Chip was commenced. If you are only voting for Hillary because you own a vagina - then find a better use for it!

[SwampG8r]

61. me me i know i know

i know what to do with all those vaginas after hillary is through with them
pick me pick me!!!!!

[SunsetDreams]

45. Awesome!

I totally agree, he is the next President of the United States. He has everything going for him, it is a grassroots movement!

I have watched his speech several times today, and I am deeply touched! This is a Leader!

Obama 08

[List left]

48. I find Obama's ability to reason and to moderate

I find Obama's ability to reason and to moderate whatever is in the mix to be inspirational and bodes well for the country. The fact that this man inspires so much of the youth of our country gives me great hope.

[saltpoint]

49. Robert F. Kennedy won the Indiana primary in 1968.

I think Barack Obama will win it in 2008.

[IndianaGreen]

57. I think Obama is very competitive in Indiana, in May and in November

I will certainly contribute my share to see Indiana go for Obama!

[saltpoint]

58. Great news if we can get a lof of people to the polls. Are IU and Purdue

still in session? I hope the primary is scheduled while people are still in those two communities.

[IndianaGreen]

62. I don't know about Purdue, but IUPUI is having finals on the first week in May

and I presume IU is as well.

[Kahuna]

50. Thanks for the news. Because I heard he was finished! nt

[kitfalbo]

52. History

I'm an Obama supporter, but again I'd like a more solid idea on his opinion of history rather than mix it up.

If a holistic approach to history does happen, I'm not sure there will be more black history in the general history that is taught. At least from what I remember about a lack of hispanic history that is taught. High school, middle school, and other lower education history books are rife with inaccuracies and just a boring format. Every topic tends to get a paragraph, and it makes everything boring. History is such an interesting topic and important.

Who cares when Betsy Ross made the American flag. (When she didn't even do it.)
Who cares when the Berlin wall fell. (When they are not teaching what caused it to fall, and why it was important.)

What they need to do is have more history. More accurate, more in depth, more class on specific topics. I'd like for history to be able to teach a middle schooler about Us involvement in the middle east, so they can understand why we are there and why some of them don't like us. As part of the cold war we put Saddam into power to threaten Iran and ended up fighting our own tanks. How we "knew" they had weapons of mass destruction because we gave them the starter kit. The secret war in Afghanistan. Why can't we teach that in middle school... It just makes me sad.

[IsItJustMe]

53. K & R

[peace13]

54. Sounds like Columbus, Ohio!

Glad you got to see and hear him. Keep up the work in your great state. Peace, Kim

[elfdog]

55. I felt the same thing when I went to see him in Dallas

I live in Texas and I know what you meant by a red state.

[trevjr]

56. I love the way

that Obama responds to things, so calm, cool and collected. He is picking up delegates as states finalize the counts, super delegates are moving over in a steady stream, in the mean time Hillary gets more shrill and slings more mud. Where are those taxes returns? They were due years ago, don't they have a copy machine?
Obama sat down with the editors of Illinois papers and answered every question about Rezko. They cleared him 100% and these are conservative papers! I really hope that Hillary can see the writing on the wall. By the way it looks like the strike has cleared out the Obama haters. It is so nice here now.

[K Gardner]

60. Thank you for this inspiring report. !

[IndependentDem]

63. i love the Q&A part of these things

he actually seems to answer the questions with something other than a canned response his handlers feed him. i think it is great when he has to pause for a moment and says um or has to re-word what he is saying. it shows that he is actually thinking and trying to respond, not just spit out some lame talking points. they are just words, but he always seems to have the right ones.