I am so honored that Barack Obama decided to make his victory circle after a triumphant debate around the track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds! This is ten minutes from my house and even though I had other commitments this morning, I made arrangements and got myself out there.
Caution! Many photos ahead!
This was our goal, the grandstand at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. We've had beautiful weather for more than a week then last night, the skies opened up. It was still a little misty this morning, as you can see.
Hey, Sarah, we've got a quote on a Starbucks' cup, too! I like Madeline Albright, but I loved this quote for our endeavor this morning.
This was the entry point under the grandstand. We had orange tickets because I had gone for early voting on Monday and picked them up. Orange tickets got us into the mud pit in front of the stage!
This is my gang--my daughter Kira, Paula, Beth, me, and Robin. Paula talked me into ditching my previous plans and I talked Beth (who brought along Robin) into rescheduling training at work and a dental appointment! Kira is homeschooled so this morning was one big teachable moment!
Jill Long-Thompson is running for governor and was the first major speaker.
Andre Carson is my congressman.
And you know Evan Bayh--he introduced Obama. He said some lovely things about being taken downtown as a boy to see LBJ, the last Democrat to win Indiana in a presidential election. He brought his boys today to see the next Democrat to take our state!
The excitement built as Obama approached and the place was packed!
Barack enters and greets some folks on the stage.
Barack! When he came on stage, it was just awesome. It was so inspiring to see him in person.
The setup of the stage. I thought it was cool that they used the Indiana State Fair Midway arch for the entry point. This was heartland all the way!
That's my sign! dKos liveblogging inspired me last night during the debate and I whipped this up before going to bed last night. My arms got tired so I handed it to a really TALL guy in front of me. It showed up on the Indy Star's website!
And that's about it. I'll try to add more in the comments but the hubster just walked in and we're going out for pizza. Be sure and see fightingINDem's diary on the event as well for more info and photos!