So I went to a rally...

It was a sudden idea. I had seen it on the news, Obama would be in Missouri. I was sitting around, bored, anyway. Would this include Kansas City? Google, "Obama Rally KC". Why, yes it would. And in just a couple hours. Half an hour later, I was downtown.

The directions from google maps were probably technically correct, but when seven streets meet within a block of each other, including three separate ways out of the exit ramp, you're probably going to get lost anyway. After pulling out of a parking garage (don't ask how I wound up there), I wandered out in front of Science City at Union Station. I rounded a corner, and noticed a line of cars heading the other way, into the parking garage. There were attendants standing outside, handing them tickets.

Leaving the parking lot, the reason was obvious. There was a line of people. That's understating it. There was a swarm of people, only resembling a line because they were limited to the sidewalk. Had the roads been closed, I have no doubt that they would've filled the streets from edge to edge.

I found parking at the nearby Crown Center. They were kind enough to provide free parking, although their garage had an overpowering smell of chlorine.


View Larger Map Google maps. The line marks the walk from parking to event.

As I walked back to the line, something reminded me of Disney World. Some smell, some taste, some sound. It was incredibly bright out. The sort of bright where it's so in-your-face that sunglasses don't really help, and all you can really do is try to keep your gaze down.



On the other side of the road were WBC protesters. I had noticed them driving in, but I could get a clearer shot now. I noticed the road I was crossing, Main Street. After a couple weeks of back and forth ranting over "Wall Street Vs. Main Street", I found a venue on Main Street particularly humorous. As I crossed the road, people in front of me heckled the WBC.



The line went up Main street, and looped around the corner. I followed it around, there was a noticable group of people moving against the line, just to get to the end of it. As I rounded the corner, I saw that the line just kept going.



And going.



Yes, that fuzzy thing in the back is the line.

It was somewhat of a sensory overload. Many people were wearing Obama shirts. And not just official ones, but ones that were obviously home made. "MAMA FOR OBAMA!", and all sorts of other groups from gays to firefighters to union workers. Helicopters circling overhead. Kids playing on the hills, while police and Secret Service watched over the crowd and made preparations. I walked away from the line to try to get a drink from a water fountain. It was so dry there was literally sand in it. I would've found it hilarious, had I not been thirsty. There were bikes nearby, carelessly locked to posts with nothing but flimsy chains. People were handing out forms for various ballot initiatives. A girl of around eight was passing out fliers in support of light rail. I noticed that farther up the hill, the carelessly locked bikes had fliers sticking out of their spokes.

I reached the top of the hill. There were merchant stands nearby selling food and drinks. Next to them were people selling home made Obama clothing. The line continued up another hill, and then looped back around. Finally, I was at least at a solid end.



Kids were walking up and down the line selling homemade Obama buttons. Even Disney World didn't have this much marketing about. I noticed a group of college kids unfurling a banner of some kind on the other side of the road. "No hope for change on Capitol Hill!". As soon as I managed to read it, they started chanting, and walked past, handing out fliers for their cause along the way. After quite awhile of waiting, the entire line, on both sides of the road, turned around. People were moving at a consistent pace. The gates had opened. On the left, while I was entering, was the last group of protesters I would see, this time people against abortion.



There were Obama campaign volunteers and various groups (police, firefighters, EMT, etc.) around the entrance. Someone had left clipboards and pens for Kansas and Missouri voter registrations lying in the grass.

I went over to the hill on the left, overlooking the city, and the hill I had just walked up not long ago. It wasn't quite sunset yet, but it wasn't a bad view. I turned around, and went to stand in the crowd.



While I walked to the crowd, the Pledge started. The crowd paused for it, and resumed while the national anthem began. By the time the anthem was over I had worked myself a good way into the crowd. There was much waiting. Some preacher gave a prayer that was far too lengthy. Only about half the crowd bowed their heads, and looking at it closer many if not most of those with their heads bowed had their eyes fixated on LCD screens. The crowd itself, as a group and not the way individuals were, was fairly interesting; people spontaneously parted to make room for lines of people that would occasionally snake through.


Two police officers KC S.W.A.T. Secret Service dudes watching for evildoers with an awesome view chillaxin' watching the crowd

The security presence was noticable. There were police holding back the crowds behind orange net barriers. There were spotters with binoculars (and apparently sniper rifles) on a nearby rooftop, as well as in the office buildings visible from the crowd. After some lengthy messages from local democrats that could've been stated with much more brevity and impact ("Register. Vote. Democrats. Tell a friend!"), Obama himself started speaking, with a fairly standard speech I'd seen before on the news. I couldn't see the stage, or really any of the equipment save for a few lights and speakers, from as far in as I managed to get. The audience would explode into cheers and chants without any apparent prodding.

After awhile, I decided to go sit down. I had been feeling lightheaded and woozy, to the point of nearly falling onto some poor attendees standing near me. After all, I hadn't had anything to eat drink in quite awhile, and I had been standing the entire time, and the walking uphill and sun beating down, and so on. After some time sitting, I got up and tried to work my way into a crowd from an angle that would allow me to see the stage, to no success.

The speech ended, the crowd dispersed. The hill I had come up had been blocked by police. After a bit of hanging around to see what they wanted us to do, they took down the police tape and told us to walk by a nearby hill. It was very steep and unpaved; and frankly I'm surprised that nobody fell. One person falling could've had a domino effect and injured dozens below them. There were no lights on the path at the bottom, save for the lights of some kind of industrial building to the left, and of course the glow of the cell phone mob.

Leaving the path, some vehicles were passing by on the closed off road.. Sirens and flashing lights told of police cars which came speeding by a moment later, followed by some SUVs. The crowd cheered as they passed. I saw what looked like Obama's profile through one of the windows, but between my exhaustion and the speed it went by, I'll never know for sure. On the walk back, I stopped at part of the memorial and took a break. Someone nearby was happily exclaiming into his cellphone that you could 'clearly see him' in the car's window. After letting the crowd thin more, and my body recover somewhat, I walked back to the parking garage, tired.