John Kerry - Westgate Park Rally - Columbus, Ohio

In one word....WOW!

This by far, will stay in my memory bank for quite some time. After missing three previous rallies in Columbus due to my job, Jodi (my best friend) and I were determined to attend this one. Oddly enough, it would end up taking place a mere 2 miles from my house.

We arrived around 3pm. When the gates opened at 4pm, we managed to get right in front of the gates, in front of the stage. We endured one major downpour of rain and patiently waited, gabbing with other attendees. After the rain came down, Kerry's campaign manager looked over and asked if we'd like to go up on-stage during the rally. I gave a look like, "Are you freakin' kiddin'? Hell yeah!". The bad part was, Jodi was talking with someone and had no idea this was taking place. The problem was, we only had one ticket. Once I informed her of my upgrade, I told her to ask him for another. And lo and behold, the request was granted.

I think we hit the stage somewhere around 5pm. What an awesome sight! My camera had no battery power left (long story there) however, I was able to snag a cool shot of what it looked like from our view. We were instructed to wear the shirts they were handing out, wave your flags and signs, be enthusiastic. LOL! Like we needed instructions for the latter. Anyhoo, we were center stage - the only thing in front of us was a little league team, and I mean little! These guys didn't even come up to my waist. I think there were two unions, a softball team and folks like Jodi & me.

The big moment! After a few speeches from local politicians we were ready to go! As they approached the stage - U2's a "Beautiful Day" came through the sound system. On walks Mayor Mike Coleman, John Glenn and John Kerry. It seemed a little surreal with the crowd cheering, TV lights and everything. As Kerry took cheers from the crowd, he turned around to those of us on stage. I remember being one of the first to extend my hand for a shake. He shook my hand and Jodi's, as well as others as he made his way through to the podium.

He really is a personable guy. TV truly does not do the man justice! What impressed me the most is, he spoke for more than 30-minutes while the rain came down, no teleprompter or script. He made several local references - which had the crowd cheering!

After his speech, he came towards us again. I politely had out the invite you see at the left - and had my sharpie ready to go! However, he just looked and motioned he was shaking more hands. Then he went down into the crowd to sign autographs and shake more hands. We were instructed to stay on stage by the secret service guys. Bummer! Just when I was giving up hope for a signature - I see a woman who was in the crowd with him, point to the softball team on stage. He came back up and had his picture taken with them. Since I was standing RIGHT there, I took one more chance for a signature. This time, I got it! As he was signing, I put my hand on his back and said "You must take back the White House, I can't take it anymore" --- he looked at me and responded "I need your help." I told him I had signed up to volunteer (which is true). I kept thinking to myself, I just shook the hand of our next president and spoke with him too!