I arrived at Municipal Auditorium around 4:45 pm (an hour after the doors opened) and there were lines of people pushing through the doors to the building.
2. There were Republicans.
Once inside, it was a massive crush of people in the foyer all trying to squeeze into a stairwell to get downstairs where the entrance to the event was. This waiting stage lasted about an hour. The guys behind me were Republicans who voted for Bush in 2000...and they were talking about how if Obama could change things, it didn't matter what party he was from. They were mostly pissed about the war and the economy.
3. There were white people.
Once on the auditorium floor, I took a look around at the diversity in the crowd. It wasn't something I noted because I feel like his race is a factor, just something you don't see that often...in KC, that is.
4. There were people who didn't get in.
I came out of the auditorium around 7:30pm, unprepared to find more than a hundred people gathered across the street at Barney Allis Plaza who were unable to get into the event. They had been outside waiting for him for 2 hours...and they were chanting his name. They couldn't feel their toes, but they stayed until he came out to deliver an abbreviated speech to the crowd. As he left, people on the street cheered him and people ran after his motorcade like he was a rock star, excitedly telling their friends, "I shook his hand!!"
5. They should have played this for his introduction.
**Before you ask, no, I did not get one good shot of Obama. I left my good camera at home like an idiot and had to use my camera phone, which is why all my pictures suck. Thank you very much.
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