The Barack Obama rally in Columbia, MO, last evening was intended, originally, to begin at roughly 10 p.m., though onlookers were already pressing at the gates of the Carnahan Quad at 5:30 p.m., queuing up for the closest views possible of the candidate. But as luck would have it, the event actually began a bit earlier, at roughly 9:30 p.m., which left hundreds of University of Missouri students and other interested observers scrambling to get into the quad on time.
As they (and, okay, we) rushed about, there was the very real matter of security to contend with, since many of the walkways were closed to traffic, with hundreds of yards of police tape sending folks this-way-and-that. But even as the latecomers were finding their way into the open-air venue, Obama’s words were carrying. Just as the high, bright lights brought into the Quad illuminated the space from a mile away, his speech was echoing off of the dormitories and lecture halls of the MU campus, sending them well beyond the compact Quad. And it didn’t take much more than a few seconds to recognize that voice, the cadence and rhythm of it, honed after all these months on the campaign trial.
For 20-odd minutes, Obama spoke to thousands of supporters, who were actually standing at all sorts of angles to not necessarily even get a look at the Illinois Senator; instead, many were peering at large video screens, hanging from cranes at different points in the Quad, allowing a little extra sense of being at the event. His addressed seemed tailored to a collegiate audience, but not exclusively so. As he mentioned the benefits that students would receive for engaging in civic service, a loud cheer went up; but just as enthusiastic a round of applause followed his suggestion that he’d treat Iraq veterans with greater respect and compensation.
As you might expect at a campaign stop on a major, state university campus, there were some there just to take in the event, to say they were there, if not to actually listen. And along the perimeters of the event, you could hear the chatter and bustle of students attending a big-deal event. Closer in, though, the silence was observed more frequently, with the candidate’s punctuated high-points breaking the silence, as waves of cheering rushed around the Quad and echoed back a half-beat later. Everywhere in the crowd, cell phones were held high, capturing videos and still photos, with other attendees clearly pecking away at texts.
At 9:53, the event was over as quickly as it began, with Obama’s parting “…and God bless the United States of America” giving way to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours.” Some sang along to chestnut, a few danced, and others tried to get across police-taped sections of grass, only to be shepherded away by security. Most, though, moved at a steady clip out of the area, which was emptying quickly. Since it was a couple days before Halloween, every few minutes, a fairy would walk by, or an elf, or a duo dressed as Elmo and Big Bird, who drew quite a surrounding crowd.
Along one path, things were getting interesting, as protestors and leafletters stood, in support of other candidates. A couple of Libertarian supporters held placards for Bob Barr, one holding a sign with the phrase “Obama took my other sign and gave it to someone on WELFARE.” A few feet away, Ralph Nader supporters handed out literature, while wearing “Spoiler” buttons. The biggest response, though, came from (and at) a dozen McCain/Palin supporters, who held hand-made signs, which said things like: “Bigger Gov’t = Bigger Problems,” “Pro Guns, Nobama” and “Obama Roots for Kansas,” a clear provocation in Mizzou Tiger country.
Beyond this point, the mob began to break up, as people began to filter both onto campus and off. Near the corner of MU home to the journalism school, big packs descended on some of the local watering holes, including the landmark Shakespeare’s Pizza. Like The Heidelberg and Harpo’s, Shakespeare’s is a classic CoMo institution, though it resembled a smaller Obama rally in the hours after the event.
There, a pair of 29-year-old grad students came in, wearing matching, blue t-shirt, emblazoned with Obama’s face over the tagline “Rocky Bams!” Asked about the phrase, they mentioned that Rocky Bams was just short for Barack Obama and that folks all over were using the term.
They also had a few other things to say about the gathering. Sarah Ratermann and Amber Moodie-Dyer are roommates and both are gaining masters degrees in social work at MU. As evidenced by their t-shirts, they’re also Obama supporters and felt that Columbia was amped for the late-season arrival of a Presidential candidate on campus.
“Downtown, the last couple days, has been on fire,” said Ratermann. “It’s been Barack everywhere. People have been excited. Wouldn’t you say?”
“Oh, yeah,” Moodie-Dyer confirmed. “I’ve been contacted by four, or five volunteers. They’ve gotten ahold of all the e-mail address I have and e-mailed me about it. I think most people were from in-town. People were really positive about it. You didn’t see people negative about what he was saying. It was the typical stump speech, in some senses. He’s going to say the same things everywhere, but they’re good things and they’re important.
“One of the big things that I liked him talking about, was getting away from the old divisions that don’t mean anything. Instead of big government versus small government, it’s about good government. And instead of high taxes or low taxes, or socialism versus the free market, we can combine techniques and still be a democracy.”
“I think it was tailored,” Ratermann suggested. “Every once in a while he’d toss in a ‘for you guys, who are young.’ Although I think plenty of people were there, who weren’t in college. Where we were, there were lots of families, little kids, that kind of thing. It seemed he was at least aware of being on a college campus.”
On this unusually pleasant night, Obama was on a college campus in the center of Missouri, a state in the center in the center of the country. The state’s reputation as a bellweather was confirmed again, as students poured all over town, talking politics at any hour usually reserved for other interests.