Barack in Las Vegas

On Sunday, February 18, Barack made an appearance in Las Vegas in front of a crowd of about 3500 cheering people in an outdoor amphitheater on a beautiful afternoon.

I have actually never attended a political rally before and was impressed by the media savy that was shown by Obama’s team. A live band performed before his appearance, hand painted signs were passed out (no one was allowed to bring their own signs in) along with professional banners, children were brought on stage waving banners to pump up the crowd, a young speaker from UNLV introduced Obama (intimating that the youth of America are getting involved and are backing this man) and the man himself walked through the crowd before and after, shaking hands and signing books.

His speech covered the basics that you would expect from a Democrat – or any sane politician these days - the war in Iraq, education, health care, security, energy independence, etc. Seeing as this was basically an introductory speech, he didn’t go into details about any of the issues and he steered away from anything particularly confrontational or controversial, such as abortion or gay rights, but he is a great speaker and has the right ideas. He is certainly charismatic and it doesn’t hurt that he is a handsome man – as the women in the audience were happy to attest! I know that people always used to say that bush was considered someone that you would have a drink with. I never saw that myself - I don't drink with obnoxious meatheads - but Barack is someone that I could see just about anyone sitting down with and actually having a conversation. He does seem like a man of the people.

I wish I could say that I had confidence that the American public would not let race be an issue in deciding on a political candidate, but I know that there is still far too much prejudice in this land. Regardless, from what I know so far, I do believe that Barack could be a good president. Whether the public will allow him the chance is still up in the air. But the faithful in Las Vegas believe in him!

Lots of news reports on the event here, here, here and here.