Back from Iowa City speech - with photos

[cyberswede]

I brought my son with me to work, so we could just walk over to the venue to get in line.

On the way to the line, we saw the groups of protesters and supporters. Here's a photo of protesters (there were more later on - complete with Don't Tread on Me flags, but this was funny):



The wait in line wasn't too bad - it was long but moved quickly and everyone was obviously happy to be there. The wait inside the venue, however, was fairly harsh (with a 9-year old). I had warned him there would be a lot of waiting, and he assured me that he is a patient person, but it turns out he was miserable, even though he brought a book, etc. Oh well...he'll learn to be more patient. :)

Our spot on the floor was fantastic - about 50 fee away from the podium, maybe? Kathleen Sebelius gave some remarks first (I like her, so I include her photo):



Then, she announced the president! He gave a great speech - the crowd was very positive (except for one heckler, to whom Obama responded in his usual tactful way). I got the photo below right after he took of his jacket.



After a little bit, my son informed me that he had to urgently go to the restroom - so we had to navigate backward through the crowd to get to the facilities. He felt bad about losing our good spot, but he was able to see better from the back, and I know he was physically more comfortable! :) Since we had relocated to the back, we were able to get out ahead of the crowd and head back to my office. All in all, it was really fun and totally cool to be there!

[emulatorloo]

1. Thanks for the PHOTOS!

No doubt KGAN will report those 5 teabaggers as a crowd of Thousands!

[cascadiance]

5. I guess all of the "bright" GOP supporters moved on from Iowa City to their jobs at Wal-Mart!

[BlooInBloo]

2. Did the kid have a good time?

[cyberswede]

3. Yes - overall

He had periods of miserableness (lots of waiting), but afterward, he said, "That was fun." :)

[BlooInBloo]

4. Hopefully he'll be the cool kid tomorrow in school telling kids how he went to see Obama.

:)

[cyberswede]

7. Yeah - hope so!

His elementary school voted for Obama 80% to 20% for McCain in their mock election last November.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. Great stuff! K&R! Thanks for sharing...

And when your son looks back on this, whether it's tomorrow or when he's 80, he won't remember the waiting, just how cool it was to see the POTUS in person! You've given him a great memory. :-)

[cbdo2007]

6. Wait, what does that first guy's sign say?

introducing
Obamacare
???(what is the next line)???
bend over
this might hurt



See, they aren't even protesting parts of the bill. They just don't like Obama and probably would give you very vague talking points of why they dont' like him (see the other sign calling him a socialist again).

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. Nice photos

[kimi]

9. Thanks for the report and pics!

Glad your boy had fun, all things considered. He'll remember this day all his life - I know, when I've taken my kids to events like this, in our case it's been seeing Bill Clinton on an election stop and the biggie, the inauguration last year - it's been a highlight in their lives. A wonderful bonding memory, I'm happy for both of you!

[Beringia]

11. thanks n/t

[Phentex]

12. Fun!

thanks for sharing those!