Chicago is an amazing city!
After hearing about the Obama Election Night Rally ticket sign-up through Twitter, I signed up to receive mine just in time (Twitter is great—in the past few months, it has gotten me a free Oprah ticket and Grant Park tickets). I was so excited to get that email—I knew this was going to be BIG. It was like holding the golden ticket.
A few of us who work in the Aon were able to look out over the park and see the crowds gathering around 5:00 PM.
Jeff wasn’t able to make it (I guess that’s what happens when you’re writing a book), so my friend Ryan and I made our way over to the line around 6:30 PM to go through a series of security checkpoints, passing by vendors selling t-shirts and “I was there” pins. The energy in the air was unbelievable. I have never seen a friendlier crowd (or such a variety of creative t-shirts). When you get thousands of sober people together, all pushing for one cause, something really incredible happens.
We made our way over to the east side of the park, where we were able to see the podium where Obama would speak and watch the events of the night unfold on CNN.
You can just make out the American flag on the CNA Center in this picture. The whole skyline was filled with red, white and blue.
Me, Ryan and Kevin (we found Kevin about 20 feet ahead of us in line—pretty amazing considering the number of people out that night)
After counting down the closing polls on the west coast (it was sort a combination New Years Eve, football game, pep rally…), it felt like only seconds passed before CNN announced Obama had won. The crowd was quiet as McCain gave his speech (although a bit less respectful when they saw Palin).
I went back and forth between watching Obama on the big screen and Obama in real life.
After the event let out, Michigan Avenue was completely shut down to all traffic. The streets flooded with people. Some were carrying a cardboard cutout of Obama around, taking pictures with people. Some were singing. Some were laughing. Some were crying. Everyone was smiling.
I was home by 12:15 or so—luckily, I live in the loop, so I didn’t have to deal with CTA.
That was one night I’ll never forget.
Tags: Election, Grant Park, Obama, Rally
Stephanie Zilles
Wow Allie, that is so amazing that you were at Grant Park that night. I was watching the live feed on Obama’s website, wondering if you’d gotten your ticket. I am so jealous you were witness to such an amazing gathering of people.
And that ticket is absolutely beautiful. I wanted to get a poster from his website from the Dem. Convention, but Thomas won’t let me. He just doesn’t appreciate the awesomeness of Obama’s design team.
Allie Osmar
Yeah, his design has been amazing all the way through. I loved the design of the campaign website, and the new site is pretty great as well.