Was anyone at the Brooklyn for Obama event last night at the Marriott? Do tell. This from New York 1 about the sold-out fundraiser.
Wednesday night he held a massive fundraiser at the Brooklyn
Marriott. The sold-out event was organized by the group "Brooklyn for
Barack," and tickets went for as little as $15 for students.Obama spoke about his love for the city and the country.
"Every single place we go it looks like this, people from all walks
of life, you got black folks, white folks, Asian folks, Latino folks,
and Native American folks and disabled folks," said Obama.
I was there too, and did not feel that he talked down to the crowd in any way. I went in wondering if he would live up to all of the hype and he more than delivered. He spoke not only to our frustration with the current administration, but also appealed to our desires and hopes that when we all come together, our country can do amazing things. He was funny, smart, straightforward and likable. As my friend and I said to each other when he concluded, “He is the real deal.”
All and all, an inspiring night. Not something you can usually say about a politician.
I agree with Eric. Obama misjudged the intelligence of the group. I’m not sure why that happened. A good percentage of the crowd was dressed in suits. Not that a suit makes you smart… but you know what I mean. He shouldn’t try so hard to act like he’s down. I guess the press has put that pressure on him. Not only has the the selective absence of big words been funny but the morphing of many of the candidates from hearthland sweetheart into down-home southerner into baptist minister into slick ivy leaguer has had me laughing for weeks. Ah, politicians.
I saw some of Baracks speech on NY1 and was quite insulted by the way he addressed the people of Brooklyn.
Being a born and raised “brooklynite” I did not appreciate his lack of a better term,”ghetto” like under tones when speaking to the crowd.I found it very insulting to the Intelligence of the people of Brooklyn.
I have watched many of his speeches, he would never address a room of individuals paying 2 to 3 thousand a head in such a manner.
His wife’s comments in ref. to Hillary were a in bad taste.
Buyer beware.
I attended with my children. I have not made any final decision about my vote. I have watched my children grow in a time when patriotism is almost a thing of the past. We have tried to keep our heads high as our administration has embarassed us iover and over again. We have felt the shame of their actions. I wanted my kids to hear a speaker that is capable of stirring that patriotism. Ronald Regan did it for the Republicans and JFK for the Democrats. I wanted them to know that they can be part of the political process.
Barack Obama is the first cantidate that we have seen that is post-Vietnam.. For that reason I find his participation fascinating. I think that he is pretty genuine. He is a politician, so I watched with a careful eye to see ‘the real Obama’. For whatever it’s worth, he was an hour and a half late. I was surprised that there was no security, not even a bag check. I knew as I entered that there would be no questions. No seats, no questions, I concluded. While I was waiting I overheard a woman say that she was a paid blogger for the Democratic Party. The man who introduced Obama was a Jamaican man with his son. The man had contributed $25.,on his very tight budget, to the campaign and was asked to participate. His son ran around him and popped his face up between the his legs as he was reading. It lightened the stress of the wait and created a warm entry for Obama.
As any speaker has to access their crowd, Barack did just that, opening with a few shots at the Wall Street troubles and at the high salaries. I wondered to myself if he says that to his big contributors. As a Wall Street wife I was disappointed. He later talked about how Americans don’t want to be red and blue, black and white, fancy and plain… they just want to be people. I couldn’t agree more.
He revealed that he hadlived in Park Slope when he was at Columbia. Seems like a very long way. He was careful to mention that it was a sublease (so maybe it was in the summer) and that he couldn’t afford it then and certainly can’t afford it now. I rolled my eyes. He reminisced about running on the Promenade and about getting bagels at some place that I’d never heard of. I thought, why would he run on the Promenade when he could run in the park?
He is a great speaker. He touched on all the things that any good Democrat would want to hear. He did not go into depth. The crowd went wild with everything he said. The cheers were sprinkled with church-like shouts of “speak brother” and “we’ve got your back”. I was close to the front so the feeling was intimate. When he finished the people pushed forward to shake his hand and to have books signed, all of which he did at a calm pace with a sincere attitude.
From a speech writing perspective I was surprised that he mentioned along with his intention to find Bin Laden that 3000 people were killed here. I think that this may be fine somewhere else but in New York it wasn’t just 3000 people that were killed. They were our friends and neighbors and relatives.
I honestly don’t think that there is any way that he will be our President- this time. I studied him, watched and listened and the guy seems to be for real. I keep telling myself that he is a politician but I really think that this one might be different. Does different make him right? I don’t know. All I know is that my kids got goose bumps when he spoke and walked away feeling really sparked by his “hope”fulness.
What a great night. As a co-founder of Audacity of Park Slope, a grass roots organization here in Park Slope to support Barack Obama, I helped organizing the event. Highlight of the night was definitely meeting Barack Obama again who in person is even more compelling and sincere as he comes across on TV. If you are interested in seeing some pictures of the night as well as an earlier special event that day in Manhattan, please go to our web site http://www.audacityofparkslope.org
I was there!
Obama put on a good show – we heard the old standards, “Americans don’t like to be divided into red states and blue states,” and “this is a movement about the grass roots,” for example. He did bring out a new good line, though, about the question of his experience. “People ask ‘has he got enough experience?'” he said. “Well, nobody had as much experience as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.” And look how that turned out…
He came across as genuine, a good story teller, and a candidate with his priorities straight.