A day to remember

This report comes from one of our field staffers, Kayle, in Pennsylvania

Outside of the Mellon arena in the cold Pittsburgh afternoon, a twelve year old and his mother waited in line with growing anticipation. They were joined by two 21st Century staffers and thousands of other people, many who had driven great lengths to be there and now stood, snaking down a city block. All of them, waiting to see Barack Obama speak at this rally in a battleground state. Anthony had insisted on taking the afternoon off school and his mother relented because "she had never seen him this excited about anything but video games". Beside us was a group of students down from Slippery Rock University who had registered to vote only weeks before. "This is history" one of them said, "like meeting Martin Luther King, Jr. or John Kennedy." A senior standing nearby, with what looked like his grandson at his side, mentioned that he had seen JFK as a child and for years had told the story.

We had arrived early and wanted for hours to get in – arriving early meant we got a premium spot in front of the stage about fifteen from where Obama spoke. It's hard to describe the event – we had heard the speech, or at least parts of it, before on CNN – but being there, seeing him was emotional.

It is definitely a story we will tell our grandchildren.