Just attended the event in Dublin, Ohio. (pics here: http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/30/2267/37408/966/580760). It was a pretty huge affair, with at least 10K filling the high school stadium. The bleachers were full on both sides, plus the field was at least half full. They were really not prepared for the festivities, as there was only one medium-sized tent to serve refreshments. Getting to the event was also hellish. The police and event organizers were CLEARLY not prepared for this. My mom told me that the concessions people would not let a diabetic go to the front of the line to get some food. My mom teaches nursin and this is the kind of stuff that makes her absolutely furious. Get it together organizers!

It opened with the pledge of allegiance at 6 pm. Next was a pastor, who, in line with what the campaign did in Denver, called out to people of all faiths to translate his prayer in such a way that it would have personal meaning. There were some local goverment folks, House of Reps candidate, a mayor (sorry, I can't remember any of these people). Then Sen. Sherrod Brown came out and expressed great surprise at the turnout and said they had no idea it would be like this. (I don't think they even anticipated the second bleachers filling up. They faced West towards the sun... very annoying and hot). I wonder if they should have planned on a larger turnout with the Dublin being so close to Columbus. I realize the kids aren't back to school yet, but still...

Sen. Brown was the only person who mentioned Palin if I remember correctly. He said that she was mayor of small town and for 18 months has been the governor of a state with half the population of Franklin County (Columbus). Someone then passes out (from the heat probably) and Brown pauses his speech to help the person. Hint, hint, organizers of future states. He introduced Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio as the "best governor" in the U.S.

Strickland roused up the crowd a little bit. It seemed like he was going to introduce Obama, but then he introduced John Glenn. People were a little surprised/faked-out by it, but then the Senator got up there and did his thing and people listened.

He said he actually remembered what it was like growing up in the Great Depression. He was 10 years old at the time. Rambled a bit. Said that we had recovered and achieved prosperity that had only been dreamed of at the time. Interesting and sincere. The U.S. had excelled in basically every field there was. Now it seems like we could go into another Great Depression.

Biden and Obama finally come onto the stage together. It took a few minutes. They rushed in. Almost ninja-like. At first were the reporters who came in in front of them, filming them as they got up the steps. Then I saw the Secret Service swarmed around the front of the crowd nearest the stage. Pretty amazing to watch actually. Wow. And how did they enter the stadium?

When Obama and finally came into view to us on the far bleachers (we could distinguish him by his white dress shirt) everyone stood up and erupted.

Then Biden gave his speech. He said that John Glenn was actually one of his greatest heroes. He had accomplished so much. (I think I am remembering this correctly. I can't remember if it was Obama that said this or not). Anyway, he went into basically a shortened version of what he said at the convention. Very effective. Definitely they have been working on zingers. Joe had a new one for today that was pretty good. Probably not an exact quote but: "I could walk from here to Cleveland, and not run into a single person who thinks this economy is going well.... unless, of course, that person is John McCain." Biden emphasizes that Obama cares about his community, how he could have done anything anywhere and made a boatload of money. But instead he went to the streets of Chicago.

Obama takes the stage and the crowd goes nuts. Even bigger reaction than from Biden. Spends a long time acknowledging people, including a volunteer who was involved in an accident where her husband died. Despite her injuries from the accident, she still continued to volunteer for the campaign. Wow. Gets a warm reaction from the audience. Obama talks about John Glenn. Says that the thing he really admires most about John Glenn is his relationship with his wife. They've been married 65 years. And yet when you see him.. "he's still in love". Interesting, aye? Obama really seems to value healthy marital relationships. It seems quite genuine, as it's pretty obvious that Obama is still pretty head-over-heels for Michelle. I wonder if Obama picked Biden in part because of this. Could it be that a the lack of strong marriages between his parental influences growing up makes this a priority for him? (Personally, I think it's darn healthy). Finally, Obama gives big, big praise for Biden (it's pretty clear that these two love each other). He even goes onto do a BI-DEN, BI-DEN chant, which the crowd quickly picked up on. (even moreso than the YES-WE-CANs). (hint: Do this again!) Obama then hits on all of the themes he hit on at the convention. Someone else passes out. Obama pauses his speech and explains what is happening. Asks people to make some room. "I think I've got a bottle of water.." Then he tosses his own bottle of water out to the crowd, and they pass it back to the person who needs it. Gets some pretty big cheers for this one.

After Biden's speech and this... recently, in general, Obama's genuine caring side is coming out for all of us to see. The rest of his speech is pretty much identical to Denver, except that he borrows one of Hillary's zingers and gives her credit it for it. "It's kind of like what Hillary said the other night. It's fitting that they're going to be in the Twin Cities, (etc.)". Again, they're trying all the zingers. By the way, I should also mention that Barack Obama again gave credit to both of the Clintons for their speeches. He used the same words to describe their speeches as he did in his big speech in Denver ("Hillary rocked the house")

In the middle of his speech Obama made an interesting appeal to Independents. He said that both he and Joe Biden, as people who rose from the bottom to the top believe in self-reliance. But they also believed that the government should be there when things get a little too hard.

That's all I can think of. My brain feels empty at the moment. I tried to remember as much as I could.

Pics here: http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/30/2267/37408/966/580760