warp & woof: Obama comes to Hartord

Barack Obama came to Hartford ahead of Super Tuesday, so we headed down to the Civic Center -- er, excuse me -- the XL Center to catch the show. There were lines all over the place outside, or rather one long line that snaked back and forth in front of the XL center several times, as well as around the corner a bit. Doors that were scheduled to open at 3:30 didn't seem to really open for more than 20 people every 15 minutes until 4:30. But we got seats in the first row of the upper section to Barack's left.

Eating to cure boredom waiting in the moist cold.

Filled all the way to the upper rafters with more than 15,000 people, the Fire Marshall shut the doors, so Luke couldn't join us. He watched without audio on the big screens outside. That must have been exciting. Cough.

Dante discovers the delights of folding stadium seating while we wait for things to get going.

This is Lucia's "put on a hat while my hair was wet from the shower" look. A keeper, no? Violet and Erica round out the scene, and Chris and Liev lurk somewhere behind them. Lulu's got some popcorn and is all set for some political theater.

So first CT Reps John Larson, Rosa DeLauro and Chris Murphy whipped us all into a change-loving frenzy, and then they brought in the big nostalgia guns: Caroline and Ted Kennedy. The interesting thing was that right after those two hit the stage, they brought out Barack to sit onstage during their speeches. I hadn't expected him out til they finished.

Another strange behind the scenes thing is how they hand out the signs. The RSVP page told me not to bring a bag or a sign. So they handed out homemade looking signs bearing various aphorisms like "Hope", "Change" or "Students for Obama". I just thought it seemed an odd way to do things.