BLOG: Obama exits stage, crowd departs

By Carrie J. Sidener

Published: August 20, 2008

8: 45 p.m. Outside the gymnasium, a man handed out flyers comparing the views of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama on everything from ecology to the federal budget and education.

Vendors selling Obama shirts and buttons were striving for final sales.

George Jones stood outside for a minute waiting for someone purchasing a shirt. He said he came to hear what Obama had to say.

“He’s got a good direction and I don’t like where we are going as a country,“ he said.

Two school buses sat outside waiting to take people back to City Stadium, where a few hundred had parked their cars.
8:18 p.m.  Obama left the stage, telling the crowd, “I need you to witness for me, to testify for me. If you will fight for me, I will fight for you.“

As the crowd applauded, the music that followed his exit from the stage was, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.“

7:46 p.m. Obama has opened the floor to questions, saying he will go around the room taking questions alternating between male and female members of the audience.

The first question had to do with energy. He talked about investing in alternative energies.

“There’s no silver bullet,“ he said. “We have to try a variety of alternatives.“

7:24 p.m. A woman in the crowd screamed, “I love you, Obama,“ as he began his speech.

Obama described the American people as good, decent and generous - willing to sacrifice for future generations.

“Americans are anxious,“ he said. “They are worried about the president and about the future.“

Obama talked about how average family incomes decreased under President Bush.

At the sound of his name, some in the crowd booed and a woman yelled “That’s no good.“

Obama called for fundamental change in Washington to revive the American dream.

“Lynchburg, that is why I am running for president,“ he said to a screaming crowd.

7:12 p.m. Obama took the microphone.

The crowd got to its feet screaming and stomping.

“What an extraordinary reception,“ he said. “I am so grateful to you. Let me first of all thank you for your patience. We got a little delayed because we couldn’t get everyone in the building because of fire codes. We had to go out and shake some hands because we felt bad.“

Obama thanked the E.C. Glass principal for allowing the rally in the school while other functions were going on.

“This is not the ninth-grade orientation,“ he said.

7:03 p.m. Sen. Jim Webb and Obama took the stage. The crowd’s cheers were loud and strong. Some stomped on the bleachers as Obama waved into the crowd.

Webb called for a new future and new leaders.

“Virginia may be the key to deciding that future,“ he said.

The cheers and stomping on the bleachers got so loud that Webb’s voice was completely drowned out.

“Our state and its leaders have fought hard to keep Virginia working and maintain its competitive edge,“ he said. “This area ... has faced some pretty stiff headwinds.“

Webb cited some of the declines in manufacturing jobs in Central Virginia.

“Good places to work have been shuttered,“ he said. “The gap between the top and the bottom has grown to the biggest since the Great Depression and possibly in America’s history.“

6:55 p.m.  The 150 or so people who couldn’t get into the gym before the doors were closed just got lucky.  They were told to move to a grassy area nearby, and that Obama would come out and talk to them. At about 6:45 p.m., he did just that.

As the crowd cheered, he said, “Well hello everybody!“  Many raised cell phones to snap a photo.

Obama spoke for a few minutes, noting at one point that “the fire marshal has got to do his job.“

He also told them that there were “luckier than most,“ because they’d get to shake his hand as well as that of Sen. Jim Webb, who was beside him. And more than a few did before he went back inside.

6:25 p.m. The Rev. James P. Coleman Jr. gave the invocation. In it he listed great politicians throughout history, thanking God for providing them.

“Now you have given us Barack Obama,“ he said.

The cheer that rose was deafening.

Then Tom Perriello, a candidate for Congress, spoke. He told the crowd that Sen. Jim Webb and Sen. Obama are about giving the politics back to the people.

The election, he told the crowd, has not yet been decided. What will decide it is the work done by Sen. Obama’s supporters.

“This election will be decided by how much you are willing to do in the next 76 days,“ he said. “I don’t want to wake up on November 5 and think, ‘What if I had knocked on one more door, or made one more phone call?“

Then the crowd was told to turn on their cell phones and send a text message to 62262 with the letters “VP” in it. Those who send the text message will learn Obama’s choice for vice presidential running mate when it is announced tomorrow.

6:17 p.m. A cheer rose from the right side of the auditorium. Spectators started chanting “Barack, Barack, Obama, Obama” and clapping in time with his name.
He is expected to walk into the auditorium in less than 15 minutes.

One woman is sitting in the audience wearing a T-shirt that says, “Barack Obama is my homeboy.“

James Tharrington of Lynchburg is sitting patiently in the audience. He said he came to be a part of history.

“I am glad to be here in support of Sen. Obama,“ Tharrington said. “It’s an awesome feeling to be here. It’s a historic moment to have him in our city.“

6:15 p.m.  Over at City Stadium - where shuttle bus service was quickly arranged today once city officials learned parking for the event would not be allowed at the Plaza - buses had made about 15 runs to E.C. Glass by 6:10 p.m., less than a half hour before Obama was to take the stage.

Sonny Witt, Lynchburg City Schools director of facilities and transportation, was there to help coordinate the rides. He said he had about four hours notice to pull together the plan, which involves shuttling people heading to the Obama event on city school buses.

“We didn’t get the surge we thought,“ he said, noting that the buses have been about half full.

Nancy Cloyd and Bruce Johnson of Buckingham County were among the passengers.  They said officers near E.C. Glass directed them to City Stadium.

“That was pretty good, actually, because we’re not familiar with Lynchburg,“ Cloyd said. “He (the officer) gave us pretty good directions.“

6:10 p.m. : Barack Obama has a sense of humor, said E.C. Glass Principal Kevin Latham, who met the senator as he arrived in the gym’s lobby just before 6 p.m. The excited principal said Obama shared the joke that there “would be two great speakers” addressing crowds at E.C. Glass at two locations - Obama before the community in the gymnasium and Latham in the auditorium before participants in the school’s freshman orientation.

5:44 p.m. Among the dignitaries already seated in the gym are Lynchburg Mayor Joan Foster, Councilman Mike Gillette, Del. Shannon Valentine, Del. Onzlee Ware, Roanoke Mayor David Bowers, state Sen. John Edwards, of Roanoke, Roanoke businessman Granger MacFarlane, state Democratic chairman Dickie Cranwell.

5:30 p.m. Inside the gym, a few hundred people have filed in and are being directed to bleachers on the right side of the stage.  Chairs also have been set up on the floor, where the stage is situated near one of the basketball goals. Del. Shannon Valentine and City Council members Mike Gillette and Ceasor Johnson are inside. Most in attendance are dressed casually; Obama T-shirts are common.

A 20-year-old woman from Charlottesville said she’s an Obama supporter, and she’s been working in Amherst and other nearby counties to “get out the vote” in low-income communities. She said she’s not specifically asking people to vote Obama, but she wants people to get into the political discussion, and get out and vote. “It’s at a tipping point right now. we need everyone to give as much as they can.“

Freshmen orientation is underway elsewhere at E.C. Glass, with about 200 people are in attendance. Though trying to maintain business as usual, some faculty left early with tickets in hand to head over to the Obama rally. Some school administration members, including Lynchburg City School Board Chairman Tom Webb, also had tickets in hand for the rally while at the orientation.

5:22 p.m. Classic rock is blaring through the speakers and at the front of the gym is the Obama banner “Change we can believe in.“

People are talking and fanning themselves as they wait. In another hour, Sen. Obama will take stage. Police are stationed at every entrance. Authoriites are using handheld metal detector wands and bomb sniffing dogs to check bags and people for potential weapons. Risers in the back of the gym are filled with cameras from various television stations and the national press are starting to enter.

4:55 p.m.: Several hundred people are in line now and doors to the gym have opened. Event-goers needing special assistance are being let in first. Representatives from the Obama campaign, meanwhile, are working the line to sign up volunteers, and workers with the Virginia Organizing Project are handing out voter guides. Obama items for sale are starting to pop up nearby, including Obama pens $5 apiece or 3 for $10.

4:40 p.m. Liberty University campus police officers are blocking multiple entrances to The Plaza—at Lakeside Drive, Alleghany Avenue and Memorial Avenue. Patrol cars are at the entrances and officers are directing cars heading for the Obama event to City Stadium, where the city is providing shuttle service.  The line of people waiting to get into the E.C. Glass gym stretches all the way to Memorial Avenue.

4:30 p.m. Traffic is nearly bumper-to-bumper along Langhorne Road and Memorial Avenue. Police cars are at the intersections around E.C. Glass High School, lights flashing, with officers helping to direct people heading to the Barack Obama event.  With parking at The Plaza now off-limits, many have parked along the streets and most of those spaces now are full. By 4:15 p.m. more than 100 people already were standing in line outside the gymnasium.  At nearby table, Obama T-shirts, buttons and other items were available for sale.

Related:

WSLS Slideshow: Sen. Obama in Martinsville

From Andrew Jackson to George H.W. Bush, Lynchburg played host

What would you ask Obama?

E.C. Glass will be double-booked for Obama visit

Obama heading to the Hill City on Wednesday