Obama in Oakland
March 19th, 2007
Jen and I went to hear Barack Obama speak at Oakland City Hall this weekend. It was a packed event, way more crowded than I expected. I don’t know why I didn’t think that there would be a lot of people. I mean this guy is running for President and all. I’m not great at head-count guesstimating in crowds, though I think it’s safe to say that number was in the thousands. In the end, I never actually saw Obama, though Jen did, after I hoisted her up on my shoulders to snap some pictures. Even then he was just a floating head far-far away.
Overall I was impressed. He is a great orator, and there was substance to his message. Of all the topics he covered, the ones that got most response from the crowd were education, alternative energy, and of course the war. I’m gonna be thinking strongly about him when election time comes around.
I also came across an article in Sojourners Magazine called One Nation…Under God? that is basically an adapted excerpt from a speech he gave awhile back on the place of religion in politics. I think he’s got some important things to say on the topic, both to conservatives and liberals alike.
Note that viewing the article requires registering for an account with Sojourners. It’s annoying, but free nonetheless.