21,000 Hoosiers Cheer Obama Tonight in the Rain - Updated

I came back here on Friday.  I came back to my hometown, to the city where I was born and raised, to team up with my fellow Hoosiers working for Obama.  I've been working almost nonstop since I arrived, and in five hours I have to be up and on my way out for GOTV.  My feet are aching, I haven't had a real meal since 8 this morning, and I'm not sure when I'll have one again.  

But my heart is soaring, because Indianapolis turned out big for Barack tonight.   In spite of rain, in spite of the late hour, in spite of everything that has been thrown at his campaign for the last two months.

21,000 Hoosiers gathered in the heart of the city, in the shadow of the historic War Memorial, to be part of a movement for change - a multiracial, multigenerational coalition determined to take back our government and make it work for us again.  I never thought I would see this -- not here.

If this can happen here, it can happen anywhere.  It can happen everywhere.

Update: I think that is a first - made the rec list while I slept.  Take a look at the wonderful photos posted in Debby's diary.  (h/t accupajo).  Probably won't be able to come back here until polls close today.  Go Obama!

We arrived as the park was filling up.  Typical for the campaign, the area closest to the stage was reserved.  For us.  All the volunteers got special tickets letting us stand closer to the stage.  As we waited, and waited, Rep. Andre Carson, running in the primary tomorrow, greeted the crowd.

He spoke about how Obama is such a "great unifier."  "Look around," he said.  And it was true.  It was the same kind of racially diverse, intergenerational, and fired up crowds that Obama draws across the country.

Then we had a treat as Stevie Wonder played a brief concert.  As he sang "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," the crowd roared the chorus, and swayed along with their rally signs.

The Indianapolis Star write-up tonight features a wonderful quote from Stevie Wonder:

“I’m here because Barack Obama inspires me to write songs, encourages me to be an even greater American tomorrow. He encourages me that we can come together to be a far greater country that looks far more beautiful to the rest of the world then ever before,” he said, before singing Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” which has been a staple at Obama rallies.

Obama took the stage, and delivered a rousing speech to the crowd.   He began by acknowledging the setting, American Legion Mall, a big park in the middle of downtown, anchored at one end by the Indiana War Memorial.  In thanking the War Memorial Commission, he said "We remember those who have served our country."   He returned several times to the needs of veterans, the costs of the Iraq War, and the importance of having the right vision of how to keep our nation safe.

"Are we going to be the party that tells the truth?" he asked, before lambasting the gas tax holiday proposal.  "You know it's a gimmick."

Toward the end, he brought up a theme he has been speaking more of lately - how our country has made a compact with past generations, to give people who work hard, and serve the nation, the kind of leg up that allows them to live out their dreams.  From the GI Bill, to the FHA, to the scholarships that enabled he and Michelle to get an outstanding education, this is how government has served the people in the past.  And it pays off for the nation as a whole.    He offers the chance to restore that promise.  He talks often about how our nation needs to regain the value of being "our brother's keeper and our sister's keeper."   This is how Democrats can and should talk about values - the authentic values our party has supported for generations, not some consultant's idea of mentioning church or God once in awhile.

One of the best parts of the speech to me happens to be the part quoted on the campaign blog tonight:

I was convinced that this was the moment that we had to break through from the old type of politics. And I believe that the American people want that.

If we keep on doing the same old things, in the same old ways -- having Washington just try to get by and get through the next election then we are betraying our children, our great grand children and that's not the kind of America I want to live in. I don't want to just win an election, I want to change the country and that's why you're here as well.

When all we're doing is arguing back and forth, who said what, then we are forgetting what this election is about. This campaign is about you. This about your voice, your dreams, your struggles and your aspirations. And when this country is focused on its hopes and its aspirations instead of its fears, then thats when we are going to be able to deliver on change for every American.

In a few short hours Indiana will go to the polls.  It is unlikely Obama will "win" the vote here, but he may win the day with a strong showing and a good share of the delegates in a state where Clinton has consistently led.  Indeed, the way people voted with their feet tonight is a resounding rejection of being pandered to by other candidates and the media.  

I'm proud of my home state tonight.  Hoosiers for Change.  And lots of them.

Disclaimer: I am a volunteer for the Obama campaign, but when I write here I speak only for myself and from my perspective as a volunteer.