Have you ever met a presidential candidate? (A place to share your story)

[mopinko]

38. i met barack obama when he was running for the senate.

there was a rally the weekend b4 the election put on by the dupage dems, which was barely a thing at the time.
i was working for christine cegelis, in il6. some old timers here will remember her. at the time, i had an art car. an old mercedes that i rescued from a junkyard. i called the beat bush mobile. it was covered in letter size bumper stickers. on the roof, it had the words ‘beat bush’, i letter per 8.5” x 11” sheet.

my job on the campaign was ‘yard sign specialist’. i drove around rich burbs planting signs in that car. i planted some obama signs, too.
i drove it around the parking lot b4 the rally. it was an electric night. i’m sure he remembers it.
after the rally, christine and i chatted w him for about 20 min. i left them alone and drove the car around some more. i was driving past the doors when the 2 of them came out. he saw the car and broke into that famous grin and waved.

i shook his hand many more times, as a volunteer in ohio in ‘08. he shook hands w all the volunteers that day. i was at the 1st rally of his reelect at navy pier. got the spendy seats and was on the ropeline.
i went to several ‘young professionals for obama’ event in 12, featuring both michelle and him. even tho i was neither young nor a professional. 1 of michelle’s event, i wanted to get her to autograph a book she had written about gardens and urban farms. the email they sent out said- do not bring anything for her to sign, so i didnt. but then there were several ppl there that did it.

so the next event i went to, w him, at the beverly art center, i bucked up my nerve, and took michelle’s book. when i got up to him on the ropeline, i had it in my hands. the ss looked at me and said ‘put that away’. i guess i took my life in my hands when i got up to him and asked him to sign it for me. he said- give it to them. so i did.
after that, it got lost. the guy who had invited me tracked it down at the headquarters downtown and i was able to retrieve it.
but yeah, prized possession. have long hoped to get it signed by the actual author. but…