A Reader's Day At President Obama's Milwaukee Rally 9/22/2012. President Obama States That He Represents ALL Americans

Guest Post By Molly_Wi

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign rally at the Henry Maier Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin September 22, 2012. REUTERS/Kevin

I found out about Obama coming to Milwaukee this Wednesday, and was able to get four tickets by standing in line for an hour at a local campaign office. I planned on taking hubby and our three kids to the rally on Saturday, but things didn't quite turn out that way. My ten year old daughter and I were the only two who were really enthused about going, and so the two of us spent the afternoon together. 

While I love downtown Milwaukee, I hate parking down there! We got there about a half hour after seating had already begun. We parked in a nearby structure, and walked towards the huge crowds gathering at the Summerfest grounds. We saw a looooooooong line, and it took us nearly ten minutes to walk to the end of it! The line wound all over the lakefront, curving around the Milwaukee Art Museum, Discovery World, the War Memorial, and then on to Summerfest and the new BMO Harris pavilion. This new stage holds about 5000 under covers, and additional SRO. Well, by the time we got to the security checkpoint--metal detectors, purse searches, no food, electronic devices ON, people!, we could hear President Obama's voice but couldn't see a THING; all the seats were filled, and the SRO area was packed, with the overflow watching Mr. Obama speak on the huge video screens. It started sprinkling, but the crowd was very revved up and nobody seemed to mind it very much. 

It would have been great to have been able to actually see Barack Obama, and I did offer to hoist up my daughter so she could see above all the heads, but she declined, as it would have been too embarassing for her! Later she told me she wished she could have been in the seated area, so she could have seen Obama, and so she could have had a chance to shake his hand. I think we would have had to have gotten there at least four hours earlier for that to have happened. 

Daughter took photos while we stood in line, and a few during the speech; none are very impressive, unless you count the duck butt picture. She thought it was so funny that the ducks in the lake (Michigan) dipped down for food and their butts stick up in the air. She took some pretty nice photos of the Art Museum, with the addition designed in 2001 by Santiago Calatrava. It really is very beautiful. 

So, even though we had to wait and wait and wait in line, could barely see anything, got rained on, then had to walk and walk and walk back to the car, we both agreed that it was still fun, and well worth it, if for no other reason than to say that we got to go "see" Barack Obama before he was re-elected in 2012!! Funny sidenote; nobody ever collected our tickets. I guess we didn't even really need them. 

Local news said there were 2000 people there, which is absolute hooey. My estimate would be at least 10,000. I found an AP estimate of 18,000. 

A video from CSPAN can be watched here:

We love our President!!

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Thank you Molly_Wi. 

What a great speech from President Obama. I encourage all readers to watch the above video. I think that many of us approve his message!  Reject the top down system that Mitt Romney supports. Do as President Obama advises. Don't boo! Vote! 

Four more years!

If you plan to attend a rally headed by President Obama please send me photos and a synopsis. The closer it gets to the election the more we need to hear your President's message.

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Update by Patrick:

Thank you, Molly_WI, we just love our "boots from the ground" reports!

Bonus clip:

Nothing better than a good laugh - and during this election campaign, we had plenty of laughs already! :-)

WATCH: Homer Simpson votes for Mitt Romney

I wanted to include the clip in the post, but I cannot switch off the "automatic play", so please visit Perez Hilton's website in order to watch the clip!

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Another update by Patrick:

There is something I always wanted to say:

Thank you so much, Tom Hanks!

I am a huge fan, and all of America should be grateful to have such a gifted and courageous actor, filmmaker and producer.

Picture taken from this tweet.

With "Game Change", Tom Hanks put the final nail in the coffin of the political career of the worst female politician in living history. I am also a huge fan of "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific", being a real history buff. Tom Hanks is wonderful, he truly is a great American.