Obama at USC

Last Friday, Obama was on USC campus giving a public speech. I wouldn't miss a chance like this to see the President, so I went. Obviously Obama was there to support the Democratic Party at the Mid-term election. I guess this is part of the good thing of having a system of direct voting. The political leaders have to deeply engaged with the public. So this can be a benefit for the ordinary people, if you do interested in him/politics.

People waiting in line

I arrived on campus around 8 am, and there were a relatively long line waiting. Some people even started standing at 6 am. People were well-behaved and quiet. There were some people cutting the line, which is quite surprising to me because in China we all talk about how people in Western countries, including America, behave well and never do things like cutting lines or leave garbage everywhere. But you know what the truth is. Anyway, we were lucky because at a time people in the front started to leave the line and rush to another place. We didn't know what happened and we thought we should do the same. At the point we were about to leave the line, someone from the volunteer group told us that we shouldn't leave the line. So everyone calmed down. Then I realized that I was standing among the 6 am people, which means that we suddenly made a "cut" to the front of the line.

Handsome first aid team

I stood in the line for about three hours before we were allowed to go through the security check.People were still flowing in to the rally. You would be amazed by how long the line still was. Similar to all public events, food, drinks, large bags are prohibited, even umbrellas were not allowed although it was raining earlier that day. The process was quick. Then we run into the destined field. I got a prefect spot by the fence at the non-VIP section. It's no where close to the podium but we had a pretty clear view. That was around 11 am. 

The program didn't start until 12:15 pm. All we did was standing there and talking. At the meantime, some secret service officer showed up at the roof of the Doheny Library。 The podium is right at the front stairs. At around 12 pm,Obama's chopper arrived at the Expo park, south of USC campus. He was arriving in motorcade.

the program field

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa opened the rally at 12:25 pm. He is an excellent warm up person. Suddenly the rally became a rock star concert. People were screaming, yelling, being super excited. Then Jerry Brown,Barbara Boxer,Kal Penn and USC student leader gave speeches. It was all about the election and cheer up the depressed mood toward Democrats.

Finally, Obama came out at around 1:45 pm. The entire rally suddenly heated up. I actually was too tired to shout out, but I try too keep my passion and tiptoed to see his face. Although the programs are democratic, I feel that many people see Barack Obama has little to do with partisanship. For many Americans and foreigners like me this is a perfect opportunity to get closer to the president.For me, although I study politics, I'm still not used to the negative ads and how they attack their opponents. However, this rally is not about election to me; it's about seeing a celebrity.

secret service on the roof

I did listen to his speech though that's not my aim. Obama's speech is nothing new. He basically tried stabilize people. After he was elected, the U.S. economy is slowly recovering, but people think the pace is too slow. According to a survey done by Daily Trojan, students have less confidence in the government than the previous year. Many people expressed doubts about Obama's executive ability. So Obama's speech concentrated on the basics, which is to appease the public and canvass for the Democratic Party. His basic point is that it is going to take time for the economy to be back on track. It is also going to be tough. He later asked people to continue supporting the Democratic Party.

From 2008 to the present mid-term election campaign, I found Obama's arguments have not changed much. Basically he has two points: first is attacking the policy of the Republican Party, second is to call change within the United States. The transformation takes a long time, and need to adherence.

After the speech ended, Obama shook hands with the audience in the front and on stage. At that time my legs were almost unconscious, and were not even able to bent. Even so, it is still worthy. There aren't many opportunities to see the president. It id even more difficult to see Chinese President. It is also good to feel the enthusiasm of the people around me at the rally. I think the benefits of direct elections is that ordinary people have opportunities to directly contact with candidates. But on the other hand, I see the cost of democracy, which I will discuss in the future.