Crossposted at Future Majority

Yesterday, Barack Obama came to Philadelphia for a series of fundraisers, including one at the city's biggest venue, the Electric Factory. The event was was seen by the event's promoters as proof that Obama is "a new kind of candidate," since the electric factory (Clear Channel's 2500-person venue) is certainly not the place that candidates typically hold rallies at, and since $25 for students or $50 for general admission is not the typical cost for 20 minutes in front of a Presidential hopeful (though it is more than a typical concert ticket).  I'm not an Obama supporter (yet) so I wasn't planning on throwing down $50 to see the Senetor from Illinois.  Obama also pissed off me and just about every other young activist in the city a few weeks back (as well as many of the city's donors, from small to large) when he butted his nose into the mayoral election by backing Congressman (and member of the Commission of Fellas With Unusual Names) Chaka Fattah, who ended up coming in fourth in a five person race, over reform candidate Michael Nutter (who will be our next Mayor).  I also am a little disturbed by the whole rock start persona that Obama seems to be cultivating, which feeds into my fears that his campaign is all image and hope over substance.

But, I received a few free tickets the night before the event, so I decided to check it out. Once I picked up the tickets I found out that the event was going to be held at 5pm, but that doors would open promptly at 4, an odd time to hold an event since most people don't get off work until after 5. I figured it was just like any other concert, and that 4pm doors meant that the event would really start at 6, and so I decided to wait for some of my friends to get off work (who I had tickets for) to go. When I got to the event at 4:50 the doors were already closed, and the Secret Service wasn't letting anyone else in. So, I was left to mill around in the parking lot outside, and while it wasn't anywhere near as fun as the Grateful Dead parking lots I used to stumble through as a teenager, it was certainly entertaining. First of all, it's always fun to watch State Representatives, Judges, and various other local "important people" argue with bouncers over admittance to a club, espescially when they paid between $50-100 for the chance to come within smelling distance of the future Vice President Presidential hopeful. Hell, I even got to talk for a minute with the new Democratic nominee to traffic court with the $11,000 in outstanding traffic tickets, the suspended license, and the warrant out for his arrest ("it's all a big, misunderstanding!)-- ah, only in Philadelphia. At some point my friend State Rep Tony Payton arrived, and when I went over to tell him not to bother paying for parking because the doors were closed (I didn't realize at the time that Tony was supposed to deliver the opening speech, but that he was stuck in Harrisburg) some female Obama staffer, who was in the passenger seat, opened his passenger side window and started screaming at me (note to the Obama campaign: you better learn the terrain of the places you go before hand. You don't want to get your staffers injured- this is Philly, not Kansas, scream at us an we'll make you eat your blackberry). I look forward to meeting this young woman again, I certainly won't forget her face or attitude.