President Obama Campaign Rally - Columbus, Ohio - Part 1

President Barack Obama had his campaign kick-off rally in Columbus, Ohio yesterday. I volunteered to help, and had to be on site at 7 a.m.  I entered volunteer information into a form on my iPad while working the VIP line. All volunteers who had worked on the campaign prior to the rally were eligible for a VIP ticket.  I had mine in hand, but I also volunteered my iPad for the cause.

 

Early on the morning of the rally, the line barricades were set up. This is the area for the VIP line, which is where campaign volunteers lined up to enter the building.

One surely hopes that this is the police check-in line and not a line for donuts....... (just joking around, officers).

The doors to the Schottenstein opened at 10:30 a.m. The building was undergoing a final sweep when all the volunteers arrived to the site.

Carol Mohr is the UA for Obama team leader. She's the one who recruited me to help with the campaign.  She and I volunteered to enter data using our iPads, and we were assigned to work the VIP line. How convenient - when the doors opened, we were already in line.

The VIP line is on the move. Everyone was very patient during the wait and there was a lot of cheering going on all through this area.

This videographer was working the VIP line right at the entrance to the Schott. He wanted to record the hype and so he was shouting "Fired Up!" and the people in line responded "Ready to Go!"

At this point in the line, there were only a couple of dozen feet to go before the security checkpoint. You can see the some of the volunteer VIP line in the background. There were thousands of "fired up" volunteers waiting to get into the arena for the campaign rally.

This was the first campaign rally I've ever attended, and this is the first political campaign I've volunteered to assist. I strongly support President Obama in his re-election campaign. If you're interested in volunteering - just go online and sign-up to help. It's easy to do, and you meet a lot of interesting people.