Barack Obama was at West Chester University today, appearing on a road tour of Chris Matthews’ Hardball. Barb was stuck in Harrisburg, so Kate and I got to use her VIP tickets. Without Barb there, they were downgraded to semi-VIP tickets, but that was even better because we got to sit right next to the band and behind the cheerleaders and it was loud and boisterous and enthusiastic, and just what you would expect!

I took a lot of blurry pictures on my iPhone, but Kate got the only good picture of The Man Himself, looking suitably presidential in the spotlight:

I thought Senator Obama did a decent job with the questions. He kept the answers to the softball questions short (“Have you had any really strange experiences on the campaign trail?” “Daily, until I stopped watching cable news YUK YUK”), and went into more detail on the actual question questions. He came across as straightforward — when he wanted to avoid answering a question, he would declare that he didn’t want to answer it and why. All in all, I was impressed, but I didn’t have a Shining Camelot Moment like I’ve heard my parents’ generation describe.

The crowd was the most fun — outspoken, enthusiastic, energetic, and a definite mix of black and white.