Barack Obama in Medford Oregon

I got a special treat this weekend; I got to go see Barack Obama speak in Medford.  Knowing how popular the event would be, we got in line hours before they opened up.  That ended up being a pretty good plan.  Not only did we get in, but we got really good seats.  

I was excited to do this mainly because this is such a historic even for Michael to witness.  I love knowing that someday he will be telling his grandkids that he went to a local town hall meeting in Medford to see Barack Obama run for the president.

This was a town hall  meeting, as opposed to the traditional rally, so they were not handing out signs, but I did get a nice pin and sticker.  And Michael picked up a t-shirt.

The speech itself was great, if mostly a standard Obama policy overview.  I never understood what Clinton is talking about when she claims he doesn’t give details.  I found this speech to be a nice combination of high level and specifics.

Obama also had a retired general, Gen. Merrill McPeak, who is originally from Grants Pass, OR.  He spoke briefly about Bill Clinton’s remarks that somehow Obama is not patriotic enough.

Senator Obama answered a few questions from the audience, including questions about stem cell research, which he said he fully supported.  He mentioned that he was excited about recent breakthroughs in stem cell research that would allow use of adult stem cells, but feels we should be able to use the existing cell available.  He also answered questions about the environment, stating that it’s also important to establish a positive lumber industry that doesn’t cause as much damage to our forrest.  Other questions included issues like education and health care, which he answered inline with his policies.

One odd questions came from someone who seemed to be asking if Barack Obama felt the Dalai Lama was responsible for the problems in Tibet.  Senator Obama responded by saying that the two people he respects most is the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela.

Overall it was a good event that contained few surprises.  I’m really happy we got the opportunity to see Obama speak in person.  I get the strong feeling we just saw the next President of the United States.

[tags]barack obama, medford, oregon, general merrill mcpeak, clinton[/tags]