We arrived in Manchester at 9:30, while the President was surely still at the White House. He was scheduled to speak at 12:15. We parked and had to be shuttled over to the venue. We proceeded to wait in line from about 9:50-11:20. NB- It was not warm outside.
The highlight of the line was undoubtedly our view of the Secret Service, who came well equipped with further canine security. Entertainment at its finest. It occurs to me what an operation it must be to shuttle the President around. While they make it look so effortless on the West Wing (thanks, Sorkin)... it raises more logistical issues than a wedding. Every single day. I am tempted to look this up and learn more about these procedures, though the West Wing recently informed me that the SS "doesn't typically comment on procedure."
The Separation
Finally, after an hour and a half of freezing, we got ushered in after going through "airport like security." For some reason- whether it be by coincidence or whether it was completely planned unbeknownst to us- we got shepherded into a private, secluded room with 20 others. While we watched the others we'd waited in line with, we were informed we would be sitting behind the President of the United States during his address. It was time to text my father and tell him to turn on the television.
While it is more than likely that our luck was completely coincidence, it was hard not to notice that the diversity factor was kicked up a notch in the group we'd been thrust into. Among those standing behind the President were several families of African American descent, a couple Indian families... and us. The college kids of America.
Here we are! Far back, front and center.
Social Media
Have you ever gotten in trouble with the White House? Well, don't worry. We have. Not our proudest moment. If you were a college student, who had just waited in line for an hour and a half to see the leader of the free world, and was then randomly selected to sit behind him... what would your first instinct be? To tweet. It's second nature.
After each sending a couple twit pics, and excitable comments-- completely harmless ones, and ones fully in support of Barack Obama, I promise!--- the White House representative who had put us in formation hurried onto the stage where we all stood and demanded, "Who's on Twitter?"
The stage spectators froze.
She repeated her question. And again. Once it was answered to no avail, she shook her head and made a very frustrated proclamation: "No twittering!!!"
We hastened to obey. And no, no one dared mention that the proper terminology was "tweeting".
And now for the main event:
The President's Speech.
President Obama spoke on the American Jobs Act. He drew examples of working families from people he'd met on his visit to New Hampshire- like the math teacher some of the seniors in the audience had. He hoped the bill would be signed into law so he could continue helping the middle class by creating jobs. In addition to promoting the middle class- something the NH audience was very receptive to- he threw in some crucial political points. Several times, he made the point that the good of our country needs to come over partisanship. He urged the voters of Manchester to remember that whether or not it made him popular, he has done his best during the presidency to create the most jobs and stability for the economy.
The Heckling
About a minute into the President's Speech, the Occupy protesters started up. It was countered by an eruptive "Obama!" chant. It was organized chaos, to say the least. He handled it diplomatically, and even heard the protesters out. Remaining calm, he requested that they now listen to his points, because he listened to theirs. Logical. In my not at all reputable opinion, he handled it impressively well. Check out the video that made Nightly News. Oh, and when the Camera pans back... remember... last row in the center.
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