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Excitement level high at Obama parties

Mike Miller  —  8/29/2008 5:28 am

Young and old alike gathered in Madison Thursday night at a couple of parties organized by the Barack Obama campaign to bring together supporters to listen the historic moment when the Illinois senator became the first black man in history to accept the presidential nomination of a major party.

People started gathering early at both the Majestic Theater in downtown Madison and at a room in the Coliseum Bar, 232 Olin Ave., for the parties -- and the food and beverages.

Anticipation was in the air at both places, but perhaps moreso at the Majestic, where young adults, many attracted to their first campaign by the charismatic Obama, lined up to get into the old downtown theater.

Colorful chalk signs lined King Street with arrow pointing to the entrance of the theater marking the Obama party.

Inside as some hit the food line and others the bar, longtime friends Lindsey Nelson, 24, and Kelli Ray, 23, both from McFarland, epitomized the attraction of Obama for the younger generation. While neither has been active in the campaign yet, "we are ready for a big change," said Ray.

"We are planning on volunteering the next few weeks," Ray said.

Nelson agreed with that and said as of yet, she hasn't done much in the campaign, "except to try to get my parents to vote for him."

But along with those young voters who Obama is courting, he must draw the normal base of Democratic support, and there was evidence of that at the Majestic too.

Among those eagerly awaiting the acceptance speech, and making an occasional reference to the noise made by younger voters who were sometime drowning out the speeches by other Democrats, were longtime Madison teachers Rick and Susan Herndon.

Rick Herndon, retired from Sennett Middle School, and Susan, retired from Franklin Elementary School, have been longtime supporters of Democratic candidates.

"It's been awhile since there has been something this hopeful," Rick said of the Obama campaign, saying the senator has shown "change can be viable." And while he welcomed aboard a new generation of supporters for Obama, Herndon also warned "young people have to realize that after Nov. 4, the work has to continue."

Susan Herndon said she has been touched by speakers at the convention who preceded Obama. "I never gave up hope until the last seven years," she said., "Now today this convention is so emotional it's incredible. There aren't really words to describe what I feel," she said, but then added those words: "It may be possible we can be the America we hoped for all these years."

The night may have been more emotional for Lysundra Alawiye, a 52-year-old African-American woman born in Birmingham, Ala., who suffered first hand from the wretched discrimination that Obama has sidestepped to win the nomination.

"I remember when blacks and whites couldn't sit down at the same table to eat," she said of her youth in Birmingham, and recalled an instance when a friend declined to go into a pizza joint because she was afraid she wouldn't get served.

Tonight was going to be different, though. "I'm really proud," said Alawiye, who is working on the Obama campaign. "I'm happy to see this day come," she said, adding at times it was difficult to think "that a black man would ever get to this point."

"But I am very optimistic," Alawiye said. "I believe Obama will be our next president."

Over at the Coliseum Bar party sat one of the most recognizable women in Madison. Addrena Squires, 80, has volunteered in many capacities during her years in the city and has always been active in civil rights activities as well.

Asked if she ever thought she would see this day, Squires showed her usual wit by saying, "I knew I had a long time, my mother lived to be 95."

On a more serious note, she recalled taking her daughter, Mona Winston, to New Orleans when Mona was only 3. "I went to get a drink and a black lady had to tell me I couldn't drink the water. I said 'why not, it's the same water.'"

"This is history," Squires said of Obama's nomination. "Others didn't succeed before him and I'm glad this is coming."

Mike Miller  —  8/29/2008 5:28 am