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Supporters gather to watch Obama's speech

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BY CORY MATTESON / Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday, Aug 28, 2008 - 11:18:44 pm CDT

Kerry Julian was one of several dozen who stopped by Zen’s Lounge to catch Sen. Barack Obama’s Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech Thursday night.

She said she’d never thought to go out to watch a politician speak, but that all changed after she heard Obama a few times.

The night’s planner understood.

Story Photo
Sen. Barack Obama speaks at the Democratic National Convention Thursday. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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“They just sort of caught the wave,” said Amy Williams, who hosted the event. “I’m one of those people.”

Prior to Obama’s candidacy, she said she hadn’t invested her time in a campaign. On Thursday, she was meeting new people and calling friends and family in Denver for updates.

Phil Montag’s voice crackled into Williams’ cell phone above the cheers of 80,000 others and the opening synthesizer notes of “Born in the U.S.A.”

“Never seen anything like it,”  said Montag, co-chairman of Nebraskans for Obama, from his nosebleed seat at Invesco Field.

“It’s the best rock concert I’ve ever been to,” he said, listing off Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, Michael McDonald and others.

Inside Zen’s, a framed portrait of Obama, gracing the cover of a Rolling Stone, suggested that the headliner had not yet performed Thursday night.

At 9:14 p.m, the 40 or 50 people in the bar applauded as Obama accepted the nomination, and continued to cheer as he honed his attack against the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain.

When Obama said it was time for the Bush administration and McCain to own their failure, the choice of words drew an “Oooh” from one woman while others in attendance nodded their heads.

“I’d say the gloves are off,” Williams said.

She said the speech impressed her, not just because Obama honed his attack, and detailed what in Washington he plans to change, but also because he called out Democrats, saying that Americans needed to pull their weight, that the government can’t turn off the TV and make a child do homework.

Reach Cory Matteson at 473-7438 or cmatteson@journalstar.com.


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Tonight did it for me. wrote on August 29, 2008 12:08 am:
" I'd knew he was a powerful orator but this was beyond my imagination. From now on whenever I want to know his stance or what he means EXACTLY about CHANGE, I'll simply re-watch this speech. Most................moving....................words.................EVER. "

 Citizen wrote on August 29, 2008 5:58 am:
" Exactly.... Rock concert. My neighbor expressed herself to me that she was "a fan" of Hussein Obama. I didn't hear supporter or why she supported him. She said she was "a fan." Let's hear why you support him other than free beer in Germany and Cheryl Crow in Denver. "Change is only a word." "

 WCG wrote on August 29, 2008 7:37 am:
" Even more than his oratory, I like the way Barack Obama thinks. Heck, after eight years of Bush, I like the fact that he DOES think. Political analysts complain that he doesn't talk - or think - in sound bites. They say Americans are too stupid, with too little attention span, to pay attention to anything else. Well, maybe they're right. John McCain certainly seems to be doing well by pandering to the worst in the American people. And no one seems to pay the slightest attention to McCain's flip-flops on virtually everything, nor to behavior that's completely the opposite of his rhetoric.

But I still like the fact that Barack Obama treats me as an adult - treats us all as adults. He reaches out to the best in Americans, instead of pandering to the worst. Maybe we really are that stupid, that bigoted, that cowardly, as the Republicans think. We certainly haven't done very well in the last two presidential elections, have we? We've nearly destroyed our country, in fact.

Well, I'm sure the anti-Obama emails are still flooding the country, full of complete lies that ignorant and bigoted people are eager to swallow. And maybe his clear-thinking and honest answers won't be enough. But they've certainly impressed me! We've got a chance to put our country back on track again,... if we're only bold enough, smart enough, adult enough to take it. "

 TO CITIZEN wrote on August 29, 2008 8:22 am:
" First of all, to label Obama as “Hussein Obama” is pathetic and most of all it is an Uneducated comment, that is something FOX news would report. “Change” is a word with a meaning; if you happened to watch Obama acceptance speech last night you would have understood what exactly that portrays. It means fighting for the middle class and doing something about the issues that affect us today: ie. Dependency on foreign oil, addressing the economy, etc. Jimmy Carter said it best; that McCain is “milking” his POW past. That has nothing to do with the future of the United States. "

 Technomom wrote on August 29, 2008 9:05 am:
" I stayed at home and tried to record(DVR) the historic speech. Only problem is Cablevision put NO information in the guide on channel 22, or 69 so the recorder would not recognize until 1-4 a.m. This story is about folks that gathered together - Husker devotees do it all the time! the fact is, Nebraskans are not ignorant back woods kind of folks (unlike the comment by Citizen) we are able to get beyond the fear mongering projected by the Mcain campaign and see that this country can not afford to be subject to another Bush term! "

 Obama-Biden wrote on August 29, 2008 10:02 am:
" Hussein Obama? Really? Grow up, and stop believing everything you read in an email. You probably think that Bill Gates is going send you a check for every email that gets forwarded on, too. Good luck with that - you'll need that check if McBush gets elected. "

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