Inside The Moment

Tuesday, June 03, 2008 
By Sylvester Monroe

St. Paul, Minnesota -- By 6pm the line outside the massive Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota circled the entire building. By 6:30, it stretched a full five blocks  from the convention center. It could have been a rock concert or a professional sports event. But it was neither.

Instead street corner vendors hawked Barack Obama buttons and caps and T-shirts and sweatshirts  that read "Obama 08," "The  United Sates of Obama" and "TIME to change the Commander in Chief" with Obama's photo in a TIME magazine cover logo. There was even one that read "Share the Dream" with Obama's photo superimposed over an image of  Dr. Martin Luther King  Jr.

It was history in the making as some 17,000 people of all races and ages gathered to see Obama become the first African America ever to become the Demcoratic Party nominee for president of the United States.

Another 15,000 listened and watched on a giant screen outside as Barack, dressed  in a dark suit and sky blue tie, and Michelle, in an exquisite purple dress, took the podium shortly after 9 pm.  Inside  the hall, nearly filled to its 20,000-person capacity,  the crowd leapt to their feet and erupted in a deafening noise cheering and waving to the presumptive nominee and possible next first family of the United States.  Many stayed on their feet and never sat through the entire speech as Obama declared the primary election season at an end.
        
"Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end," he said. "Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.  Thousands of miles have been traveled.  Millions of voices have been heard.  And because of what you said ­ because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen, not to your doubts or your fears, but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another ­ a journey that will bring a new and better day to America.  Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States."
         
Indeed, with a flurry of superdelegates shifting over to the Illinois senator on Tuesday, Obama secured the magical 2,118 delegates needed to effectively clinch the democratic presidential nomination. The victory caps a nearly two-year journey that officially began in early 2007 in front of the Illinois statehouse in Springfield where he proclaimed to another overflow crowd: "Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what's needed to be done. Today we are called once more and it is time for our generation to answer that call. For that is our unyielding faith that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it."
  
He then shocked the conventional political establishment by raising more than $265 million so far, more than any other single candidate in the history of U.S. elected politics and excited hundreds of thousands of voters by drawing record crowds at campaign stops across the country fueling record turnouts at primaries and caucuses across the nation.

Read The Tipping Point
Read more coverage in Campaign 08 

Sylvester Monroe is Senior Editor for EBONY magazine.

THE OBAMA REPORT

By Kevin Chappell

Editor's Note: When Senator Barack Obama announced his plans to travel to Europe and the Middle East, U.S. news organizations began jockeying for one (or a few) of the coveted "embed" spots available. Johnson Publishing was the Black media organization invited along. For the duration of Obama's trip, EBONY Senior Editor Kevin Chappell and staff photographer Valerie Goodloe will be posting daily reports from their time spent traveling with the senator and his delegation. Check back daily for their exclusive perspective.

TUESDAY: PRESS V. STAFF

 
For the first time since arriving,  the American press witnessed Sen. Barack Obama in the Middle East. Early in the morning, the press had been given a security notice stating that last week a gunman opened fire on six people in the Hashimiyah Square area near our hotel. We were advised not to venture in that area.

The day kicked off with an early morning press briefing at the Four Seasons in Amman, where Obama staffers give trip details and answer questions by reporters. It’s a “pen and pad briefing on background,” which means no recorders or cameras of any kind are allowed, and staffers can only be quoted as “an Obama staffer.”
 
Not much news, only the obvious: that Obama was cramming a lot into a short time, that he was excited about his trip, and that he is pro-Israel and wants U.S. troops out of Iraq as soon as feasible.
 
What was striking was question after question from the press trying to get Obama’s folks to say that his tour or the Middle East and Europe was indeed a campaign trip, not a congressional trip as Obama has said. Increasingly, it’s becoming clear that the sole purpose of much of the press being here is to either catch Obama flip-flopping or catch him in a slip-up or a flub. 

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Launch Slide Show! 

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TOUCHING DOWN
Obama, who last visited Jordan in 2006, arrived to Jordan in the afternoon via a V-22 military helicopter painted grey with Marine insignia, at a military/civilian airfield on the outskirts of Amman from Iraq. Security was tight. Uniformed soldiers lined the runway at regular intervals. Obama and Sen. Jack Reed and Sen. Chuck Hagel emerged. Obama was wearing khakis, heavy-duty brown hiking boots, and a slightly wrinkled blue oxford. He carried a black helmet and what appeared to be body armor. His orange earplugs remained in place as he walked across the tarmac, enabling him to ignore the cries of "Senator, senator!" from a pool of reporters who had waited in the desert sun for his arrival.
 
Braving it out on the hot tarmac in black dress suits to greet Obama: Dan Rubinstein, the deputy chief of mission from the U.S. embassy in Amman, and  Scott Gration, a retired 4-star Army general who is advising the senator's campaign. Obama and the general exchanged bear hugs.
 
In fact, there were big smiles all around. Obama looked very happy to be here. A few minutes later, all three emerged from the terminal and boarded the motorcade. Obama got into one Suburban; Hagel and Reed jumped in another. It may have been an indication of the handoff that was taking place. Up until his arrival in Amman, Obama was traveling on an official congressional delegation. Now in Jordan, although no one on the staff will say it, the focus shifts from official congressional business to Obama time.
 
Under the 100-degree sun, Obama held a press conference at the Temple of Hercules, a flattop mountain with picturesque views of Amman in the backdrop. Members of the media again peppered him with questions about his stance on pulling troops out of Iraq. Obama was consistent and clear with his answers.
 
After a one-on-one interview with CBS’s Katie Couric, Obama was scheduled to have dinner with His Majesty King Abdullah II, who himself flew all night from Denver to be here for Obama’s arrival.

 
After having dinner with the King, Obama was personally driven to the airport in Jordan by the King himself. In fact, as the media waited on the tarmac for Obama to arrive, in the distance several lights could be seen approaching. The ride of choice: about six or seven black Mercedes. The King and Obama were leading the pack, traveling at a high rate of speed.
 
Now that’s the way to travel.
 
While it was a short flight from Jordan, it was anything but ordinary. Although it was the first time Obama had flown on his refurbished airplane, the media didn’t cut him, or his staff, any slack. In fact, several reporters staged what could only be called a mini-revolt. At issue: Obama staffers’ frequent use of virtual anonymity in disseminating information that can only be credited to them on background. They did it at the morning briefing and they tried it again at an evening briefing onboard. But this time, the press, always looking for a name to attribute information, wasn’t having it. Someone shouted, “No background. No background.” Then others chimed in. In the end, the reporters agreed that if no one on the Obama staff wanted to take responsibility for the information that they were giving to the press, then they could keep it. Frustrated staffers turned around and went back to the cushy digs in the front of the airplane.
  
While many in the press seem determined to find a “gotcha” moment on the tour, Obama could be a little more forthcoming. After all, the Brother may be ahead in the polls, but he’s not President yet.
With an angry press corps and a frustrated Obama staff that has been called out from behind the magic curtain, (Can’t we all just get along?) we take off for Jerusalem. It’s Obama’s next stop, and a place where his support (or lack thereof) of Israel will surely be tested.

Sunday and Monday