I went to the Obama rally at American University last week. I arrived at 8:40 and was told that I was too late. It said on the invitation that live trucks had to be set up by 8:30, but everyone else should arrive by 9:30. Soon other cameramen began to arrive and were told the same thing. A large angry crowd began to assemble at the media entrance. When they saw the size of the crowd, they quickly called the Obama campaign and cleared things up. I stood out in the cold for over an hour before finally being let inside. They made everyone drop their gear near the door while the Secret Service searched it. It was 10:30 before I finally took my place on the media riser.

The line at the public entrance was over a mile long. It took two hours for everyone to get inside and the place was packed. Many people had to be turned away (including NBC's Chris Matthews). Campaign members passed out signs, including hand-made ones designed to look like they were made by supporters.

Obama arrived with Ted Kennedy. The latter gave a rousing speech, while the former talked about how honored he was to receive the endorsement. Overall it was a bit disappointing. Barack looked like he needed time off.