Obama 2008: The Tale of A Ticket

Some might know of my current plans to sell a house in Denver and get back to the Bay Area in California. (Not that I ever left; I'll always be a Californian and a New Yorker - dual citizenship.) Well, during this summer of 2008, the operative words are indeed plans to as the house has sat on the market for three months without a bite. I don't know if it's the real estate market, the real estate agent, or the real estate we're selling?



When George and I put the house up in June we were so optimistic. We had a huge garage sale, the house looked great, and everyone was clamoring for it. We would be fielding multiple offers, ultimately, bringing the sale price up an additional $4,000. What a world! But I said to our agent, there is a pin to this bubble.

A pin?

Yes, whatever deal we accept we have to draw out the paperwork through the end of August so I can still be here and see history happen when Barack Obama accepts the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party at INVESCO Field.

She winked. We'll be sure to, Michael.



It's now three months later, the price has dropped 10%, George is in California, John McCain can't count as high as the number of homes he owns but he wants to be president, and I'm keeping a house clean for the first time in my life - what would Toby think?

Roughly three weeks ago, I heard rumblings about where to get tickets for Obama's INVESCO Field appearance. It was late at night but I went to the Colorado Democratic Party home page anyway and was able to sign up. A ticket, it seems, is referred to as a Community Credential. I also checked a box that asked if I would like to volunteer for the campaign for six hours to receive an All-Star Credential. After clicking Submit, I received an immediate confirmation via email that thanked me for signing up to ''receive information about INVESCO Field and other updates from the Democratic National Convention''.



The next morning, all hell had broken loose. Video, blogs, articles and news sources across the Internet were ablaze with the talk of going to the Colorado Democratic Party home page to sign up for your Community Credential. 80% of the available tickets were going to Coloradans and being a Coloradan (for convenience this one time) I'm planning to go.

What was that operative word?

There were so many requests, they stopped taking names after 80,000, the field's capacity. A few days following that milestone I received an email, with no mention of a credential, that discussed ways I might volunteer for the campaign. I called up the telephone number in the email and the woman on the other end explained that I had to volunteer six hours within the next five days. The email I received was just explaining my options. I took the next day off from work, went to the Barack Obama Campaign Headquarters on 1355 South Colorado in Denver (the office) and proceeded to do six and a half hours (just to be sure) of data entry and cold telephone calls.



Hi. I am working for the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama and Congressman Mark Udall...yada...yada...yada.

I went home psyched for the work and the people I'd met and for my plans to see Barack Obama at INVESCO Field.

What was that operative word? Oh, yeah.

Within a few days I receive a voice mail informing me that I was put on a wait list for a credential. So it wasn't first come, first serve. But I just volunteered so I must be getting one of those All-Star Credentials, right? I assumed my plans to see Barack Obama were struck down in their prime.



A week later, I receive another voice mail reminding me to pick up my credential starting Friday 10 AM and before Saturday 5 PM. Was this for real? So I picked up the telephone and called HQ. (Volunteers can use that acronym.) It turns out that well, I got it! And you can see it. Here is a video I made to show the Community Credential because the front image changes in the light.



As this is the Community Credential, I'm not sure what the All-Star Credential is, or if I will be upgraded to it. But I do know that my plans to see Barack accept the nomination on August 28 have come to fruition. What was that operative word again? Oh, yeah. Bodes well for the sale of the house now, doesn't it?