Barack Obama

Photos by Peter Bartz-Gallagher & Dan Feidt

For reasons known only to the stars, St. Paul's Xcel Center has become the center of the political universe this year.

The Center fills slowly with Minnesotans as MSNBC airs on giant screens. When the network cuts to commercial, Obama ads appear -- spliced in by the production staff. The cable news has been ticking off remaining delegates all day long, and the audience cheers every time they announce each Obama superdelegate endorsement. Hillary's odometer is soon to be no more...

Outside, road-tested political knick-knack vendors hawk their wares.

Matthew Towsley (at right) has logged a solid 23,000 miles in thirteen weeks, since he set out from Oakland, California at the end of March. "I'm an equal-opportunity entrepreneur," he says, offering Hillary stuff at her events, as well. As a St. Paul-licensed peddler, he had stuff from ShopPolitical.com.

Are these knock-offs? A vendor said the carefully designed Obama campaign swag gets licensed as public domain. TJ from Chicago, who sells shirts "all the time," is offering $10 "TIME 'for a CHANGE'" shirts and hats, superimposing Obama on a TIME Magazine cover. This is the first campaign where he's sold political gear.

Waiting in line, Paul Paulos, from St. Paul, carried a sign declaring that "'CHANGE' ≠ PLATFORM" and "A preacher ≠ A President". He said that Obama hadn't offered any political platform until he'd been pressured to. With a "really slim background," what will he do if Iran makes a move in the middle east, he asked. "When push comes to shove," what Obama "sells is emotion," said Paulos.

Ann Marie Cosgrove (at left front) from Silent No More Minnesota is protesting Obama's abortion policy, in particular his support of the "Born Alive Infant Protection Act" in back in Illinois. At the rally, some people "want to pigeonhole me" politically, she says, assuming she supports the Bush Administration's war policy. "I don't support any death," she says.

FBI whistleblower and peace activist Coleen Rowley (at right) posted up on Kellogg Boulevard, along with other peace banner-carriers. Their banners opposing a war with Iran have been getting a big response lately, Rowley says. While she's optimistic that Obama hears their message, she's concerned that the campaign finance system influences politicians too easily. Back in the FBI, agents couldn't take more than $20 from anyone -- it's just implausible that thousands of dollars have no effect, she said.

The satellite trucks idle near the loading dock, down the hill from Kellogg Boulevard. The best uplink company name has to be Rum Jungle, but, not to be outdone, a massive Relay House truck had a Harley-Davidson mounted on its rear. The stylish black SUV with a built-in rooftop dish, owned by Meinhardt Satellite Uplink of Chicago and rented today by CBS, looked the best.

The Secret Service has brought an array of vigilant security staffers from across the country. One of the checkpoint guys said the routine had an upside: he had just gotten in from a nice weekend in Puerto Rico. With a good hotel room, it wasn't too bad, he said.

On the floor of the Center, relaxed Democratic pols including U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL-MN5), Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak and Sen. Dick Cohen (DFL-St. Paul) circulate, and Majority Leader Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) kills time by schmoozing with the Almanac crew on top of the video risers.

Answering a VP-slot question from the press, Rybak said it'd be good to be the mayor in Obama's America, especially considering Minnesota's key role in supporting his campaign. On the DFL convention in Rochester this weekend, he predicted to PIM "a lot of happiness... The good news is that Karl Rove is not speaking at our convention!"

St. Paul mayor Chris Coleman smiled when asked if he was the prodigal son of the evening. He said there'll be a strong contrast between what would be said in the Xcel Center tonight and what the Republicans will offer when they soon arrive. Mysteriously, he added that Minnesota was even more relevant to the campaign because who controls the Mississippi River controls the election.

At about twenty minutes to eight p.m., U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is giving an extended speech carried live, and it has definitely hushed the crowd -- they don't feel like booing the whole time, though they definitely gave him some jeers at first. McCain is trying to distance himself from the Bush policy in Iraq while claiming credit for winning at the same time, a surreal experience to watch from within the filling auditorium.

Some folks are getting mobbed as they enter the rear of the press area. Chief Obama strategist David Axelrod (at left), looked a bit surprised (even though he's just beaten the vaunted Clinton machine in a national election.) Someone unfurled an Axelrod banner in the first tier.

Anthony Tunstall from Minneapolis Television Network typically covers entertainment and the R&B scene (check out AT Productions), but came down to tape "for all the people that can't see" the scene.

When Obama finally reached the stage around 9 p.m., the thousands packed inside the Xcel Center could nearly let go of the war, the economic troubles, the basic strangeness of our times. Instead, we're moving on. The pitch: America's in trouble, but good faith and rolling up our sleeves can fix it. That kind of calm and benign message has let many Americans identify with an unorthodox newcomer, which happens from time to time, especially in Minnesota.

Fortunately for the Dems, that message has finally come along with agile pivots against the attacks of the day: as McCain taunts Obama for not visting Iraq, Obama demands McCain visit economically damaged cities across Bush America.

Obama wound it up by talking about how America will soon finally turn the corner. We'll all look back to now, Obama said, and we'll say, "This was the moment! This was the time!" It's part of that peculiar postmodern 'meta' habit he's got, but damn, it works.

After the speech, the Johnson family from Eagan (below) talk about what it meant. We're "walking in history," Ricardo Johnson said. It's not because Obama's black, he says. It's a change in ideology: "Look at how Clinton and McCain have waged" the campaign: they've been fighting the same fights as the last forty years. It's a "fundamental shift in how we govern and look at the future," he said.

(L to R: Camille, Ruth, Ricardo, Linda Johnson)

One of Barack Obama's greatest strengths is his ability to make a political speech without saying much of anything specific at all. Listeners can then project their own specifics onto Obama's audaciously hopeful outline. It's a brilliant formula.

But one thing Obama has been specific on is merit pay for teachers. Several weeks ago at the National Education Association's meeting in Philadelphia, Obama was actually boo'ed by teachers when he mentioned the Minnesota program created by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Look for the Minnesota program, dubbed "Q Comp" (Quality Compensation), to become an important part of the national education policy conversation.

The New York Times profiled the Minnesota program here.