As someone 'sharing' this election with my 30-ish children, I know how you must have felt. It's something you and she will always remember. Thanks for the post -- I'm smiling big time!

As a Californian that will probably never get to see Michelle or Barack, I always enjoy hearing other's stories of what it is like...Thanks for sharing!

I brought my son to see Obama speak here in Seattle in Feb. during the primaries. I too had wanted to go but wasn't sure about taking the time off work but my 14 year old son said he really wanted to see him. I was thrilled and took him out of school to attend the Obama rally here. It was a fabulous experience and I went from leaning Obama to an unwavering supporter. I caucused for Obama shortly thereafter and was elected a precinct delegate for him. I've had a fundraiser, in my home, have an online fundraising page, have made calls on behalf of MoveOn for Obama and have been working on registering voters for the last few weeks. The most fruitful has been initiating a voter registration drive at work by making forms available at all our work sites. Lots of people are getting those forms in. The deadline is Saturday. Then I guess I'll need to focus on calls. I've never been this inspired by a politician or more hopeful for the future.

I agree that we need a margin to combat voter suppression and although the polls are thrilling right now I will take nothing for granted.

Thanks for sharing your story. Thanks for celebrating a historical time. Just think, you, your daughter and others are playing major roles to help this history making event happen. Again, thanks for sharing.

What a wonderful post. My wife and I took our four year old to see Obama when he came to Philadelphia before our primary. It was very inspiring. Now my daughter knows who Obama is and can point out Hillary, Biden and McCain if they come on TV, but it would be an overstatement to describe her as interested in his speech. Although it was a great speech, my daughter played with another little girl there while we watched the speech. The thing that inspired me most was the wide variety of people there. I'm a few months shy of my 30th birthday, but I have been to a couple of political events in my day. Never have I seen such a diverse group of people all on the same page. Their were senoirs, college students, business men and women in suits, hippies (literally in tie dye T-shirts and 'Roys), black, white hispanic, indian, arabic, people in cowboy hats and doorags. I tell you that I have never in my life been as inspired as I had been that day. I felt like the whole country was on the same page. Even though my daughter is too young to totally grasp what I felt, I was so thankful that I could share that with her.

rec'd - ThO I've read several at this and other sites, there is ALWAYS room for another personal story and I appreciated reading yours. Thanks for the inspiration.

Oops! That was a clarification reply for cursist.

That's fantastic! I lived in the Denver area for my first 34 years. Even my uber-Republican sister will be voting Obama this year.

I'm now living in the Portland, Oregon area, which is nearly certain to go to Obama, but I carry voter reg forms with me when I canvass. I always approach construction crews etc. and often find a couple young people who have not yet registered. Even the addresses the campaign has me canvass - there will often be new residents, so while I mark off the names on my canvass list, the new people are happy for me to give them the reg. forms.

Lauren writes "Today we went to CU campus in Boulder to hear Michelle Obama. The level of organization of the campaign was immediately apparent because in order to enter the field that was chorded off, you had to fill out a form giving your name and address, indicating whether or not you were registered and where you stood in terms of your vote i.e. definitely voting for senator Obama, unsure, etc. I realize that they would know exactly how many people entered the field while not really able to account for those remaining outside the chords."

Jesus Lauren, it sounds like you attended a Nazi rally. How wonderful to attend an event featuring America hating Michelle Obama speak. How wonderful that she is finally proud of America now that people are voting for her Empty suit husband Oilbama who voted FOR the Bush Cheney Energy Bill. Did you get a chance to ask why the sequestering of her academic thesis was unprecedented at Princeton, a liberal university that prides itself on open access to scholarly information? Did you ask her why despite repeated attempts by media organizations to view the document, Michelle Obama’s alma mater would provide no explanation for hiding it. Did you know the thesis written under her maiden name, Michelle LaVaughn, is titled “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community.” Politico.com received a possibly redacted copy from the Obama campaign recently. The excerpts show that Michelle Obama identifies with black militancy, is utterly obsessed with race in America and her own blackness. They conclude that it is a fundamentally racist document, shocking when considering that this scholarship is the product of a presidential candidate’s wife at a great university. Did you get a chance to ask her about wWhy her husband and Oilbamabots have waged the most Sexist campaign in History?
You are right when you say they make a great pair, you have one of the most Sexist jerks in history married to one of the biggest Racists.

"in order to enter the field that was chorded off, you had to fill out a form giving your name and address, indicating whether or not you were registered and where you stood in terms of your vote i.e. definitely voting for senator Obama, unsure, etc."

Okay, this is the first I've heard of anything like this... what was done with these cards? Were they simply taken from you and you were admitted?

I'd like to believe the Obama campaign has not been screening its crowds, but if they're asking people for contact information and which way they're leaning to vote, after the way the Shrub campaigns operated, I have to ask the question to be certain.

Inspiring!

Both of my kids attend college, and will vote for the first time this year. My 18 year old son has done two shifts for voter registration, one with me and one with "Barack the Vote" on campus. They have both been following the news and blogs constantly. I'm thilled they're engaged and concerned.

I know what you mean! I took my 11-year old daughter to an Obama rally back in February and I told her she was seeing the next President of the United States. Since then I've canvassed for the Dems and also take my daughter with me when I do phone banking for Obama. I know that my daughter is proud of my involvement and I know it's her generation that will be the most impacted with this election. I'm glad to know that young people are really taking this election seriously.