RERUNS: THE MMTP ARCHIVE

Episode 21: Obama Live From the Sunshine State!

By Lee Molloy

Sen. Barack Obama does his best Oprah impression at a rally in Sunrise last Friday. Photo by Angie Hargot

For our reality series Make Me The President, we scoured the country to find the most power-hungry, Machiavellian and downright unattractive people in the United States of America (“The Greatest Nation On Earth” ™) to find the man, or woman, who could raise the most money, be willing to break the most promises and offer the most bland reason to become — The President.

This week on MMTP:

We come to you live from the BankAtlantic Center in fabulous Sunrise, Florida. It’s Friday, May 23. The sun is shining and the good folks at barackobama.com have told us the stadium will open to the press at 1 p.m., the general public will be allowed in at 2, and the curtain will go up at 3:30 p.m. This is going to be a fun day!

It’s only just after 1 p.m. and the parking lot is already filling up. As MMTP producers walk toward the stadium entrance, we can see lines of Obamamaniacs snaking their way across the front of the building. The fans are smiling and seem to be in high spirits as they wait patiently in the heat.

It is surprisingly easy to get through security; just a quick credential check and suddenly we are on the main floor of the stadium. Currently the place is empty, giving us the sense of being backstage at a rock concert. And, just like at a rock show, there is a tension in the air, a palpable expectation that builds as we wait for the fans to be let in.

Suddenly, there is a rush of activity as fans arrive in the stands and many make their way to the mosh pit in front of the stage, close enough to reach out and touch the hand of their hero/messiah/whatever.

Young girls run to the stage, smiling and screaming with anticipation, while families spanning three or four generations walk proudly across the floor to take their places. Something special is about to happen here.

Members of the Miami Pan Symphony Steel Orchestra, clad in red T-shirts, set up near the stage and play some very pretty music to keep the crowd entertained. “Not bad for three days’ work,” an Obama volunteer says as the stadium fills up. Indeed.

“I’m very excited,” DJ Le Spam, of Miami’s Spam Allstars, tells MMTP as the band sets up on stage. “I’ve been kinda nervous for the last couple of days, but am proud to be here.”

Although MMTP producers hope to see a perfectly multiracial and ethnically diverse audience, we estimate that about 75 percent of the fans in the stadium are black — hardly the United Colors of Barackatton ad we’ve been led to expect.

While waiting for the headlining act, MMTP producers watch the movements of the Secret Service because those guys are great indicators of when things will happen. Right now, considering that the agents are eating hot dogs, it doesn’t seem like Elvis, er, Obama, is even in the building.

The Spam Allstars have the crowd in a frenzy, singing, “Obama, Obama, go, go, Obama.” And, even as a cynical, self-loathing columnist, it is difficult not to get caught up in the excitement.

MMTP producers decide to camp out on one of the media stands within 30 feet of the podium where Sen. Obama will speak. Because this position is reserved for the mainstream media, we opt for a low profile and take the spot labeled CNN/NBC.

A Sun-Sentinel reporter has a similar idea, so we sit and chat as the fans start the wave around the stadium. The atmosphere turns electric and the hardened reporter turns with awe on her face and shows me her arm — all the hairs are standing on end. Wow.

It is now 3:45 p.m. and show organizers are giving out the official “handmade” posters and signs to the fans behind the podium. Posters with unapproved messages are not allowed.

And so it begins.

Congressman Robert Wexler and Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter hit the stage to give the usual platitudes. The senator is late. It’s 4:20 p.m., but surely that’s just a coincidence, right?  

Twenty more minutes pass before we notice a couple of agents positioning themselves behind our location; more are starting to cover the exits and another is frantically speaking into his wrist at the entrance behind the podium. It’s on.

As Will.i.am’s Yes We Can video plays on the massive overhead screens, 16,000 necks stretch like rubber to get a glimpse of Obama. There is an incredible sound, a roar of extraordinary volume before a fever overtakes the crowd. It is impossible to resist, objectivity is lost and MMTP producers have to ask themselves: Can we ever be fair and unbiased in this contest again? Yes we can. We hope.

“Usually I have a walk-around mic, like Oprah,” Obama says to the amusement of his fans. And then, of course, is promptly brought one by a stagehand.

He goes through his stump speech with the skill of a preacher and the timing of a stand-up comedian, sans notes or autocue. And he actually gives concrete objectives: “I want to take on energy the way John Kennedy took on going to the moon.” He then promises “cheaper health care in the first term,” followed by the crowd-pleasing “I will bring this war to a close.” And for the Jewish cynics, he promises that “we will be a stalwart ally of Israel forever.”

Then Obama suggests it is his actions toward building a better America that are important, not the pin he wears on his lapel. “That’s my patriotism,” he says. “Build a better future than we had in the past.”

Then he is gone, and like the consummate showman he is, he leaves the fans hungry for more and doesn’t even come back for an encore.

It really was quite a show.

Tune in next week as the primary season draws to a close and we finally decide whether Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton will be the Team Democrats nominee for the four-year boarding pass on Air Force One.

Hail to the Chief!