Welcome, Wilkomen, Bienvenue, Shalom, Gutentag, Hola, etc. from Barack et. al.

At USC, we line up for two things and two things only: a football game and the President. Starting at 3:30 a.m. this past Friday morning, a select few USC students lined up early to catch a glimpse of our country’s President. Barack Obama however, waited a few hours before arriving at approximately 1:00 p.m. PST, as two choppers carried the President from LAX to the coliseum. An hour later, he spoke in front of thousands outside USC’s central Library.

But before he said a word, he had said quite a bit to supporters about the state of his party. He could not have done worse than every other speaker who graced the stage before him.  Mr. Obama made the trek to Los Angeles in order to offer support for Senator Barbara Boxer, and Boxer and democrats alike, in their infinite wisdom, chose an "all-star line-up" of speakers to fill the event.  The group almost too perfectly represented a melting pot of personalities, seemingly targeting every possible stereotype of a democrat voter.  Put simply, it was a painful experience to watch.

Setting the tone early was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, who was over-excited, too pushy and pain-stakingly long in his comments.  As someone who has gotten the chance to cover the Mayor, I found it to be a missed opportunity to showcase some campaigning and public speaking skills.  This event was about excitement yes, but not about manic motivation.  Far too often these days do politics turn to this maniacal emotional state, and when the wrong attitude is behind it, this behavior can have terrible civil consequences.

Next up were some quaint but ultimately meaningless appearances as a USC student leader gave a short and well written speech, a local rabbi spoke and another state leader gave short comments about the day’s significance.  The student was a small Asian American woman, the Rabbi who was a middle-aged white woman, and the State politician was a large Hispanic man.  The pieces of a profile seemed to be falling together. 

This was followed by a visit from State Attorney General candidate Kamala Harris, who spoke with dignity and gusto, as her desired position requires.  I found her to be a bright spot in a rather meteorically average line-up Friday afternoon.  The bright spot faded quickly though, as Harris gave way to Jamie Foxx and other assorted famous company. 

Rap group Ozmatali played for 20 minutes alongside the USC Band, a clear time filler as we waited for the heavy hitters.  Obama was running late.

The man who currently holds the Harris’ desired Attorney General position, Jerry Brown, is now a Gubernatorial candidate against ex-ebay head Meg Whitman.  Foxx, after getting the go ahead for ceremonies to continue, introduced Jerry Brown who spoke for no more than a few priceless seconds, which was disappointing as his race is also extremely close right now.

After Mr. Brown, Ms. Boxer appeared, giving what was one of her best speeches I’ve heard, but was rushed as well, as the President was behind schedule.  The two big time politicans to preceed the president wound up not getting to give their most complete appearance because of the President’s overarching importance.  It was a disappointingly apparent that a rally that if it were not for the media, would have been palpably off base. 

Before the president had even spoken a word, it was clear what message he was sending. 

As shown by the very transparent intention behind the day’s line-up, this rally was for a target audience who was not in attendance.  There was a clear emphasis on the female and Hispanic vote, as well as on Jewish voters and young voters.  Of all those groups, one makes perfect sense, but others simply don’t fit the USC community build. 

No, I should not assume that this rally was only meant for us at the host school.  But it was an interesting and partially disturbing experience to feel as if my leadership was publicly profiling me to my face.  Possibly, this is a realization that all people must go through with politics, but my naïveté definitely got the best of me this time. 

That being said, it was quite a sight to see the president in the flesh, adorned with all the extra chaos that comes with this individual.  However, I believe the event was summed up best by our society’s newest form of mass gathering, twitter:

@MackJimmy 10/22 15:11 –  “Saw Obama...but I'm really glad I didn't wait more than an hour. I think people forget that he, too, is just a person.”