OBAMA WAS IMPRESSIVE AT NYU

                           NO LIGHTWEIGHT

Last night at about 5 PM there were crowds of people streaming in the direction of Washington Park right outside my office window on 5th avenue and 11th street in Greenwich Village, NYC.

So what's the fuss all about, I wondered. My elevator operator said that Obama was going to have a rally in the park. So having a rare free evening I decided to see and hear the candidate in person. This task proved to be far more difficult than I ever would have imagined.

 Getting to the perimeter of the park was easy but penetrating into the inside was effortful. I soon realized that to get close to hear him required one to have a pass which I did not have. But I figured that iof I play it cool and just follow the line of people in front of me maybe I could be ushered in without credentials. And that is exactly what happened. So far so good.

 I followed a group of people ahead of me and soon found ourselves filling in a remarkably uncrowded area. This was too good to be true as the rest of the park was filling up with what must have been thousands of people - mainly NYU students.

 As I figured: it was too good to be true. A man with a bull horn indicating he was from the Secret Service (no longer secret) informed all of my group of about a hundred peopler that we had to go back from where we came, join up with that group, and wait in line to eventually pass through a check point where there were metal detectors for security purposes.  It was now 5:30 P.M. Obama was not expected to speak until 7 P.M.

The crowd became increasingly more dense. It was hot. I was thirsty and din't enjoy standing on my feet surrounded by people pressing in on me. So I wondered why am I here?

My answer was that I am intrigued by Obama. He seems to come out of the blue - a true newcomer on the political scene. A breath of fresh air. It would be interesting to see if the live Obama matched the one I have seen and heard a number of times on TV.

By 7:15 the crowd was becoming increasingly more restless. I talked to a college freshman from Santa Fe, a math student from Switzerland and a CEO of a software firm in New York. The crowd was friendly, and obviously all like minded to hear and see for themselves what constituted the appeal of Obama.

Finally about 7:45 the crowd was given permission to gather inside the park circle where Obama was to speak. And speak he did. As he made his pitch I associated back to my first impressions of having heard JFK. I was impressed then and now with their similar enthusiasm, their candidness, their apparent command of ther issues, their relative ease, folksiness, humor, and apparent sincerity. Above all was a sense of unusual authenticity.

The crowd was with him and frequently cheered him.

I walked away glad I had made the effort to hear and see him in person. He is not to be taken lightly this political breath of fresh air.

My tentative conclusion.

At the moment I have a fantasy of a dream ticket - Hillary for President. Obama for Vice President. Now there is something truly novel, long in coming, and potentially rejuvenating for America and the world.