The weather outside was frightful, but the crowd inside the Roanoke Civic Center found everything delightful. Cool, damp conditions on Friday didn’t keep lines from starting to form at the civic center as early as 7:30 a.m. on Friday as attendees of the Barack Obama rally hoped to catch a close-up view of their preferred presidential candidate.

The doors finally opened at 10 a.m. and shuttle buses made continuous loops between the civic center and two Carilion parking garages until almost time for the event to begin at 12:30 p.m. Outside, vendors sold T-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, calendars, and even bobble-head dolls bearing Obama’s likeness.

Umbrellas were not allowed inside the arena, so the bushes outside began to look like some sort of strange holiday decorations (see photo at right) as those going inside began to leave their umbrellas in the shrubs in hopes to find them again after the event.

Security was strict with everyone attending required to file through metal detectors and having bags checked. Many were forced to leave items behind such as pocket knives. But neither the weather or items left behind seemed to dampen the spirits of the energetic crowd, which offered the young and old, black and white. Those in attendance sported T-shirts from the United Mine Workers of America, Steelworkers for Obama, and UAW Local 2069 in Dublin.

Beginning with attendees doing the wave around the civic center before Obama took the stage until after Obama had taken his place at the podium, the arena had an environment more like an important ballgame or a rock concert than a political rally. And with less than three weeks until the election, the Obama camp must have been pleased with the unbridled enthusiasm.

After the crowd was warmed up by the likes of Rep. Rick Boucher of Virginia’s Ninth Congressional District and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, finally walked up the steps to the stage set up in the civic center. Most supporters yelled, hooted, and applauded wildly. The light from flashbulbs filled the arena. A few just casually took in the whole experience.

Obama’s primary focus was on domestic issues, using his typical phrases such as “Main Street not Wall Street” in reference to an economic rescue for the middle class. Obama took a jab at McCain saying that a few weeks ago McCain said that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. “I don’t know about you,” Obama said, “but where I’m from a job is pretty fundamental.”

Obama gave the audience snippets of folksy charm from stories about how he had to take a sip of water because he had just had some nuts as a snack to his story of walking into a diner in Ohio to get a piece of pie. “I like sweet potato pie,” he said. “But they did not have sweet potato pie … so I got coconut cream pie.”

Obama hammered home his domestic policy issues, speaking about health care, education, and of course the economy. And despite recent gains in his lead over Sen. John McCain in most polls, Obama called his supporters to action. He reminded them of states in which he led in the polls during the primary season but lost those states to Sen. Hillary Clinton and he cautioned against too much confidence.

“We’ve got to keep fighting to make it right,” Obama said, encouraging supporters to stay active through election day. “We are 18 days away from changing this country,” he said.

Tim W. Jackson is Editor of the New River Voice. He didn’t take an umbrella to the event.