Politics & Government

Waiting for Obama: 'History' Draws Crowd for Tampa Campaign Visit Tickets

A Brandon mother, with family in tow, had the first-in-line spot on a local line to receive tickets for President Barack Obama's June 22 campaign stop in Tampa, at the Dale Mabry campus of Hillsborough Community College.

 

For three hours, Laurel Goldston held the first-in-line spot at the Obama for America office at the Greater Brandon and Riverview community of Winthrop. With her was Rylie, 5, Goldston's daughter, and behind them, Robin Favors, and her two grown children.

It was a family affair that drew the Goldstons of Brandon, and the Favors behind them, to the line snaking through the undeveloped fields of Winthrop. They were there for free tickets to President Barack Obama's campaign stop June 22 at Hillsborough Community College, in the gymnasium of the Dale Mabry campus.

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"I thought it would be an amazing experience for her," Laurel Goldston said, looking down at her young child. "She was with me when I voted four years ago and she's with me today. It's a great experience and it's history [in the making]."

Rylie, an incoming kindergartner at Brooker Elementary School, had her own reasons for waiting on line.

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"I like presidents," she said. "A president helps the country and lives in the White House."

Scott Goldston, husband and father, joined his wife and daughter in line, 30 minutes after they got there.

"I'm a Republican, I voted for Obama last time," Goldson said. "I just wanted to hear him talk, to see if I wanted to vote for him again."

"I'm a done deal," said his wife, also a registered Republican, about her choice for president in November.

"I was still on the line a little bit," her husband added, but the Republicans don't have anybody [I care to support] so I think [Obama] is the best choice of what we have."

Robin Favors, in line with her son, Tony, and daughter, Ebonee, said she, too, was in line for the chance to be in the same gymnasium as the president.

"I believe in his message and and I just wanted to be a part of his campaign," Favors said.

Has she ever seen a president before?

"Not in person, on TV," she said. "This is history for me, because I get an opportunity to hear somebody that I believe in. I believe in his message."

Jimmy Tan is counting on it.

As a worker for the Obama campaign, he welcomed the guests on line shortly before the tickets were given away, on a first-come, first-served basis, starting at 5 p.m.

"You guys are here, you're excited about the president, right?" he shouted, to a reply of hollers and claps.

"Exactly," he added. "We're fired up, and we're going to see him, and we're going to tell all our friends about seeing him, but we need to come back."

A lot of people "are on the fence" and "we need to educate them," Tan said. "That's the only way we're going to win elections."

Tan noted what Democratic Party officials have been touting, that Hillsborough County will play a pivotal role in the election.

"This is where the election is going to be won," he said. "Millions of people are going to watch what happens here. If Hillsborough goes blue, we can pop the corks on the champagne bottles."

As Hillsborough goes, so goes the state, Democratic Party officials believe, "and there's no way Mitt Romney can win without winning Florida," Tan said.

Tony Wilson and his sister, Ebonee, waited on line for three hours with their mother, Robin, just behind the Goldstons.

He said he, too, wants to see history in the making, and be "able to meet a president, just see him live." His sister said she has been following Obama since 2008, the year she graduated from graduate school at Webber International University, and was drawn to his stance on student loans.

As for the economy, Robin Favors said there is no doubt times are tough.

"It was bad when he ran for office and he said it's going to take time," she said. "It's going to take time to fix, and I believe he can do it."


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