Truemors
The lines for Election Day voting in Chicago started swelling around 6 a.m., but hours earlier a different queue began forming as anxious Barack Obama supporters scouted out a spot near Grant Park in hopes of landing a front row view of history. Two brothers (one of which happens to be my lovely fiance) hopped in line late Monday night, planning an overnight camp-out near the entrance of Grant Park. Chicago police had a different idea, giving the duo the boot until sunrise.
Around 9 a.m., other excited and anxious Obama supporters rolled in and by 11:30, a group of nearly 80 people had assembled along Congress Parkway. Follow updates from the front of the line on Twitter and here on NowPublic all day!
Play-by-Play Updates From the Group of Folks at the Front:
9:30 pm (Monday)- Arrive in line. Just me and the guy playing guitar.
12:30 am- Interview with Korean television station who kicks off questions with "So Obama's Black?" Hmm...answer with a smile.
5:30 am- Chicago police still don't have plan for 65K people lining up before 8:30.
6:30 am- Met guy from Congo who saved all his money and flew in to the Windy City for chance to attend Obamafest.
6:30ish am- Sunrise...finally! Who wants to supply the line with Starbucks?
9:30 am- More people showing up along with a bus filled with Chicago cops.
10:00 am- Interviews with MTV and Chicago Tribune.
12:30 pm- Line hits 150! Not sure where 60K people are going to line up.
12:40 pm- Interview with Korean Television shown nationally in South Korea...good thing I remembered the one Korean phrase I know!
1:00 pm- Line has begun swinging around Congress Parkway.
2:30 pm- Annie (ACBert) has arrived!
3:00 pm- My fiance (Tom) has now been interviewed by stations from Sweden, Germany, Argentina and a slew of others.
3:15 pm- Police have warned that the lines will soon be moving closer to the park. It's absolute chaos...the CPD seems confused, but the vibe in the city is absolutely phenomenal!
4:30 pm- The police randomly decided to let about 2,000 people in and we are now corralled in to a gated area with no estimate of when we will be let in... it's basically chaos
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