Did The Obama Thing

So we make our way over to the new Obama HQ on a cold, rainy morning, and stand in the rain to fill out volunteer sheets. There may have been some sniper fire--I don't remember too clearly... But, anyway, boy, two things Chapel Hill loves: basketball and Barak Obama. Obama folks got 'em a big HQ down on Franklin Street, and it was SRO this morning. Worse than SRO, they'd spilled over next door, and it was SRO there, too. In fact, people were packed shoulder-to-shoulder in both places. It was so packed and hot, even on a cold, crappy day, that we left after about an hour to get some coffee at Weaver Street Market, where the cashier was having a running conversation about hoops with everybody who went through. Just one of the charming things about Chapel Hill--you can pretty much strike up a conversation about hoops with almost anybody. Little old lady walking down the street? Just say "how 'bout them Heels?" She's likely to say something like "well, they're going to have match-up problems in the back-court tonight, that's for sure," or "Oh, that Danny Green is so sweet I just want to pinch him."

Anyway, nothing really surprising today, though. Same jokey pep talk, same plea for donated time and donated equipment, same pretty much everything as other campaigns I've volunteered for. The only really surprising thing was the number of people. Usually it's a few hard-core party animals at this point, but there had to be at least 300 people there this morning. A good sign, I'd say.