Lee Hoagland -Current Location: Washington DC

Faces: Behind The Banners

Kevin, 16 years old, drove from Gary, Indiana to Minneapolis to sell Barack Obama t-shirts. While clearly profiting from his speech, Kevin also expressed a desire to be involved in this historic election and claims that selling these shirts is the only way he can afford to travel in hopes of seeing and hearing the Senator.
   
"I've been going out to canvass and almost everyone has assumed I'm here with Hillary" said Mrs. Susan Allen, a life long Republican who drove to Gary, Indiana from Wisconsin to help Sen. Obama in the state's upcoming primary. "I haven't seen anything like this since Bobby (Kennedy) ran for office, its truly wonderful the way the younger generation has been engaged".
   
Cherry Montgomery is a lifelong resident of Gary, Indiana. For the first time in 40 years Indiana voters have the chance to truly influence the nominating process of the Democratic party. Ms. Montgomery(who when asked how to spell her name responded, "first name like the fruit and last name like the clothing store") has seen Gary transform from a booming industrial town to a dangerous area with a high crime rate and low employment rate. Having recently seen Mr. Obama in person at a local high school she is convinced that he is the candidate who will adress her needs and concerns after seeing one President after another neglect her town
     
  
Paul West, a self described "blue collar kinda guy" is throwing his vote in for Senator Obama. As a white middle aged male he is part of a demographic that has eluded the Senator up to this point. "I'm not sure who the guys I work with will vote for but I think he (Senator Obama) is what we need, he can help my kids more than any of the other candidates"
   
Mrs. Roberta Williams, a memeber of the 16th commision of Philadlephia and a local block captain, waits in line to be escorted to the front section of the seating areas for "Super Volunteers". Super volunteers are those people who were deemed by local staffers of the Obama campaign as extremely dedicated and active supporters. In addition to being a block captain while on disablility Mrs. Williams teaches 1st and 2nd grade at Rose elementary school where her training as a former nurse also comes in handy when children are feeling under the weather. When asked how long she had been waiting in line to see the Senator she responded, "almost 60 years now".
   
Veronica Slocum was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. 47 years ago she moved to Gary, Indiana. "I don't know many people here anymore, everyone keeps coming and going, since Cabrini got tore down(in reference to the destruction of the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago, Illinois, which has created a forced migration of people to Gary and other towns in Indiana which surround the city of Chicago) people been coming in and out". "I want him (Sen. Obama) to succeed so we can back to doing what we need to. Its the young generation that I'm worried about, my Grandaughter, she's doing good, she just took me to Paris, but my grandson, he's younger and struggling to pay the school bills. I want someone in the White House who is ready to take care of me and them (her grandchildren)"
     
  
Since the beginning of his presidential campaign CindyMcClain has gone from Miami to Portland to Seattle to New York to Minnepaolis to Philadelphia to New Jersey and now Chicago, among other locations, to see Senator obama speak(working for an airline has facilitated all this travel to see him speak from coast to coast). Her button (the red one, right hand side of her sweater) is a perfect synthesis of her two favorite things "Coke and Barack, they both make me smile"