Blogs > News-Herald In Focus

News-Herald photographers share what they're capturing and give the stories behind the photos.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Covering President Obama proves cool and refreshing by Michael Allen Blair




         I had the opportunity last Thursday to cover President Obama's stop in Sandusky.
I couldn't help but draw comparisons to the differences in attending an Obama campaign stop compared to a similar event held by George W. Bush in Kirtland back in April 2005.

The seemingly laid-back atmosphere of the Obama event quickly put my mind at ease that I wouldn't be dealing with many of the issues I dealt with during the Bush visit.

Let's start with the cool factor. Cool music playing and ice cream, now we’re talking. This compared with having to beg for water from a holding pen while covering Bush. I truly was treated like an animal by his staff. The Obama event stood in stark contrast. Although security was obviously still a huge deal and a bit of a pain, everyone was friendly and I was treated with a tremendous amount of respect and dignity. The mere access I was given was head and shoulders above the Bush event.

I was actually close enough to take some cool photos with my iPhone.

After the event was over, Obama even made a stop at Ziggy's bar in Amherst for a cold brewski, how cool is that. The event was held in a city park, again, very cool, lots of shade and did I mention ice cream? In closing, I'm including below a video slideshow of my experience.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home