Med Students Bird-Dog Sherrod Brown & Barack Obama

Hey everyone, Sorry for not getting back sooner. A large posse of AMSA students went to the rally in Cleveland on Saturday night. We tried to get there early the doors were supposed to open at 7:00 and we got there at 7:10. By the time we got there we were already being sent to the overflow room. All of the students we were with eventually snuck into the balcony and the main room of the event. Sherrod Brown and Obama were the last to speak and when both came out we held up our hand made posters (thanks to Connie and Alexander for supplies) and they both saw us. Connie also yelled AIDS when Obama was listing world problems which he added into his list. We also got up and started chanting "8 billion dollars for Doctors and Nurses, Fight AIDS in Africa, Open our purses" during Brown's speech at which point he acknowledged us and kind of gave us a thumbs up and he made some reference to Dewine's support for the bill. (We could not come to a census on exaclty what he said). After the rally Andrew was able to get a hand shake with Obama, since it was quick he did not get to get in a full question but Andrew did say that when he mentioned AIDS in Africa Obama seemed to immediately know what he was talking about. Connie also got a note passed to Senator Brown thanking him for his support and reminding him to continue this when he gets to office. What we learned: Get to the place even earlier than you expect. Even when they say there is no more room you can still sneak in some how ( we had 12 or 13 people get to the balcony and then we eventually moved down to the main room during the rally) Talk to the people running the event, they tend to be very helpful and approachable. Make signs and bring them with you- they help draw attention to your posse even if you are not heard. Don't be too shy (we wanted to chant during Obama's speech but we kind of chickened out and it was hard to find another good opportunity)