Wednesday, March 19, 2008

In the Audience

FAYETTEVILLE — A number of notables were in the invitation-only audience at Obama’s speech this morning:

State Treasurer Richard Moore, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, attended the speech. Moore’s opponent, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, did not (Perdue’s campaign manager said that she was unable to attend). Both Moore and Perdue recently issued low-key endorsements of Obama. In his pre-speech thank-yous, Obama mentioned Moore by name, but referred to him only as the state treasurer and not as a candidate for governor.* After the speech, Moore went backstage and met briefly with Obama, according to a Moore campaign official.

Also in attendance were several state legislators from the Fayetteville area, including state Rep. Rick Glazier and state Sen. Tony Rand. Rand is the Senate majority leader, and the student center at Fayetteville Tech where Obama gave his speech is named after him.

Several local elected officials, including Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne, attended the speech.

Obama was introduced by Paul Bucha, a Vietnam War veteran, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and outspoken critic of the Iraq war. In 2004, Bucha criticized attacks on John Kerry’s record of military service. He gave an introductory speech that was surprisingly eloquent, as introductory speeches go.

Perhaps the most interesting person sighted in the audience was Annie Leibovitz, the American photographer who is well known for her striking portraits of famous people, including these photos she took of Obama.

* (Hat tip to NBC’s Carrie Dann for noticing this bit about Moore and pointing it out to Trail Mix.)