Ghost Post-Obama Montana

This sent in from Weinberg:

Ticketing snafu sends Obama supporters to ‘Hannah Montana’ concert-- with no discernable impact

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. -- A computer error traced back to an on-line ticket broker sent thousands of pre-teen music fans to a rally for U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) Monday night in this oceanside community. Meanwhile, just miles away, the same glitch resulted in TV's "Hannah Montana" entertaining a crowd of voters who had gathered for a speech by the Democratic presidential candidate.

As it turns out-- just about everybody seemed to get what they wanted.

When the overwhelmingly female and largely pre-pubescent crowd of conert-goers arrived at the 15,000-seat Verizon Arena, neither they nor hundreds of the parents accompanying them had any reason to think that they were about to hear a political stump speech.



They entered to the sound of pulsating techno-pop music and were greeted by Obama campaign volunteers identifiable only by their florescent t-shirts emblazoned with the appropriately upbeat slogan: "Young People Rock!" Once they arrived at their seats, the so-called “tweeners” found plastic glowsticks—coincidentally, a staple of the audience-participation at both "Hannah Montana" concerts and recent Obama for President rallies.

"My little Jennie has seen 'Hannah'-- I don't know-- maybe six times. Plus we took a bunch of her friends to that 'High School Musical on Ice'," said Roy Burke, 40, of Charlottesville, Va., who entered the stadium assuming that he and his daughter were about to see cable t.v.'s biggest star. "This is pretty much what those shows are like. "



"Maybe I should have figured it out when I saw the Secret Service agents,” he said. “They looked intense—but, I assumed they were just Disney security."

Obama's entrance was preceded by a benediction from the Rev. Jerome McScythe, which many audience members interpreted as a prayer in honor of the 14-year old music idol. "Lord, thank you for delivering to us a young person so clearly inspired by Your Word, someone whose own words touch us, lift us up and give us hope," said the clergyman, as thousands of young girls and their parents were seen nodding in agreement. It was only then then that Obama, 46, entered the stage.

If the candidate noticed the mix-up, it did not seem to impact his performance. The first-term lawmaker largely stuck to the same themes that he had used earlier in the day during a noontime speech in Columbus, Ohio and during an afternoon appearance on the "Trya Banks" show.

"We can do anything we set our minds to," said Obama to shrieks of approval from the crowd, the majority of whom will be ineligible to vote for president until 2016.

"Don't just listen to what your parents are saying. Don't worry about what those presidents from back in the olden days-- like ol' Bill Clinton-- are sayin’, gettin' all up in your face, talking about 'experience'," he said.

"They're history. You and I are going to make history," he announced to the delight of the crowd, still reading from the TelePrompter.

The incident appeared to have been set in motion when the Obama campaign contracted with Ticketmaster, Inc., to distribute free tickets in advance of the rally. Although the campaign does not charge admission to its events, the Obama advance team was hoping to avoid the logistical complications that have plagued the campaign since it began attracting overflow crowds at other indoor venues across the nation.



The snafu occurred when a computer worker based at Ticketmaster's call center in Noida, India accidentally transposed the address for the Verizon Arena with that of the student center at Tidewater Community College, the site of the Obama rally. The two venues are both located within Virginia Beach, and are a mere two miles apart.



Both events were scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

"After the Senator took the stage over at the Verizon Center and that little girl started singing over at the college, someone detected the problem within 10-15 minutes tops," said company spokesman Hank Torres. At approximately 7:45 p.m., Ticketmaster representatives on-site at each event announced to members of both audiences that something was amiss. By 7:50, the problem had been identified, and the company announced that it would arrange for free transportation to the alternate site.

"But, the truth is, nobody took us up on the offer," Torres said. "People seemed fine where they were. I am not sure everybody really noticed the difference."

Indeed, while Obama's pre-adolescent crowd cheered loudly at key applause lines in his speech, Miley Cyrus (the actress who plays the title character on the Disney Channel’s top-rated program) was treated to equally enthusiastic feedback from her audience, made up of many newly-registered voters and people drawn to presidential politics for the first-time. Especially loud cheers from the Obama faithful were reserved for Cyrus' songs "Bigger Than Us", "We Got The Party", and "One in a Million."

"Those songs, those lyrics. That's exactly what I have been saying at our meetings," said Madison Tyler, 38, who identified herself as the treasurer and co-founder of the "Barack Fan Club" for the Hampton Roads area.


"She has really tapped into something-- something huge!," she said while waiting for Cyrus to return to stage for her encore.

Not everyone was as pleased, however.

"I thought that his comments were a little general, a little too vague for my liking," said Lindsay McPeete, a seventh-grader from Roanoke, Va., after the Obama speech. "I thought he should have said how he would achieve universal health care. But, I guess he's cool."

"He reminds me of that substitute teacher we had that one time-- remember, Lindsay?," said her friend Tabitha Claxton.

"Oh, yeah," said Lindsay, now giggling.

"Mr. Murton!," they both squealed in unison.

"We were like, 'ughh, do we have to do math?' And he was like, 'how about—let’s go around the room and everybody tell a joke with numbers in them.' Remember, Lindsay? When we got to tell math jokes? Remember? It was cool...I guess," recalled Tabitha.

"Much better than Mrs. Jennings," she added. "She always makes us do math. Regular math."

"Uggh. You're right-- so much better than Mrs. Jennings!," said Lindsay in agreement, as the two girls pantomimed gagging gestures.

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