Thank you.. I'm Irish, by the way. Go Barack!

The big day us Albuquerque volunteers had been waiting for started at 8 o'clock this morning in the grounds of Rio Grande High School with a rigourous security clearance.

The whole security operation was overseen by the United States Secret Service in cooperation with the Albuquerque Police Department, the County Sherriff, the County Fire Bureau and last but not least.. the Albuquerque Public Schools Security Service. While necessary and relatively efficient, it was enjoyable to watch each official vye for his or her own jusrisdiction to be recognised. After two hours of ID'ing, security sweeps and from our perspective, waiting around, they were ready to let us go through the metal detectors and take up our positions in the hall.

As an usher in the main hall, we had to make sure the seats were filled in an orderly fashion in accordance with fire regulations and keeping security concerns in mind. Some of the first people let in had been camped out since 6AM so when they arrived in the main doors, they expected to get the best seats in the house. When they were told to move to the end of the first row, a riot nearly ensued. Minor crowd control was needed by the various security forces and this helped ease tension a bit.

Despite all the training, briefings and security checks, the whole thing was relatively chaotic as many people ignored those in charge and scrambled for the etst seats they could get. At events like these, you really see the dark side of people; those who will step over others to get a metre or two closer to the Senator while still being 3o metres away; not to mention those who claim wild and wonderful disorders such as claustrophobia and reduced mobility when they have no problem pushing people out of their way to get to the top of the queue. Maybe I'm just cynical..

After the crowds had slowly shuffled in to their side seating and the VIPs had been seated in their ringside seating, the event was ready to kick off. As to be expected, speakers on the programme were organised in order of party ranking starting with grassroots party organisers, moving on to Albuquerque's Democratic mayor, then New Mexico Governor and one-time presidential hopeful, Bill Richardson.

After all the state officials had given their two cents' worth, it was time for the star of the show. At 1.40 Senator Obama arrived on stage to a gushing introduction by Governor Richardson. However he did not arrive alone. He came on stage holding the hand of a single mother of two who was having to work two jobs to find a way make ends meet. She was the first to speak. She addressed the whole auditorium of roughly 1,600 people telling them her life story and why she was inspired by Barack Obama and his Campaign for Change. This set the agenda for the town hall meeting: Obama's recovery plan for the US economy.

The format of the town hall meeting consisted of the Senator addressing the crowd in a rousing speech which lasted about a half an hour. Then he fielded various questions from the crowd. For the duration of his presence on the stage, I had the onerous task of being a microphone runner for the VIP section. This meant that whenever anyone asked a question in the VIP section of the audience, I had to run over to them with the mic and hold it while they talked; something which looks a hell of a lot easier than it is, especially when you have 1,600 people looking at you, not to mention the focus of scores of cameras.

Some of the questions asked from the audience were challenging, especially the first lady to speak who accused Obama of compromising his ideals to win over the conservatives. In true Obama style, he was able to eloquently counter her argument in tune to a rousing applause from his doting audience.

One of the funnier parts for me was when a young Hispanic girl asked him how he felt about immigration he was clear to point out that the USA's immigration problem not only lay with Hispanics but with undocumented Irsh and Poles. I saw the irony in the fact that it was I in fact who had held the mic for the girl who asked the question.

When question time was over, he said goodbye to the crowd and did the rounds for a few handshakes and book signings. I managed to get right up beside him and shake his hand. You can see how close I was in the photo below. When I was shaking his hand, I was frantically thinking of something interesting or intelligent to say but when I opened my mouth all that came out was, "Thank you. I'm Irish by the way. Go Barack!" I guess I was star struck or dumb-founded but that's all I could muster. He replied a simple "Thank you." Of all the things in the world I could have said to him, that was the height of it.

In addition, with all the excitement, I had put down the mic I had been carrying in order to shake his hand. When I turned around to pick it up, it was gone. Someone had evidently taken a fancy to it. I felt like a bit of an idiot going back to the sound staff not least because it will cost them $400 to replace. It was a minor mishap though to what was otherwise a brilliant day. I guess Obama wasn't getting that free a lunch with my volunteering efforts after all.