"Let Freedom Ring!"

Tonight I was lucky enough (and put in the time standing in line) to get free tickets to the Kennedy Center's celebration of MLK day: "Let Freedom Ring!" It was an amazing concert of gospel and R&B with a little DC star-spotting. We had seats on the floor right under the Presidential Balcony, so we had a perfect view of the the President, the first family, a bunch of cabinet members, and a bunch of other prominent political figures who sat there.

Highlights:
-Seeing the balcony in the Kennedy Center where a scene from The West Wing took place
-The fact that this was my 5th time seeing Obama speak, the first time I've seen him as President
-The building was teeming with Secret Service agents who covered literally every door in the place
-We got to see President Obama dwarfed by the 7 foot 2 basketball all-star Dikembe Mutombo, who was presented with an award tonight. The President looked tiny in comparison
-Trying to see how many cabinet secretaries I could name as they walked in to the Presidential Box; saw Energy Secretary Steven Chu, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and a few others (I swore I saw Al Sharpton)
-Watching Michelle Obama dance during the final song of the concert
-Watching Kathleen Sebelius dance during the final song of the concert
-Watching Barack Obama not dance during the final song of the concert
-Getting all dressed up and pretending to be VIPs

Overall, it was an incredible evening. We had a fancy night out on the town, got to see a few famous faces, and had the kind of experience you can only get in DC.

Tomorrow: going to hear from a few guest speakers talking about the McCain campaign during the 2008 election. That should be pretty interesting. Later, we'll get the Democratic perspective. I also will have an interview for an internship on Capital Hill. Hopefully I'll have some interesting things to share from that experience.