Up until that point, I had been approached a few times by people telling me I look like the presidential candidate Barack Obama. A lightbulb came on in my wife’s head when she said, “Why don’t you bring your suit, it will fit in with the event’s theme.” This was the weekend before the 2008 U.S. presidential election. I figured there’d be some short-skirted Palins and perhaps a McCain or two; might as well walk around looking like Barack. I was curious to see if anybody would “get it” and see the resemblance. To tell the truth, it wasn’t even a suit. It was a pair of old blue slacks and a sport jacket I purchased for $5.00 from a thrift shop. The flag pin was a makeshift brooch fashioned out of pins and beads to look like the U.S. flag. 

I wasn’t ready for what happened next. 

As night fell and I walked onto Duval Street, I was met by a barrage of excited partiers and camera flashes. The politically themed parade went by and the participants were pointing to the sidelines at me. The phrase I would hear from that point forward would be, “Hey, Barack! Can I get a picture with you?” I couldn’t walk 25 feet without 50 people stopping me.
In Boca Raton, I walked into a room full of Republicans and the first thing I heard was, “F-CK YOU, OBAMA!!!” I knew going in that this was going to be a tough crowd, I just wasn’t sure how tough.