Obama Pool Report from Hamilton, Indiana

No news; just a good tavern

Obama and Biden pulled into tiny Hamilton, Indiana at 5:40 p.m. after a
long trip along narrow roads winding through the corn and soybean fields
of Northeastern Indiana.

The destination was Pier 32, a lakeside restaurant and bar with faux
brick walls inside that advertises itself as "North of the Keys, South
of the Pole."

As ski-jetters zoomed by under the late afternoon sun, Obama made his
way inside and waded into the waiting crowd of sun burnt party-goers,
shaking hands, posing for photos and kissing babies.

Julia Miller, who was celebrating her 75th birthday with family, also
got a kiss. "It's so exciting," Miller said after Obama had moved on.
""I'm just an old country girl." She said Obama had her vote.

Kermit Dietsch, who used to own a furniture store, was talking to his
son on his cell phone when Obama walked into the bar.

Dietsch's son, a big Obama fan, had missed the candidate's visit to the
city earlier in the day. But as Obama passed, he took Dietsch's phone
and chatted for several minutes.

"He wanted to talk to him so bad," said an obviously star-struck
Dietsch.

Obama then joined Joe Biden, who had made directly for the bar when the
two candidates arrived, at a table celebrating another birthday.

"He's eating our appetizers," said Luanne Gearhart, who had stepped away
from the table for a few minutes only to find Obama in her seat. "But
God's made it this way."

Gearhart, 52, a diehard Democrat who now lives in Wyoming, said her
87-year-old mother, who is legally blind, had listened to all of Obama's
books on tape and desperately wanted to see another Democrat in the
White House before she dies.

At the table, Obama sat across from Gearhart's mother. He had some
spinach dip and split a "Wrigley Field" pretzel with Biden and chatted
with Gearhart's sister Darlene Burkhardt, the first female mayor of
nearby Edon, Ohio.

"I didn't know you were such a hotshot," Obama told Burkhardt.

Burkhardt told Obama how moved she had been to see Michelle Obama and
the two Obama girls on the first night of the convention and asked Obama
where his wife was.

He said that she was home getting the girls ready for school. "They've
been having too much fun," he joked, explaining that after so much
excitement, he and Michelle wanted to get them settled down for school.

"They need to start getting back on a regular schedule," Obama said
before praising his wife. "She's just a great mom. With all the
craziness, she's really done a good job of protecting them. ... They've
turned out to be sweet and normal. They're great kids."

After getting up, Obama got a t-shirt from the restaurant's owner, Gay
Martin, who opened the place five years ago. Obama posed for a photo
with Martin's sons and the blue shirt, which was emblazoned on the back
with "Win or lose, we still booze."

"It's crazy," a red-faced Martin said of the crowd.

Despite the excitement Martin wouldn't commit to voting for Obama. He
said he was undecided. "I'm going to vote for the best man," he said.

After more baby photos and hand-shaking outside, Obama and Biden got on
their bus and rolled north to Michigan at 6:25 p.m.