Obamania: Will He Turn 'Believers' Into Voters?

Feb. 20, 2008 — -- If you've never been to an Obama rally before, a word of advice: go early. Think Springsteen concert … but the tickets are free, first come, first served.

In Boise, Idaho, a few weeks ago, it couldn't have been more than 15 degrees out. But, outside the Taco Bell Arena early on a Saturday morning, everyone waited patiently for hours.

Because inside they felt the warm glow of hope.

Sen. Barack Obama's "true believers" respond as though they've spent their whole lives out in the cold, at rally after rally, a few people literally faint at the sight of him.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Los Angeles Times reporter Joel Stein. "People are crying, rending their garments. It's a cult. But it's a fun cult."

Politics doesn't even begin to describe the Illinois senator's campaign events. A visit to an Obama rally is a pilgrimage. One supporter flew from Washington to Boise in one night to see Obama speak.

"I'm dead tired. I've had four hours' sleep in the past two days," he said. "I came to see the man!"

From Boise to Baltimore, Obama is winning them over, one rally at a time. Maryland voter Rose McNeal said that choosing between Obama and Clinton was easy.

"She is the past, he is the future and the present," McNeal said, referring to Sen. Hillary Clinton and Obama. "You have to move forward. If you go choosing someone you already had then you are going to keep getting the same future you already had."

From the looks on their faces, it seems some voters have been waiting, even yearning for a charismatic candidate like Obama.