Making my way into Obama's Election Night rally

I was on my way to President Obama's election night event at McCormick Place in Chicago, when traffic came to a complete and abrupt halt. A police car with it's siren blaring pulled up in front of the car in front of my cab and closed down the road.

The police officer said that a motorcade was coming through!

The President wouldn't be arriving at McCormick Place until approximately 10 p.m. because he was reportedly going to the Fairmont Hotel to watch election results with Vice President Joe Biden.

After several minutes, seven police cars came whizzing by, but no motorcade.

Finally, the motorcade comprised of motorcycles, police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, and limousines passed us heading North into the city. It turned out to be Vice President Biden's motorcade. The President and the Vice President don't travel together for security purposes.

Once we reached the venue, we walked in the rain to reach McCormick Place. We were directed to wait in a creepy, dark basement before we went through security. The screening was similar to airport security procedures with metal detectors and bag searches.

In the main event space hundreds of national and international news agencies were setting up and broadcasting. A sound check of the main sound system was being done that featured a reading from the popular children's book Where the Sidewalk Ends. Coincidence?

After exploring, we made our way to a workspace that looked on to a TV that was showing six different news stations simultaneously.

I am very excited to see where this night will go...

—Kid Reporter Natalie Wexler

Photo: Kid Reporter Natalie Wexler works on this blog post at the McCormick Place media center. (Courtesy Natalie Wexler)