PHILADELPHIA — Parker mom Pat Stiles had practiced the introduction she was supposed to give Barack Obama in Philadelphia as he kicked off his whistle-stop tour to the Capitol, a riff on getting past partisan divides.
Clearly nervous, Stiles may have had a hard time getting out the words on stage today, but her unabashed delight was infectious, rippling through the crowd and even appearing to take the President-elect by surprise.
“President-elect Barack Obama, the greatest, most articulate speaker I’ve known in my lifetime, standing there to my left. I just melted away,” said Stiles, one of 16 “ordinary Americans” picked to accompany Obama on his trip to Washington but the only one who spoke.
“I hope my sister taped it,” she said. “I just want to see what I actually said.”
It was the first time Stiles had met Obama, who personally thanked her in his Philadelphia speech and hugged her afterward, all on national television. She’ll also go to the inauguration Tuesday and an inaugural ball Tuesday night.
How Stiles got on that stage is a remarkable story of luck and pluck.
On a shopping trip to get snacks before a Broncos game, Stiles walked into an Obama office in Parker and said, according to her sister, “I’m fed up. What can you do for me.”
Stiles, who was a registered Republican at the time, ended up volunteering for the campaign and even introduced Vice President-elect Joe Biden at an event in Colorado Springs, even as she has struggled with a recent diagnosis of breast cancer.
“It’s kind of like lightning struck a second time,” said Stiles sister, Cindy Reinbold, of her sibling’s second spotlight moment.
Reinbold did in fact tape it. And that’s after she got up at 5 a.m. Mountain to wish her sister luck and make sure relatives and friends across the country were watching.
“This is a pretty special thing for one family of regular people who work hard everyday,” she said.
It was special for Stiles’ neighbors in Parker, too.
“It’s very cool and exciting,” said one, Barbara Biegel.
“They are really lucky to be meeting the President,” added 14-year-old Hannah Thole. “I wish I was at the inauguration.”
Sally H. Ho contributed to this report.
