Most people, like husband-wife Andy Egizi and Mary Young, remember the announcement of then-U.S. Sen. Joe Biden as U.S. Sen. Barack Obama s vice presidential pick as one sweaty day, Aug. 23, 2008, at the Old State Capitol in Springfield.
Egizi and Young had skipped Obama s announcement that he was running for president at the same Old Capitol grounds more than 18 months before because, ironically, it was too cold.
Now it was the dog days of summer and Egizi and Young found themselves in a crowd estimated from 20,000 to 35,000. It was historic, both nationally and locally, Egizi said, so it seemed like a place to be.