Q-C's Ahern, who was in Obama's 2004 speech, attends first convention

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By Ed Tibbetts | Thursday, August 28, 2008 6:08 PM CDT | () comments

Seamus Ahern (Ed Tibbetts/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

DENVER — Four years ago, Seamus Ahern watched Barack Obama’s electric keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention while in a Marine Corps barracks at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

He had just gotten off the rifle raange and somebody told him he had best watch Obama’s speech at the Boston convention.

There was a good reason. Ahern was in it.

Obama praised the then-23-year-old from Silvis, told of how he met this “good-looking kid ... clear-eyed and with an easy smile” who was heading to Iraq.

“As I listened to him explain why he’d enlisted, the absolute faith he had in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all that any of us might hope for in a child,” Obama said. “But then I asked myself, ‘Are we serving Seamus as well as he is serving us?’”

The speech cemented Obama as a star in the party. It also put a lesser spotlight on the young Marine.

Thursday night, when Obama made history by accepting the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination at Invesco Field here, Seamus Ahern was one of the 80,000 people in the crowd.

On Monday, he got a few minutes to exchange greetings with Obama when he made a campaign stop in Davenport — something the two don’t do as much as they once did. Then on Tuesday, Ahern headed out here with his girlfriend, his first political convention.

“It’s an unbelievable time,” Ahern said in an interview in the bustling lobby of the Illinois delegation’s hotel here.

Ahern was fairly apolitical in 2004 when his brother, Dennis, a longtime activist, talked him into going to the VFW hall in East Moline to meet Obama, who was running then for a U.S. Senate seat.

“I always kept it at arm’s length,” Ahern said. “That was for my brother and my father.”

Things are different now. Ahern, who worked briefly for Obama’s Senate office in the Quad-Cities and now is employed by the state of Illinois, is more interested in public service.

He said he might be interested in a job in an Obama administration, perhaps working with veterans. He might even like to run for office eventually.

“Someday, I’d like to serve,” he said.

Dennis Ahern, who is a delegate to this convention, said his younger brother is a prime example of what Obama has accomplished across the country.

“He’s getting young people interested,” he said.

Since he got here, the ex-Marine has gone to delegation breakfasts and seen some sites. He’s also watched the anti-war protesters that are in plentiful supply here. Ahern, who said the U.S. ought to leave Iraq, respects protesters’ right to speak but added some of their actions can be seen as disrespectful.

He’s also gotten some media attention. ABC News interviewed him this week for a piece about Obama’s 2004 speech.

He puts his intersection with history into perspective, however. Ahern said friends and family don’t really even mention the speech much any more.

“I understand the moment that it was,” he said. “Obviously, it was a great honor to be in his speech, but it’s important to stay humble.”

As for Thursday night’s speech, he said earlier in the day that he was eager to hear what Obama had to say, figuring it would be a dynamic speech but with some policy, too. With expectations a mile high, Ahern said he was sure that Obama would be able to meet them.

“There’s no doubt in my mind,” he says. “No doubt at all.”

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.