The day America met Barack Obama

By Todd Leopold

(CNN) -- The cool of Barack Obama was very much on display on a warm day in Boston's Christopher Columbus Park during the summer of 2004.

It was going to be a big day for the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate from Illinois.

In a few hours, on that night, July 27, 2004, he was to give the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention at the Fleet Center about a mile away. But as he gave a lunchtime speech on environmental policy to a leisurely crowd of about 100 people at the green space on Boston Harbor, he was relaxed and loose, seemingly unconcerned about what was ahead.

Taking notes amid the crowd, I hoped to get a few minutes with the candidate.

I'd been told about his vaunted charisma -- my two brothers, both of whom live in Chicago, had mentioned his oratorical gifts -- but in person Obama seemed familiar, even a touch wonky, as he talked about asthma rates and the Bush administration's environmental record.

I chatted with Obama's press attaché and with a Chicago Tribune reporter, David Mendell, as the speech wound down, and was offered a ride in a nondescript minivan back to the Fleet Center.

Even then Obama was attracting attention; several members of the audience gave him enthusiastic greetings as he left the scene to get in the van.

In the front passenger seat of van, the rail-thin Obama, obviously hungry (he later told me he'd lost eight pounds since the beginning of the campaign), chewed on a sandwich and joked with the other passengers as I peppered him with questions during the 20-minute ride.

He answered with deliberate thoughtfulness, though he'd probably heard at least a few of them dozens of times already.

Was he worried about the speech, the kind of spotlight that had made political leaders including William Jennings Bryan, Mario Cuomo and Ann Richards national figures?

"There's going to be some adrenaline," he said, after taking off his tie and unbuttoning his white dress shirt. "But the pressure I'm experiencing is nothing compared to folks I'm meeting getting laid off. ... That's real pressure."

And what about the Senate race? Illinois Republicans were in disarray and better-known, better-funded candidates had fallen by the wayside, with Obama seemingly now a sure thing for the seat.

"Three months is a lifetime in politics," Obama replied.

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