FORT WAYNE - As each minute elapsed past 11 a.m., the chants and encouraging screams became louder from the restless audience waiting for Barack Obama to appear.
Instead, an elderly man with balding, gray hair emerged from the curtain behind the stage and took the podium.
"Obviously, I'm sure you're disappointed," the man said as he stood up straighter to address the crowd. "My name is Mike Riley, and 40 years ago I organized the event campaign in Indiana for Robert Kennedy."
Row by row, the crowd rose to give Riley a standing ovation. The captive audience allowed him enough time to regain his composure and continue his speech about the historical significance of the day.
"Forty years ago today, Martin Luther King was assassinated," Riley said. "Robert Kennedy was very taken back [by the assassination]. When he appeared in Indianapolis, he gave one of the finest speeches of his career."
Riley started to readjust his glasses and shuffle through his notes laying on the podium, but as he told the story of Kennedy's night in Indianapolis following King's death, his memory took over.
As Kennedy's campaign manager, Riley said, he set up an event in a black community with some of Kennedy's close friends in the Indianapolis area. However, when the Senator was told of King's assassination, he wanted to be at the community event, against the recommendations of many members of his staff.
"There was no doubt in Robert Kennedy's mind that he was going to appear and grieve with many of his friends in the African American community," Riley said. "And he did."
As he looked around the crowded gymnasium, the tone in Riley's voice suddenly changed.
"I believe Sen. Obama has captured the passion of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King," Riley said. "I believe Sen. Obama has been able to identify and be passionately involved with the poor, the uneducated, African Americans, Hispanics and the middle class."
Riley said he supports Obama because he can give the American people hope and wants to bring the troops home from Iraq.
The responsive screams from the audience returned as Riley's rhetoric reenergized the crowd. Many sat up in their seats throughout the room, showing off their "Obama for America" shirts.
Before Riley put his mouth closer to the microphone, a voice echoed above the mummer of the gym.
"I want change," an African American man sitting near the top of the stands said.
Riley turned away from his notes and smiled.
"We all want change," Riley said.
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