Early birds to see Obama

Mary Rountree was the first person in line for Barack Obama's Raleigh town meeting.

Rountree, a retired nurse from Raleigh, said she showed up outside the Kerr Scott Building at the State Fairgrounds on Blue Ridge Road at 6 a.m.

She waited alone, sitting in a fold-out chair and wrapped in blankets, for more than an hour.

"I like what Obama stands for," Rountree said. "He's not the status quo, and I believe he can make a difference."

She was later joined by Barbara Brotherson of Raleigh, who was the first person to collect tickets Wednesday for today's event. Brotherson said she arrived outside Obama for America headquarters on Morgan Street at 1:45 a.m. Tickets were not distributed until 9:30 a.m.

"I've never done this before," Brotherson said. "But he is the man for these times."