Secretary of State Madeline Albright @ University of Indianapolis

[Joh Padgett]

Our nation's first woman to serve as Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, came to Indianapolis and Bloomington to speak on behalf of the Obama-Biden campaign today, and my videographer Karen Sensney and I were able to capture the event for Bloosiers and Blue Indiana.

The speech was fantastic and was far more laid back and humorous than I expected from a lady who has served as an inspirational figure for women everywhere, breaking the "marble ceiling" as she put it to become the first female Secretary of State in US history. Madame Secretary spoke on a wide array of foreign policy and domestic topics, extolling the virtues of Democratic Presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama and his running mate, Senator Joe Biden.

The speech lasted for just under 35 minutes, and included a question and answer session with the audience at the gathering sponsored by the University of Indianapolis College Democrats. Former First Lady of Indiana Judy O'Bannon provided opening remarks before a fantastic introduction of Secretary Albright by local philanthropist and business leader Christel DeHaan which energized and excited the assembled crowd of U of I students, faculty, staff and members of the public.

When Secretary Albright took the stage the entire audience at the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall erupted into a standing ovation and thunderous applause. Madame Albright began her speech with a very engaging humorous story about a recent incident at Chicago's O'Hare Airport upon return from a trip to China.

She related the story of a fellow passenger who did not realize who she was traveling with who witnessed an exchange with a TSA security guard who recognized Madame Albright because he was a Bosnian immigrant. It was a very touching story and served as a reminder of the impact this woman has had on the entire world having served as the chief diplomat for the Clinton Administration.

I won't go into any detail here about her remarks, the video of the entire speech is available at the top of this post or by direct link at YouTube here. Watch the entire thing, she has a very important message for all Americans.