It was like a ba-rock concert atmosphere Wednesday when Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, a democratic presidential hopeful rolled into town with his extensive, seven-or-so-car entourage and took over the Spencer YMCA for about an hour.

And when I say takeover, I mean in every facet of the word. It was an Obama-nation.

Alright, enough word play.

He's got a million dollar smile. He's extremely likable. He knows how to make a first impression. And he says all the right things.

But does that mean he's qualified to serve as leader to the most powerful nation in the world? That remains to be seen and ultimately will be decided by the voters.

If the approximately 500 or so that attended his rally stop in Spencer last week having anything to say about it, he might as well pack his bags for Washington. There was whooping and hollering, chanting and cheering, and when he came out, it was though some major celebrity had just entered the room.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, after the event was over, as I was trying to navigate for photos of Barack shaking local hands and kissing babies, I heard one woman yell, "He touched me. He touched me." And she sounded pleased not upset so let's assume it was appropriate touching.

Then another woman, two rows back, who wasn't blessed enough to have gotten Obama's touch, asked the other woman to please touch her.

Are you kidding me? We're getting all touchy feely over a presidential candidate?

I've shaken hands with many of the presidential candidates who have visited Spencer and other northwest Iowa communities over the past four election processes, and never once have I or anyone with me danced in joy after having touched the palm of a presidential candidate.

It was like Elvis was in the building. Remember the footage of women crying, convulsing and passing out while the Beatles were playing. It was like that a bit, but on a smaller scale. It was more likely the oppressive heat that was going to do someone in first.

But people applauded and cheered and sweated as Barack made his case to hold the Washington D.C. office on Pennsylvania Avenue.

It sounded good. He has ideas for immigration. He has ideas for health care. He's promising lower prescription costs, reduced insurance rates, an end to homelessness and joblessness. He was a smiling, promising guy. And he's not alone. The Republicans are doing it. And the his fellow Democrats are doing it to.

It's one big problem solving, America loving, think tank -- with a lot of differing thoughts.

But here's the bigger question. How? How are you going to do all of these things, specifically!

If I were a candidate running for president, I would say, "Ladies and gentlemen, in Randy's America, the temperature will remain at 75 degrees during the day, cooling off to a nice 50 at night. And the sun will shine in Randy's America every day unless you don't want it to, then I will provide you with some rain.

"And in Randy's America, everybody will love one another. And murder and crime will be a thing of the passed. Nobody will honk the horn at another driver. Nobody will ever give the finger to another person.

"I will take this minimal amount of fish and and these meager loaves of bread, and feed the multitudes of the hungry who for whatever reason choose not to work."

And those things that I promised are more likely to happen through me with God's help, than half the promises any of these candidates are making with the help of the very divided legislative houses.

And as far as Barack goes, what do we really know about this guy? What has he done beyond serving as a one-term senator from Illinois?

He was reportedly raised by Muslim and atheist parents. This past week, he toured part of the state where he discussed faith at multiple planned stops. Conveniently enough, none of those stops included the state's religious hot bed, northwest Iowa. The closest place he discussed faith was Sioux City.

Personally, I want to know a little bit about a person's faith who is going to be making the kind of decisions he will be charged with as president.

I'm not saying he isn't the man for the job. I'm not saying he is. I'm just saying before we decide the presidency on a nice smile and a charismatic personality, let's make sure we've got a candidate of substance and vision for this country

Earlier I mentioned that he took over the YMCA. He did. As a matter of fact, I got yelled at by the Secret Service for "sneaking" up into the upstairs cardio workout area and taking pictures through that little window overlooking the west gym. I didn't even know there was SS in the building until I got jumped in the hall and chastised for not knowing my place, behind the rope and away from the rock star.

I took time to inform the rather rude SS guy that I have a "paid" membership at the YMCA that allows me to "sneak" up to that little room anytime I want to workout. I also let them know that I've been covering presidential candidates for the past nearly four election cycles. Most of the time, I'm free to move about taking pictures of them from within a couple of feet. Sometimes they've even shaken my hand. But it became pretty clear, pretty quick that there's something very special about Obama.

You don't just walk up to him and shake hands. And if he does touch you, you're one lucky winner.