[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Notes from the Obama rally

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by Mary Madigan:
Notes from the Obama rally
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1194713249.shtml


   Last week I went to an Obama rally in Durham, NC with my son and his
   friends. They're Obama fans, but they also went to a John Edwards
   rally a few weeks earlier.

   news_trucks
   Big news coverage. We bought tickets to the rally online. The purchase
   was recorded as a donation to Obama's campaign. When my husband saw
   the credit card record, he thought someone must have stolen my card.

   obama_crowd
   Most of the crowd was herded to one side of a stadium. Only about 1/8
   of the available seating was made available to the crowd. The rest of
   us had to stand. Since most of the crowd was pretty young, they didn't
   seem to mind.

   My son noted that the Edwards rally was not as well attended. There
   were only a few people, and Edwards looked 'sweaty'.

   obama_press
   Some people were allowed to take these extra seats, but we weren't.

   obama_press
   We had about a half hour before Obama was scheduled to arrive, so I
   took some pictures of the press...

   obama_press
   A few minutes before Obama arrived, a campaign guy came up to us and
   told us that we were among the special 30 people chosen to stand in a
   cordoned-off section near Obama. We wondered whether we were chosen
   because we were special, or desperate, or inordinately attractive. We
   decided on 'attractive' and allowed ourselves to be herded closer to
   the platform.

   obama_ears
   When the mike was turned on, we found out why we were chosen. We
   looked gullible enough to accept places next to the biggest
   amplifiers. Most of us listened to the speech with fingers in our
   ears.

   obama_mayor
   Obama with the mayor of Durham.

   obama_rally
   My view through most of the speech.

   obama
   Obama's speech covered most Democrat talking points; let's end the war
   in Iraq; lets fix the mess that Bush and Cheney have made, let's win
   back the respect of the world; He made a joke about his "cousin", Dick
   Cheney, the black sheep of the family.

   He talked about fixing the healthcare system, a point that was a major
   hit with this young, underinsured crowd.

   obama_rally
   My son and his friends have seen Obama on TV a few times, and they
   noted that he said the same things with a few additions and
   subtractions here and there.

   obama_fan
   It was nothing new, but his delivery played well with the crowd. He
   gained a few fans that day (but I'm still a Giuliani girl)