On Saturday, October 18th, Senator Barack Obama spoke under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, in front of 100,000 people. It was the largest crowd ever to attend an Obama rally in the United States.
This was my view of the crowd.
Flags passed back through the crowd hand to hand.
Obama speaks.
A boy with a flag.
Here's some brief video I took of the crowd before Obama's speech with the MOMocrats Flip camera (thanks, Flip):
And this is what it sounds like when 100,000 people chant "Obama" in unison:
If only the Flip camera came with a function to edit out crying babies and random happy shouting people. I actually took video of most of Obama's speech, but given circumstances beyond my control (in the form of an adorable cranky baby right in front of me, who everyone, including me, kept trying to entertain with American flags, and several very enthusiastic and vocal Obama supporters), my audio of the speech is not so hot. So you should watch my local NBC affiliate's video instead, here:
Hey!
What are all of those white people doing there?
Didn't they get the memo that said that the only reason Obama is popular in the polls is because of black support?
Apparently, all of those white folks that turned out to see Obama were fooled by the polls... because, you know that only the black population are the only ones supporting him.
Right?
Posted by: Gunfighter | October 20, 2008 at 03:49 AM
Indeed, mysterious crowds of white Obama supporters have been appearing in Missouri since well before the primary election, Gunfighter. At the football stadium. At park pavilions. In volunteer offices around the state. It's almost like . . . a movement.
Posted by: jaelithe | October 20, 2008 at 06:54 AM
way to go St Louis!
awesome, just awesome!
Posted by: Karen | October 20, 2008 at 09:01 AM
100,000 strong gathering peaceably, to celebrate and affirm a new direction for this country...I love it.
Yes we can!
Posted by: cynematic | October 20, 2008 at 09:45 AM
Lucky you, Jaelithe to have experienced something like that! Great photos and a sure statement to send about McCain's so called "middle America" appeal.
Posted by: Christine | October 20, 2008 at 03:57 PM
I was there too! It was amazing. The people there were young and old, with lots of diversity. The best part was how incredibly NICE everyone was. Shocking, I know. No one insulted the other party, or displayed any negative attitudes despite the huge crowds and the fact that to get home we were literally stuffed like cattle into the Metro-Link (our subway-type system).
Posted by: caro | October 20, 2008 at 05:48 PM
I was there too! It was amazing. The people there were young and old, with lots of diversity. The best part was how incredibly NICE everyone was. Shocking, I know. No one insulted the other party, or displayed any negative attitudes despite the huge crowds and the fact that to get home we were literally stuffed like cattle into the Metro-Link (our subway-type system).
Posted by: caro | October 20, 2008 at 05:50 PM
The day was just amazing....and the fact that 100,000 people of all walks of life could come together with such positive energy of hope and optimism just blew me away. Thanks for posting from your vantage point! That was so cool!
http://bunslife.blogspot.com/2008/10/he-said-cockamamy-and-i-was-there-to.html
Posted by: abunslife | October 21, 2008 at 07:11 AM