I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Holy shit!
I know! Oh, and Jenna caught a Fish! A big one!
link no function.Me try agin.
Hey Atrios hows about letting us know we need to go to bug-me-not.com for your links??
Loverly.
This is not an anomaly, everyone.
...And some are still calling OR a swing state. I don't think so.
BushCo fucked themselves with the Nader signature flap. Disngenuousness really pisses people off.
Uhhhh...
ORANGE ALERT! ORANGE ALERT!
Some guys we caught 3 months ago said they had info from 97!
I get the impression that Bush is talking to really small crowds. 500 or so people, and of course a lot of them are bused in.
Bush picked a high school gym for his event of the same day. And from what I've heard, the 50,000 (60,000 by some accounts) who got into the Kerry event were followed by a few thousand more who tried but the place was already full.
Kerry's gaining strength kinda' like The Who did in the late
60s/early 70s--By touring and reaching zillions of folks LIVE & IN PERSON! So many concertgoers became record-buying fans as a result of The Who's dynamite live shows.
Ofcourse, Kerry's still gonna' have to kick at least a little butt in a debate or 2, or in a strong response
to a Bush/Rove tactic.
But the crowd sizes are impressive lately, and that does mean something.
If it means a whole lot of folks who haven't voted much in recent years(the kind who don't show up in polls) are gonna' get back to the voting booth and show some attitude to the Bush/Cheney/Neocon policies, that would be very bad news for Bush&Co indeed.
Someone mentioned this on the other thread, but why are the sheer numbers showing up for K/E not getting play?
You think they'd have learned from ignoring the anti-war rallies, you know?
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I can sort of attest, having gone there a little after 10 AM. I had to leave around 12 (which turned out to be about 2 hours before Kerry arrived and spoke), and I was astonished to see lines still stretching for blocks. As of noon, there was still PLENTY of room, although there was a very big crowd; it might have been the best location available to handle so many people safely, but getting us all in was a huge problem because the police had to let crowds cross over to the waterfront in fairly limited tranches (to use that favorite pretentious word) so that there was just a dribble of people actually entering Waterfront Park while the lines built up. I don't fault the police for this -- it just happens to be an exceptionally complex intersection of several arterials with lots of left turns into the bargain.
Still, a lovely crowd for The Man. I invite other cities to try to top it!
February
An unnamed Kerry advisor tells Toner, "This is not the Dukakis campaign. We're not going to take it. And if they're going to come at us with stuff, whatever that stuff may be, if it goes to a place where the '88 campaign did, then everything is on the table. Everything."More of that please ...
But ...I just heard over at Little Green Fuckups that (this was the first time I have ever seen that site ....GaaaggggH!) (Wow!) The Kerry Campaign is imploding and they know it ....!?!?!
someone better go tell them in Portland ....
um, Dad...is this what they call Momentum?
Hundreds Protest Bush Event In Beaverton (Portland suburb)
Bush lost many busloads of votes today in Seattle. People trying to get from downtown Seattle to Mercer Island or parts east (normally a 5-10 minute ride) ended up with an hour or longer confusing commute during rush hour "security" freeway closures so the Resident could make it to a fundraising dinner in Bellevue unmolested.
The groans when the bus driver made the announcement were impressive.
...The Kerry Campaign is imploding and they know it ....!?!?!
....
AsH
My Wingnut buddy Dave, when I talk about a landslide, assures me, yes, Bush will indeed win in a landslide...
Lots of folks out there flat out believe all Right-handed spin, bar none, NQA. I think this is called "psuedo-certainty" or something like that. The real world is just too complex, and tickets to fantasyland are free.
availablelight,
I love your nic. Is it from the book by Marge Piercy?
That's what I'm talkin' about, right there.
Bush can't touch those numbers - if he were to show up in front of 50K regular folks, he'd be lucky to get two sentences into his stump speech, such as it is.
Kerry - 50K, Bush - 500, invites only. Who's reaching out?
Yeah Baby!
People are ready to get this fucking monkey out of the White House!!!
You are history, asshole!
It will take 50 years for people to forget what an absolute embarrassment of a president you have been.
What a punk.
Here's the headline and beginning of the story:
Kerry rallies over 50,000 supporters in downtown PDX
On the final day of his post-convention cross-country tour, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and a Hollywood entourage greeted a cheering crowd of 50,000 people at downtown's Waterfront Park.
But ...I just heard over at Little Green Fuckups that (this was the first time I have ever seen that site ....GaaaggggH!) (Wow!) The Kerry Campaign is imploding and they know it ....!?!?!
someone better go tell them in Portland ....
Nah. Why bother?
As they said in American Beauty (more or less): "Denial is a powerful force."
The more they declare Kerry's demise, the more likely it is he is winning handily.
KnightRidder report:
... fire officials said nearly 50,000 people turned out along the banks of the Willamette River to hear Kerry speak ...
OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY!!
I'm having a celebratory schnapps.
%
And I knew this was gonna make Bush a target:
Kerry rips Bush over 'tax cuts for rich'
Kerry's gaining strength kinda' like The Who did in the late
60s/early 70s--By touring and reaching zillions of folks LIVE & IN PERSON! So many concertgoers became record-buying fans as a result of The Who's dynamite live shows.
He smash the guitar and swing microphone!
more stories like this, please.
Bush had 15K turn out for a rally here in Phoenix a couple days ago. I thought that was a disturbingly high number. But it wasn't anywhere near 50K.
The Willamette Valley, and Portland especially, has long been a liberal fortress surrounded by small, conservative communities occupying the rest of Oregon. I think Kerry will take Oregon, but it will be closer than the rally at Waterfront Park would indicate.
In a side note, while Bush appears exclusively at invitation only events and then promptly climbs into his limo and departs for Air Force One, Kerry took a bike ride through downtown Portland after checking into his hotel.
Are posts showing up here out of order? I could swear things have changed since the first time I checked it. Something's funky with the time stamps.
I usually think that the "crowds are huge, so they're going to win" logic is fallacious -- I guess it's the Dukakis/Mondale memories.
But this does sound pretty cool.
"Tickets to fantasy land are free" They ain't free buddy, they've cost us $450 Billion on the nation's credit card just this year.
"It is important to have a president who not only understands but actually enjoys complexity."--Teresa Heinz Kerry, Portland, 8/13/04
I went to the rally today in Portland, it was a beautiful sight to behold; I however did not get in. I waited about an hour and 1/2 in line. Got close to the entry where the officials were waving their magic wands up and down each and every person entering, just in time for the Fire Marshall to announce no more people would be admitted.
Portland is a city of bridges as the Willamette River runs through its middle. The bridge closest to the event, the Hawthorne, was lined with people from one end to the other, spilling on to the promenade that runs on the east side (Kerry's event was on the west side of the river)and down into the city (west)around a couple of city blocks (this was only one of the lines to get in).
Many, many of us that could not get in stayed around the event, trying to find a place where they could hear/see Kerry. Some people stood on the Hawthorne Bridge, where they had been waiting in line(though the officials kept people from the side of the bridge directly over the event).
People also lined Front Ave. the street running parallel to the event location. There were 4-10 people deep depending on the space available. In some places you could hear and others barely.
It was an awesome turnout, the energy was great. I saw 2 pro-bush types; they were looney fundamentalists (their signs referenced a passage in the bible).
Actually, most of the Oregon coast, while rural, is pretty democratic. And Bush probably stepped in deep-ish dog doo with his channel-deepening plug. While the media seems to be running it as a "sissy enviromentalists are against it," the reality is that Tribes, sportsfishermen, and ocean commercial fishermen are dead-set against it. Bush alluded to "moving mud" by next year. Where will they move it? Out into estuaries and dumping it out on the crab habitat. Anyway, I'm hoping this will push fishermen out to vote this year.
Yeah, but think how much time it would take to get 50,000 loyalty oaths signed and processed (not to mention affixing the Mark of the Beast to their foreheads....)
I was there today with wife and 2 year old child. A few comments.
1. Weather was gorgeous; a little warm (mid-80s) and humid (for Oregon) but a nice breeze. Oregon politicos from Governor Kulongoski to Sen. Wyden to Reps. Blumenauer and Hooley and Wu did a fine job speechifying.
2. Leonardo di Caprio and Jon Bon Jovi were both pretty good. And I hated Bon Jovi in high school.
3. Teresa was a subdued, emotional speaker who frankly went on a bit long (but our 2 year old had a nasty diaper failure during her speech which made it hard to concentrate so take this with a grain of salt).
4. John Kerry didn't start talking until after 1:30 but hit the usual high points. He could have talked in Esperanto and the crowd would have loved it. His digs about "believing in science" and the like got huge roars.
5. Portland FD says 25,000 in the park and another 25,000 around it: I believe it. The park is big and it was almost completely packed.
6. See above: Portland is not Oregon, entirely. But 50K+ is huge, and the rally factor must also be huge. People left with an enormous positive vibe. I heard on local news that Kerry stayed nearly an hour afterward to shake hands and throw a football. Tomorrow he's windsurfing in the Columbia Gorge.
7. W spoke at an invitation-only event out in suburban hell, Beaverton. After a similarly restricted event on the Columbia. He's not drawing numbers because he doesn't want to.
8. On the way home northbound I-5 was being cleared -- completely -- of cars so that W could exit the city. Huge snarl of cars backing up the onramps.
9. and last -- I'm a Republican who will be voting for Kerry. Who else can we moderate GOP folks vote for? Bush is freaking incompetent. There are more of us than you might think.
Oh, and these crowds were on a work day. Oh, and there were lot's of young people.
If you are a Democrat and are turned away from a Bush rally, it will be because the rally organizers won't let you in.
If you are a Republican and are turned away from a Kerry rally, it will be because the fire marshal won't let you in.
Cat-
The Sportfisherman vote in WA and OR has almost completely reversed itself on Bush from 2000. When Junior's administration announced that they were going to start considering hatchery salmon in the Endangered Species Act counting, it pissed off a bunch of folks who voted for him last time around.
Although I moved out of WA last year, I have lots of fishing buddies who are actively campaigning for Kerry on the banks of streams and in marinas. I'm not kidding.
Bush's environmental record has truly split off some of what might normally be called the NRA vote. It's odd, but true.
Thanks for the concise report, stickler. Your assistance in removing the current administration is much appreciated. Bring all your friends!
I was there as well. People all over the place. I couldn't get in the fenced area because of the line to get in. They need to get a better speaker system for folks in the back. YOu could BARELY hear Teresa today. You could hear John just fine.
Washington Post runs Kerry/Bush/Portland story Saturday on Page A9. Says "A crowd that authorities estimated at close to 40,000" saw Kerry.
Says Washington Post:
A cartoon in Friday's Oregonian newspaper depicted Kerry speaking next to a sign that read "Kerry campaign rally open to the public." The next frame had a stately-looking gate with a cursive W on the front and a sign above it that said "Bush Campaign Rally, A Gated Community."
Traveled from Bend to Portland for the rally today. It was terrific!
Bend is highly conservative just east of the Cascades. Two years ago we would get 8-14 people to show up for Democratic Party meeting, now we regularly get 110 to 130 folks. Oregon is not as close as everyone thinks. Ralphy Boy got 96,000 votes last time. He will not get anything close to that this time
Traveled from Bend to Portland for the rally today. It was terrific!
Bend is highly conservative just east of the Cascades. Two years ago we would get 8-14 people to show up for Democratic Party meeting, now we regularly get 110 to 130 folks. Oregon is not as close as everyone thinks. Ralphy Boy got 96,000 votes last time. He will not get anything close to that this time
RE: The comments about local environmental/sport fishing/commercial fishing:
All politics are local. ALL POLITICS!
GWB has forgotten this in favor of profiting his puppet masters.
Damn -- why can't the election be NEXT Tuesday? I've got to get some sleep! Hey, what are the odds that Dumbya's posse privately welcome a terrorist act before the election? (I seriously doubt that OBL will cooperate and be allowed to be captured -- but I don't agree with Rush Windbag that he's rooting for Kerry, just the opposite!) Anyhoo, thanks for the updates on the crowds, difficult (impossible?) to find stories like that in the mainstream media.
Still, WTF is with "I would have voted to give authority to the preznit" foolishness? Congress is not supposed to hand its authority to anyone else! And his campaign better get their defenses up, this is fuckin' war, and they're playing patty-cake. You think the not-so-swiftys were a pain? That's the intro from Roverboy, there's buckets of mud and lies where that came from. We need to respond by snail mail to a handful of papers and media outlets. Choose 4 or 5, address and stamp several envelopes for each one, and send off a note when you catch them covering up their side or ignoring ours. Especially your congresscritters. They have no balls and a couple dozen letters will get some action. It's great that K/E are getting big crowds, but nobody but us is gonna know if we don't raise a stink...
I was one of those who tried to get in to the Kerry event today. Had tickets. Got there at 11'ish. People who had arrived and waited in line since 10:30 a.m. didn't get in. It was amazing. Packed.
(I seriously doubt that OBL will cooperate and be allowed to be captured -- but I don't agree with Rush Windbag that he's rooting for Kerry, just the opposite!)
everyman
During WWII did the Democrats routinely claim that Hitler and Tojo were backing the Republicans?
I was briefly downtown this morning as I had planned on attending the rally at the Waterfront, though I was not keen on being among a sea of 35,000 screaming progressives (and I had seen Kerry a few months ago at his last visit and was able to press some flesh them). As a result, I headed back to my house to watch the speech on TV. Luckily for the Bush supporters, they were not faced with the dilemma as only about 1,000 mostly wealthy supporters showed up to the President's forum, though they were greeted by about 200 protesters. To me, the 35:1 ratio of supporters means much more than anything either candidate might have said on this sunny afternoon.
I have more analysis of the event over at my blog.
Stickler, rest assured, you and your friends will be listened to more during President Kerry's first 100 days than you were during four years of Teh Plastick Preznit.
A.
Bush's environmental record has truly split off some of what might normally be called the NRA vote. It's odd, but true.
def
Not so odd, really. Any hunter or fisherman with half a brain knows that their prey needs a habitat.
My dad is a fanatical fly fisherman and he tells me that there is not a single unpolluted body of water left on earth. What's sad is that I have no trouble believing him.
If you are a Democrat and are turned away from a Bush rally, it will be because the rally organizers won't let you in.
If you are a Republican and are turned away from a Kerry rally, it will be because the fire marshal won't let you in.
Lived in Portland once upon a time, near 39th and Hawthorne. Enjoyed it, but had to move on.
I saw 2 pro-bush types; they were looney fundamentalists (their signs referenced a passage in the bible).
I saw one of those guys! Nutball. A diatribe about how Bush is supporting our our troops, and then a Bible quote.
Oh, and Kerry didn't speak until later because Bush was hogging the local channels. Apparently THK spoke until they saw Bush shutup; otherwise, the local TV wouldn't have cut over to Kerry's speech.
So that was why he didn't speak 'til later, and why THK went on a bit long.
I was at the K/E rally in Dayton the day after JFK announced his running-mate choice. 10K+ people showed up in typically Republican territory, and I was sold when I left. These guys know what they're talking about, and people are listening. We just need to work on making sure it stays this strong.
The diversity of folks at the Kerry rally, also, was cool. Anarchist types, punks, goth kids, moms, old hippies, immigrants, little kids, Firemen for Kerry/Edwards (that was cool), African-Americans, lots and lots of older folk. Lots of different kinds of people.
Everyone was very excited. We didn't get in, 'cuz the fire marshals shut it down, but it was great to catch the vibe. Very positive, very hopeful.
I agree that big crowds don't guarantee that Kerry will win, but I still take it for a good sign. October crowds in august are not to be sneezed at!
I think the lapdog media aren't reporting the size of Kerry's crowds because they want to preserve the illusion of a neck-and-neck horse race as long as they can.
Though, if the roles were reversed, and W were drawing the big crowds and Kerry weren't, we'd have lots of po-faced talking heads on the news programs talking about how Kerry has no chance of winning, and analyzing how the polls look bad for him and how W is taking states where Kerry needs a strong showing.
I was a volunteer in Portland and it was a great rally. I haven't seen the news yet, but I understand there were about 35,000! Great day and great people. It is too bad so many couldn't get it, but they still lined the streets outside the park pretty good. BonJovi and Decaprio brought out a lot of young kids...hopefully they all are registered!
Athenae and Dem fm TX:
Thanks. It was really an uplifting experience today (diaper blowout excepted). Though perhaps the diaper blowout is related: we didn't know the little guy had a Code Brown until too late because the folks around us were (apparently) so smitten with his cuteness and playing with him.
In other words: really, a totally positive vibe from everyone there. I saw no protestors, no crankiness, no complaints. Nothing. They handed out free water: no bitching, no pushing. They kept us on tenterhooks for hours: no problem. Not quite Grateful Dead but still very mellow.
I supported McCain in 2000 because I thought the GOP needed a competent, moderate candidate. We got GWB instead. The only thing that might free my party from the Old Confederates is a good ass-whupping this fall. House, Senate, White House. Let the Baptist mullahs begone.
Word is that Terresa spoke a little longer than planned because local Portland TV was showing Bush live across town... Terresa wanted Bush to be done and off TV, and for TV to be ready for Kerry, when Kerry stepped up to the mic.
I tried to go to this today - the line went around the block, down a few blocks, in a loop under the bridge, across the willamette and into southeast portland. It was probably in the area of a mile long. 50k? I'd believe it in an instant - this was HUGE.
The funny thing was "Jews for Jesus" was walking up and down the line trying to hand things to people.
http://tinyurl.com/48hnk
Dayton Daily News
"About 100 military veterans sat on risers behind Cheney. The audience in front included around 400 Republican party supporters from throughout southwest Ohio and there were around 75 empty seats at the rear of the crowd."
"Outside the convention center, more than 100 protesters lined the corners at the intersection of Fifth and Main streets, chanting and holding Kerry-Edwards signs high."
I was one of those protesters. Yeah. Let the Republicans select themselves out of existence. I look forward to a world where Progressives face off against Democrats.
Let me dream. The weekend is beginning.
Fucking Jews for Jesus...at least they weren't their arguably worse opposite, Hasidic Gentiles (which is to say, being Jewier-than-thou while not being Jewish in the first place). The JfJ are on some kind of offensive offensive in several major cities.
I was at the Portland rally too, drove in and parked at 3rd and Alder at 11:30 and walked over to the beach by about 12:30. It wasn't hard to get in, outside the fenced area but close enough to see and hear everybody perfectly. It was a huge crowd, a sea of loud, enthusiastic people.
I was there in time to hear DiCaprio's speech about alternative energy and the environment. Then Bon Jovi came on and sang a simple tune. Then they played Chuck Berry singing "Go Johnny Go" followed by some other classic R&B tunes.
Then they revved up the crowd with Springsteen's No Surrender, played it twice. Then played some trumpeting regalia while Kerry and friends entered the stage. Kerry's son introduced his mom, who gave the first speech.
Her speech was actually very good I thought, maybe a little long but excellent and entertaining. She spoke off the cuff a lot and was impressively poised and sharp.
Then she introduced the soldier that Kerry saved and the Springsteen tune was turned up as he approached the mike.
. . . .
He talked for maybe 5 minutes, then Kerry took the mike and gave a rousing speech that alternated between general references to his platform and sly Bush bashing (he "believes in science"). His voice was pretty hoarse, but clear and strong.
At the same time Bush was talking to a group of 2000 invitees inside a private high school gym, and the difference in approach and large crowd at the Kerry rally were well covered in the local media.
I came away convinced that Kerry will take Oregon by a larger margin than Gore did. It was great to see such a huge, vocal crowd.
Thanks for the details, Stoo! Seems to me, also, that the extreme difference between the Bush v. Kerry events is getting lots of play here.
Exciting stuff. I'm stoked. PDX is so Kerry Town!
I live for reading stuff like this. Thx.
Portland exists in a sort of political bubble. In the past two days' walking and driving around my usual haunts, all within about 2-3 miles of this wee city's core, I've seen at least sixty Kerry lawn signs, and zero for Bush. What a warped perspective!
Stickler, you give me reason to hope.
--A Portland resident who wasn't up for the crowds today
I think that W may have lost the Republicans the Northwest, the way LBJ lost the Democrats the South. We have a strong anarchist streak here, but for some reason these people used to think that Republicans represented them--maybe Republicans did, once. Now, it seems many of them are changing their minds.
I drove up from Myrtle Point yesterday, and spent the night with family who live just outside PDX and managed to get up early to get into Portland early to get a
decent chance to get into the Kerry Bash.. Great time and good socializing.
Arrived at River Park about 8:30 and had absolutely no problems with getting in as the park people and Kerry Volunteers checked my ticket (printed on my tee shirt, along with with the 4 orwell photos from www.evilgopbastards.com on the back along with "Buck Fush" over it. I also had No More Republican Lies on the front) Got a lot of good comments from all who saw it at the Rally.. Afterwards I walked around the park and talked to many people who weren't all Dems... Many were Repigs who have seen the light or came out of their comas... Great Day for all of us here in Oregon... Hope that will turn into a great day on Nov 2....
Go Johnny Go!!!!!
I was lucky to be in the veterans section at the Kerry rally, and got real close.
I've posted comments, a closeup pic, and some avi movies here at DailyKos:
JimPortlandOR at dKos
Cyclopatra's diary at dKos contains more comment, and some really awesome crowd pics:
Cyclopatra at dKos
I think Gordon Smith is going to
get real quiet after today.
I was there in Portland, and it was nuts. The line to get in to waterfront park wrapped around a couple city blocks, and then went clear across a bridge to the other side of the river. I was at the end of that line, when a friend called and told us the "secret" way in. Thank god too, because all those people must have been turned away.
By the way, for all you Portlanders who got stuck on Hawthorne Bridge or whatnot, the "secret" entrance was to go down to Columbia Ave. and go in the entrance there. I literally walked right in without any wait.
Not two days ago, or maybe three, Bush 43 rolled through Phoenix and the local media kept running B-roll of the local GOP going ape-shit over the number of people clammering to get into the event.
I mean all the local channels had every swingin' GOP flack going on and on about how the enthusiasm for the Bush 43 visit was UNPRECEDENTED. That was the word that was getting jackhammered across the airwaves UNPRECEDENTED.
It turns out that the UNPRECEDENTED crowd might have been as large as 15,000 and the local NPR affliate was reporting that there were 1,000 tickets that went unused.
And all the while big John K is drawing 20,000 and up to 50,000. I'm starting to think that Michael Moore and Keith Olberman are onto something. I don't think that this race is as close as its being played in the media. I think big John K is going to win in a landslide. Amen and God bless us all...
Not two days ago, or maybe three, Bush 43 rolled through Phoenix and the local media kept running B-roll of the local GOP going ape-shit over the number of people clammering to get into the event.
I mean all the local channels had every swingin' GOP flack going on and on about how the enthusiasm for the Bush 43 visit was UNPRECEDENTED. That was the word that was getting jackhammered across the airwaves UNPRECEDENTED.
It turns out that the UNPRECEDENTED crowd might have been as large as 15,000 and the local NPR affliate was reporting that there were 1,000 tickets that went unused.
And all the while big John K is drawing 20,000 and up to 50,000. I'm starting to think that Michael Moore and Keith Olberman are onto something. I don't think that this race is as close as its being played in the media. I think big John K is going to win in a landslide. Amen and God bless us all...
As a canvasser for ACT in Portland I didn't actually get to see Kerry speak, although we did get to briefly protest Bush.
Them: "Four More Years!"
US: "Four More MONTHS!!"
I covered just over fifty homes afterwards, and got nothing but positive reactions from the rally. Even the few holdout Republicans struggling to survive this deep in Blue territory approached the door deflated.
See, the Northwest is made of Libertarians and Greens. Sometimes we may vote or register Demo/Repub, but we love the environment and we love freedom.
Hippies or Hicks, Bush aint gettin' either. This here's Blue country.
Jiminportland thanks for the great picture of JK. I really like JK's face. It's a presidential kinda' face. Something about that face that will make me proud to be an American again. Thanks for all the great reports too. I'd go crazy if I didn't have places like this to come and critique the bullshit they put on the airwaves.
A lot of us find Kerry's shifting, ambiguous stance on Iraq infuriating, but maybe he is playing it smart? With Americans in hand-to-hand combat, maybe wise not to do anything that could be construed as undercutting them? Two least anti-war candidates did best in Iowa, after all. I think he knows what he is doing.
From the Seattle Times:
"The gathering was one of the largest — if not the largest — Kerry has drawn in a two-week, 22-state cross-country swing that followed his nomination at the Democratic Convention in Boston and ended here in Portland.
City officials said it was the biggest gathering in Portland for a politician in at least a decade.
Crowding prompted city fire marshals to shut off access to a section of Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park more than an hour before Kerry arrived, even as thousands of people still waited in lines that wound down a street and across part of the Hawthorne Bridge over the Willamette River.
David Rasmussen, special-events inspector for the Portland Fire Bureau, estimated the waterfront crowd at between 40,000 and 50,000 people.
"I've never seen anything like this, even when Bobby Kennedy and [Bill] Clinton were here," said Suzie Kerschner, a 58-year-old Portland native.
The two presidential candidates staged starkly different campaign events Friday in Portland -- one before a carefully selected indoor audience, the other a big open-air affair before tens of thousands of potential voters. . .
Portland, festival city that it is, responded by providing what appeared to be the biggest crowd yet of the 2004 election. An estimated 50,000 people sat, stood, shouted and waved signs in the late-summer sunshine.
President Bush was more selective. His campaign handed out a limited number of tickets -- about 2,300 -- to his most enthusiastic supporters, who now can be expected to spread the word throughout the state, enlist the undecided and make sure Bush backers register and vote. Although it was billed as a grill-the-president session on small-business development -- and a number of small-business owners were part of the invited audience -- the questions were largely sympathetic and supportive.
Of course the paper still tried to spin this as a successs for Bush.
But I think most people can read between the lines.
This is great. A question though.
Does Kerry have a strong field organization in OR? I read somewhere that Rove built strong state orgs in battleground states, because he has been at it for the last 3 yrs. Kerry just started after winning the nomination.
All this excitement when Kerry comes into a state is great, but it will quickly peter out, if there is no "get out vote" field org.
Its too bad that accurate crowd estimates weren't given by the whore media during the pre-war protests.
Hey Atrios hows about letting us know we need to go to bug-me-not.com for your links??
Or...howzabout putting the login and password out there in front with the abstract/blurb (or in Brooklyn, "bloib") or whatever it's called?
Or is that just way too lazy of me?
I read today that Bush is the big favorite in Israel. Will the Lone Gunman who tries to take Kerry out be a Mossad stooge?
It was awesome. My girlfriend and I arrived really early and we still barely got inside. Meanwhile, Bush spoke to about 2,000 people at an invite only event. Curiously, this morning (Saturday) in the "Stateman Journal" (Salem, OR), Bush's miniscule visit was the headline, while Kerry was a small blurb that continued on page four. For some reason, Bush's little love-fest was also called a "rally." No media bias there! Nothing to see, move along...
Attended the Kerry rally, arriving around 10:30. Little problem geting in at that time. It seemed to really start filling up about an hour later.
Two points:
Contrary to one post, the sound was superb. No echoes. Good volume. I started drifting out before Kerry finished and could hear him clearly across the street where so many people were watching.
Local TV coverage clearly showed that the Bush crowd had better jewelry.
The kicker for Kerry would be if he or a member of the family would appear on The Daily Show maybe the daughters as in comparison to the photo op dimbulbs of the bushiepoos, ( no telling where that tongues been, ughhr I 'm shuddering now)
I was in the veterans section, close to the stage, and the enthusiasm was great.
I posted some comments, a closeup pic, and 2 avi movies at DailyKos.
(Sunburned today, but still happy)
The fire marshall said that they counted 22,000 in the main area as they entered, and estimated another 25,000 across the street from the park and in several nearby parking garages.
Here's the dKos link: (with instructions on downloading and viewing the movies):
Jim at dKos
thanks Stickler & everyone for giving such great on-the-ground reports! it's good to see that the enthusiasm we saw here in PA at the beginning of the cross-country trip has not only held up, but seems to have gotten even stronger!
it's all about the people.
they've cost us $450 Billion on the nation's credit card just this year
Tens of thousands of lives, 200 years of international goodwill, and increased interest payments for untold generations.
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