The Obama Rally in Denver

Barack Obama was in Denver last Sunday for a rally event in downtown’s Civic Center Park. Initial reports counted the attendees at 35 to 40 thousand people. The final results revealed that there were roughly 100,000 people there for the event.

I decided, albeit last minute, to head over to the event and see what I could see. I had initially planned to go to the Auraria library to work on homework, and the choice to head to the rally was a last minute decision. I couldn’t see him, I couldn’t even make it into the park (I had to stand across the street), although I was able to hear him (the man travels with a really good sound system). All that having been said, I am very glad that I decided to attend the event.
The Rocky Mountain News reported the following, “Obama drew a huge crowd in Denver when he spoke to an estimated 100,000 people at Civic Center Park, hammering away at the economic themes that have come to dominate the final days of the campaign.
The crowd total at downtowns’ Civic Center Park would be nearly as large as the number of people who attended Obama’s closing Democratic National Convention speech at Invesco Field. The crowd filled much of the park and sprawled east to Lincoln Park and the west steps of the state capitol.
It was another electric political moment in a remarkable 2008 in Denver, and in Colorado - a once reliably Republican state. It’s turned Colorado into a political battleground attracting repeated visits from both the Obama-Joe Biden campaign and Republican candidate John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin.”
Surrounded by other “Johnny Come Lately” attendees, I heard Barack began his speech with the following, “Goodness Gracious. Who are those folks way on top of the capital over there? Do any of you in Denver ever do anything small? Unbelievable! What a beautiful setting, what a gorgeous day. Thank you so much everybody for taking the time to be here today. It’s good to be back in Denver. It’s good to be back in Colorado. I have so many good friends here, from all walks of life. From extraordinary volunteers to elected precinct representatives (that’s me!!!), who have been working non stop on behalf of this campaign.”

I tried, for only one evening, going door to door. That totally sucked, but I stuck with it until my shift was done, in the end vowing to never do that again. You’d be absolutely amazed as to what some people will wear when answering their front door to a total stranger. I found a better niche in working a phone bank, but even that was full of all sorts of off color comments from the people on the other end of the phone. In the end, I found my best fit was working with my fellow precinct committee people and volunteer workers, organizing local precinct events. Clearly, I’m much better suited in a management role.

Here are a few of my pictures, and a few of the news media’s pictures. I present these in order to illustrate the magnitude of the event.