Just returned from the Obama rally in Springfield. Huge crowd.
According to a police officer I was standing next to, people started lining up at 3 a.m. this morning. Some of the people I spoke to were from Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri. They had actually driven here to see him. The lines to get in wound around several city blocks. I don't think a crowd this size was expected. The police officer told me they had to bring in additional officers. This was a huge, diverse crowd. Naturally lots of young people, but amazing to me, a lot of senior citizens - older white voters. A lot of them had Obama t-shirts on. Talking with people around me, they were fired up about Biden and most everyone thought he was a good pick. A lot of people were surprisingly knowledgeable about him. There was evidence of that great ground game people always mention. On every street corner downtown, there were several Obama volunteers asking people to sign up for e-mails, volunteering, etc. A lot of people were signing up too. Just judging by those in my immediate area, people are excited about this election and about Obama. No one expressed any disappointment in the choice of Biden.