We just got home from attending the powerful Obama rally held at the Riverfront Sports Arena in Scranton, PA. It was inspiring to see all the people of all ages lined up to get in, and then crowding into to the big indoor arena. Here are some photos we took, and more details will follow below the fold.
Queueing up
Nature Maven and the Mister
More below the fold.
We had to queue up outside for over an hour. There were so many volunteers outside the arena and along the long line of people waiting to attend, a line that climbed along and then atop a levee to accomodate us all. A young man, a veteran (a Marine, boo-yah!) who served two tours in Iraq, moved along the line looking for veterans and stopped to speak with us and give us literature and stickers. Mr. Maven is a veteran and proudly wore his "Veterans for Obama" pin on the front of his cap today.
Some of my photos are pretty grainy due to our spot in the huge space, far from the stage and the poor lighting but I'll include some anyhow.
We heard from Senator Bob Casey, Congressman Paul Kanjorski, and Jill Biden who introduced Bill Clinton who explained they'd just come from Court Street United Methodist Church where they attended the baptism of Simon Rodham, son of Mrs. Clinton’s brother, Tony Rodham.
Bill spoke eloquently, as always, enthusiastically revving up the crowd as he encouraged us all to work to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and then he introduced Hillary. The crowd went wild with chants of "Hillary, Hillary". He had to leave for Virginia where he was scheduled to appear at a rally for Barack Obama. What a wonderful man and so presidential yet accessible!
Hillary spoke of her father, grandfather, and brother all from Scranton, stressing how important it is for the people of Scranton and places like it to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden. She introduced Joe Biden, another favorite son, who gave a rousing speech and got the rafters ringing with thunderous shouts when he promised that he and Barack would end the war and stop the loopholes for off-shore tax evaders, and when he repeated Bob Casey's great one-liner about John McCain, "That's not a Maverick. That's a Sidekick!"
The Citizen's Voice covered the entire event in great detail and I recommend it. The paper just celebrated 30 years of local reporting in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area. Today's coverage shows just how relevant and important they are.
CNN was there, as were all the local network affiliates and CSPAN. Here's CNN's piece:
Yes we can! And as a man told me yesterday as we handed out literature, gave out absentee ballot applications, and sold bumper stickers and pins at a PA street fair in Mount Pocono, "Yes we will!"