This is the second Barack rally I've been to in a week!!! Last week it was 50,000 in downtown Miami. Tonight it was 22,000 inside and at least another 10,000 outside who didn't make it in!!!
It was a rock concert rally. Excellent. I wish people could've seen Joe Biden's speech before Barack came on. He was Fightin' Joe Biden. Barack was excellent. I haven't seen the 30 minute ad since I was at the rally, but I can tell you what it was like inside the arena. Pictures and my day below the fold!!
Wow. All I can say is wow. This was an excellent rally. Doors were scheduled to open at 4:30 so naturally I had to get there by 1pm to make sure I could get a decent seat.
Guess what...at 1pm, it was freaking packed!!! Here's a picture of the line at 1pm:
And the kinds of people that attend Barack rallies are really a unique blend of Americana. There were 4 people in front of me, college kids. They drove down from Gainesville to attend this rally. That's a 6 1/2 hour ride boys and girls. So many families. Young families that brought their children to see Barack. It was just excellent.
I always forget that there are a ton of volunteers for Barack. They let the volunteers in early for the event. Check out this humongous line of Barack campaign volunteers waiting to get into the arena:
By about 4pm, the lines were swelling. One of the college kids from Gainesville decided to walk the line and see how long it was. She said the line stretched the length of the arena, the parking lots, the grounds of the arena, to the street, down the street. That's about half a mile or so.
Here's a picture at about 4:45pm just before I went into the Secret Service lines (yes, the Secret Service is in charge of security for Barack and McCain. 3 officers each at 15 metal detector stations. Very high tech. All items on you are checked by 2 separate Secret Service agents, then you pass through a sophisticated metal detector, then a third Secret Service Agent goes over you with a hand held metal detector) to get into the arena:
It was beyond packed. Every seat. Lower level, club level, upper level, behind the stage, upper level behind the stage. Standing room only seats, gone. The facility holds 22,000 people. Maybe if it held 42,000 people there might be some empty seats.
It was a very exciting atmosphere. Before Barack and Joe spoke, Senator Bill Nelson and former Governor and Senator Bob Graham spoke. Joe Biden was en fuego. He was awesome.
Of course, when Joe introduced Barack, I thought that the Beatles were coming on stage. Not that I'd know what the Beatles were like live since I'm 33, but it must have been something like that! I've seen a lot of concerts in this building: U2 twice, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Elton John, Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow (yes, Barry Manilow)...the crowd reaction was on par with any major rock concert.
They didn't play the 30 minute ad. Biden spoke for about 15 minutes and introduced Barack. Barack spoke for a good 20-25 minutes before he said something to the effect of, "...and for the millions of viewers that just joined us,..." and then I remembered that the Barack-fomercial was playing.
UPDATE: A lot of people are asking me if this was staged in a way where Barack was waiting to speak, then started speaking when the Barack-fomercial was over. The answer is NO!!! Barack started speaking at about 8pm. When it was 8:25 or so, in mid-sentence, he just said something to the effect of what I said in the previous paragraph. They did not play the 30 minute ad. Joe Biden came on at about 7:40-7:45pm, spoke for a good 15 minutes and then introduced Barack.
Here's a pic from the end with Barack and Joe waiving to the crowd:
At any rate. It was an awesome evening. Very inspiring and made me feel good. Then I came home, I literally just turned on MSNBC to see what happened in the world today and watched my beloved Rachel Maddow say how she thinks McCain can truly win and I reached for 50 xanax to be washed down by pure grain alcohol. I need a "Talk Me Down" segment to talk me down.
Everybody...........do something the last 144 hours. Get your friends and family to vote. Go volunteer to phone bank or canvass or donate or do something more than sit ON your ass and write "the sky is falling, help me i'm afraid of my shadow...."
I'm 33. I've never actively volunteered for a campaign before. I gave $2,000 to John Kerry in 2004 (what he did with that money, I have no freaking idea) and I gave $500 to Barack this year (all I could afford unfortunately). I've gotten people registered to vote for the first time. I'm driving senior citizens to their polling places on the 4th. I've never done anything like this before. Guess what, there are thousands just like me around the country trying to help. You still can. Even if its 3 hours of the next 144 hours of your life, you can make a difference. So, go out and make a difference for yourself and your country.
We can win if he have the intestinal fortitude to do what it takes to win. Did everyone really think Obama was going to waltz into November 4th with a 10 point lead? Of course the polls are tightening. That's what always happens. Relax everyone. Stay positive. Be productive.
144 hours.....................let's win this fuckin' thing!!!
Update: Alright!!! This is my 3rd recommended diary this month!!! Thank you everyone. People seem to like the pictures from tonight's rally, so here's a link to my diary from the Barack rally in Miami (with 50,000 of my closest friends) last week, with some more pictures:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
UPDATE 2:
Holy shit on a shingle. Where the hell was this Bill Clinton the last few months? How amazing would it have been if Bill Clinton gave this kind of speech in Ohio and Pennsylvania?
What an excellent, strong endorsement for Barack. Thank you Bill. Keep it up.
There's no way Senator "fundamentals of our economy are strong" McCain and Governor Neiman Marcus Palin can match the power of Barack and Bill.