My wife, two sons and one's fiance, and my son's (AA) friend and his girlfriend trekked yesterday from our very Red El Paso County, Colorado 45 miles South to join about 16000 other Southern Coloradoans at Barack Obama's last pre-election Colorado rally in downtown Pueblo, Colorado.
He was joined by Michelle and the kids, many of Colorado's Democratic leaders, and General Wesley Clark in greeting his supporters on a clear, beautiful Colorado Day.
Barack presented a speech with some new twists that really fired up the crowd clustered for several blocks on Pueblo's Union Avenue.
More (with pix (from Pueblo Chieftain), if I figure how to link them successfully), after the flip.
We left around 1030 to attend the rally which was scheduled for 3:00 PM yesterday afternoon. We were decked out in our Obama finery, from T-shirts to hats to pins. My son's AA friend and his girlfriend had matching sweatshirts. (The evening before, they wowed the local Halloween parties as a very passable suited Barack Obama and bespectacled, brunette Sarah Palin.)
We joined the crowd lining up on and across the Main Street (appropriate!) bridge crossing the Arkansas River into downtown Pueblo. A truck hauling a flatbed trailer with a pair of stuffed figures in gray pants and white shirts and ties, hugging each other in that classic pose we know so well, entertained the line. The figures had head photos of John McCain and George Bush and drew continuous laughs from the line.
The crowd was happy, diverse (Anglos, Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans, old (me), young, gay, straight, and folks with and without disabilities). It was not a McCain crowd; its focus was on hope, not hate.
The crowd lined up in the street for about 3-4 blocks facing the rally platform. There was much joking, discussion, passing out of water bottles , and a decided feeling of sharing and oneness. Pueblo has a large Hispanic population with proud descendants of the the people who settled Santa Fe and Colorado's San Luis Valley before English-speakers set foot on North America. It is a culture I love and of which I partake frequently.
The day was gorgeous, about 80 degrees (on November 1st!) with only the occasional cloud to mute the sunshine. Shortly before 3:00 PM, General Wesley Clark was announced to the surprised rally crowd. Gen Clark once held command a few miles back up the road toward Colorado Springs, at Fort Carson, so Pueblo was familiar territory. General Clark urged the crowd to not let up, to continue the fight through and including Election Day and to GOTV. (He did not say STFIL, but I believe it was implied.)
Shortly after 3:00 PM, Michelle was introduced to a roaring crowd. She was her usual graceful, eloquent self and thanked the crowd for their support and urged three more days of intense action to finish the job. She then introduced her husband, "the next President of the United States."
Barack greeted the crowd to persistent, ongoing LOUD applause.
Our next President had some great lines to keep the Pueblo rally stirred up. He mentioned that John McCain has called him everything except a "child of God" to the audience's laughter. Senator Obama mentioned, that day after Halloween that his daughter's always had a hard time deciding what they would "go as" on Halloween, and this was not a problem for Senator McCain, who simply "goes as" George Bush. Barack spoke of Dick Cheney's endorsement for John McCain, thanked the Vice President for that endorsement and pointed out that John McCain had certainly earned it! He mentioned that with John McCain, you get "twofers", Bush's Economic policies and Dick Cheney's Foreign Policy. (Ouch1)
Before urging the crowd to not only remain involved, but step up the final effort, our next President introduced Colorado's Governor Ritter, Senator and Congressman Ken and John Salazar (respectively), and General Wes Clark. He also took great pleasure in introducing and pronouncing (twice) Denver's ex-Mayor and ex-Secretary of Transportation, Federico Pena's name. He said he loved to pronounce the name and said it (twice) with proper Spanish inflection and an appropriate rolling of the "R", to the crowd's delight.
He ended his speech with the crowd roaring and brought out Michelle and the girls.
After the speech the entourage stopped at Jorge's in Pueblo's Bessemer District for some of the best Mexican Food anywhere.
Our team of seven wrapped up our Obama Rally by traveling back to Red Colorado Springs, invading a local Carraba's with our Obama bling, and putting the (likely Red) Restaurant crowd on notice that us libruls were out in force and here to stay. There were some customer scowls but quiet comments of approval from the wait staff with whom we generously spread the wealth.
On to Election Day. I am an Election Judge and my wife will be driving voters.