President Obama stumped for senator Patty Murray at the University of Washington today in Seattle. The main event was held at the indoor Hec Ed Pavilion, but prior to it Obama spoke briefly to and and shook hands with the overflow crowd at Husky Stadium next door, which I attended (I showed up too late to get into the main event, which was a shame as I only live a few miles away, but I've come down with a cold and was late in getting started today).
I took some photos of the event, which I've posted here.
Arriving in Seattle last night, Obama started the day at Top Pot doughnuts in Belltown, just north of downtown, where he bought several dozen doughnuts for his staff (I've been there and they're excellent--chances are that if you've eaten a doughnut at Starbucks anywhere in the US, it was a Top Pot doughnut). He then attended a small get-together in the backyard of a local family, a bit north of UW, to talk about women's issues (just a few blocks from another Top Pot, with one of the people who asked him a question a woman who owns a local cupcake bakery, hmmm--or should I say mmmm).
Finally, he arrived at UW around noon. Before addressing the main crowd at Hec Ed, he spent a few minutes talking to and shaking hands with the overflow crowd at Husky Stadium. Then he went inside the arena, and after introductory speeches by Murray and others, he spoke, for around 20-30 minutes. It was standard stump speech material, about all the gains he and Dems have made over the past two years, how we can't let Repubs take back congress, where they'd try o reverse all the gains of the past two years and make further progress impossible, and how Murray's been a great senator and deserved to be reelected. He also got in a few digs at her challenger, perennial also-ran faux teabagger Dino Rossi.
But by far the best line of the day was when Obama said (and I paraphrase):
When you're driving and want to go forward, you put your car in "D". When you want to go backwards, you put it in "R". And I want Patty Murray driving!
H/t to DeadHead for reminding me of the last line.
Here are some photos that I took: