Here's a collection of my photos of two Ohio Obama rallies in one day today, the first at 10am in Chillicothe and the second in Columbus at 1:30. Chillicothe is 60 miles south of Columbus & was the first capital of Ohio before Columbus was formed in 1812. It's a town with classic old Ohio architecture, notably the courthouse where Obama appeared.
Here's a view along 2nd St.:
And the courthouse:
There's a famous outdoor drama held here every summer, Tecumseh:
Random crowd shot:
Note the NRA hat on the left. There's an Obama button on the other side:
Another gun expert:
Mayor Joseph Sulzer:
Pledge of Allegiance:
Obama will appear at 10:00 sharp--exactly on time:
More eyes:
Rep. Zack Space gave some good broadsides against the Republican administration and Sen. McCain:
Sen. Sherrod Brown hit populist themes such as loss of jobs, globalization and trade:
Brown said that McCain admits that he has a lot to learn about economics, but notes that his education has come from Phil Gramm and the Wall Street Journal editorial page.
Likewise Gov. Ted Strickland emphasized that gun owners had nothing to fear from an Obama administration, and that Obama had a good Christian family:
Strickland excoriated McCain and Palin for hateful attacks and quoted FDR extensively in reference to economics issues.
Enter Sen. Obama:
Appearing in front of columns again... how American:
On to Columbus... here's the crowd lined up along the Broad St. bridge over the Scioto River:
I was positioned a bit further back for this rally:
Rich Cordray, candidate for Attorney General:
Gov. Strickland:
He didn't open the gun issue here. He did mention to the crowd, which he estimated at 10-15,000, that if everyone there would convince five wavering friends, who might be wary of Barack, to be more comfortable with him, it could translate into a lot of votes. He also made a pitch for early voting. The early voting location was (not coincidentally) across the street from the rally. He noted that if everyone votes early, then we are free to volunteer all day on election day!
Sen. Brown:
Mayor Mike Coleman:
Coleman reported that the Sheriff in Greene County in a voter intimidation effort has opened an investigation into all early ballots cast so far in that county. Greene County, he said, is home to five colleges, two of them predominantly African-American & added that this is a blatant attempt to make students afraid to vote. Coleman then led the crowd in a chant of "Hope beats fear!"
O-ba-ma!
On the way out I saw Marc from Vote From Home '08. He and the VFH crew were holding signs directing people to the early voting location (Veterans's Memorial) across the street:
This is COSI (Center of Science and Industry), a hands-on science museum for kids across the street from Vets:
Some folks watched and listened from across the Scioto:
Early voters after the rally:
Obama's bus leaving the scene eastbound on Broad St.:
Early voters line up:
One almost humorous snafu in the polling place was that there's a rule that no campaign paraphernalia (buttons, t-shirts, signs) can be displayed while voting--but of course most of the rally-goers were completely decked out. So there was a mad scramble inside to turn t-shirts inside out, stash buttons, etc.!