McCain's Crowd Disturbingly Small, Ten Times Less Than Planned For

Something was missing from the first of John McCain's seven campaign stops today: the crowd.

Kicking off the last day of the election in Tampa, Florida, John McCain was welcomed by a roughly 1,000 voters. Compare that to the 15,000 people that President Bush drew to a rally in Tampa on the eve of the 2004 election. "What's up with that?" wrote Adam Smith at the St. Petersburg Times.

Even Fox News had a bit of difficulty spinning the whole thing. Carl Cameron, who is following the Senator at every stop on Monday, said the crowd size was likely "a little bit disturbing" for the McCain campaign. He added that organizers had set up the venue predicting ten times the number of attendees.

"Last night in Miami Sen. McCain arrived for a midnight rally and had more than 10,000 people in Miami. Today in Tampa, for a morning event, it's a small crowd, only about 1,000. And I can tell you is it looks like it was set up with the perimeter and all for about 10 times this crowd. In addition, you'll note that there are no actual McCain signs here. This is one of the events that is put on, ostensibly paid for by the Republican Party."

Later in his segment, Cameron tried to explain the empty venue as a byproduct of volunteers being dispatched for get-out-the-vote activities. But he couldn't hide the fact that the Tampa kick-off wasn't the best start for a long day.

"They believe that their 72-hour get-out-the-vote exercise will make the difference," he said. "That is one of the reasons why the size of this crowd is a little bit disturbing for the McCain campaign."

UPDATE: Off the Bus has some other good reporting on the small crowds at McCain events.

PREVIOUSLY: McCain Camp Buses In 4,000 School Kids To Fill Crowd

Comments

[wyndrider]

Maybe McSame and the Alaska Barbie are FINALLY getting the message!

Obama and his family were in Springfield, MO this past Saturday evening and over 45,000 American citizens crowded the Park View High School football stands and field! I was one of those people! I was part of history! My point - south west Missouri is a repub stronghold! So when 45,000 + come to see and hear Obama in a old repub territory - Please - McSame go back to Arizona and Alaska Barbie go home!

[Twin420]

This is great news! I was born and raised in the Ozarks. My kids graduated from Kickapoo. Yes, it doesn't get any more Republican than SW Missouri. That is amazing. I moved to Louisville, Kentucky ten-years ago, and it's suprisingly very liberal here. Let's hope that Missouri comes through for Obama!

[HamletsMill]

Alaska Barbie will soon be Ice Floe Barbie come Wednesday morning. It will be finally over. We can all get some sleep and then get on with trying to get our country back on track after eight long years of the horrible Neocon and Theocon mind bending dysfunctional ideological nightmare. Common sense will be back in the driver's seat over rabid deranged brain chemistry mindless lock step ideology.

Greenspan has now had his religious faith shaken in the absolute wisdom of the sacred free market. What a bunch of morons. The first thing I studied in undergraduate economics was why the Glass-Stiegel Act was passed in the hard lessons of the Great Depression. I say it is time for the guillotine for all mindless knee jerk ideologues. Enough is enough.

Tomorrow we take our country back from these idiots like our fathers did from the same type of people once before in our history.

I'll see you on the beach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPU4p7UQOtU

[BWonka]

Small crowds for a small man. People prefer candidates with honor and class, not silly old men and what's her name.

[DFL]

AT THE MC CAIN RALLIES, NOTE THE PEOPLE IN THE BACKGROUND, MOST SEEM TO HAVE THIS GLUM / SOUR LOOK ON THEIR FACES!

[BWonka]

Because they didn't get paid like the 4000 kids he FORCED to attend last week.

[Barackaroo]

small crowd for a small man. Simple.

[Querent]

Who wants to be squeaked at by a loser?

[forebode]

McCain has a very annoying nasal, sniveling voice. I sure hope we don't have to listen to it coming from the podium with the Presidential seal. With Obama doing so well in the polls, and so many Americans so sick and tired of fear mongers in the Executive Branch, the only way McCain can win it is for the Repugs to once again, steal the election with the help of Diebold's voting machine subsidiary.

[SilverFoxUna]

BTW, just what is a redistributionist? Is that a word that McCain made up but can't pronounce correctly two times in a row?

[Cherryanf]

Obama used that term "redistributive" in a radio interview that's just come to light recently. He talks about the Supreme Court not a good vehicle for that and he prefers another branch to do the job. That's the crux of it. Obama is a socialist at heart. If he attempts to punish the small business owners who create the most jobs in this country with higher taxes, he will destroy jobs, not create them. Also, 40% of the working population don't pay federal income taxes, so when he says 95% will get a tax cut, he really means a welfare check.

[BWonka]

Do you wear Hip Boots when you type so the b / s doesn't stain your spandex?

[pinkyboo]

How are they going to get a "welfare" check. If they do not pay taxes they do not file for taxes, just how are they supposed to get this money.

Just like with the stimulus checks you have to have paid taxes for the refund.

Use your brain instead of talking points.

[BugWriter]

What Obama was talking about was civil rights. It is not true equality when one small group of people controls the majority of the wealth or power in a given society, think Robber Barons of the late-19th and the early-20th century leading up to the Great Depression. The Supreme Court can find "Separate but Equal" is unconstitutional, however, until the Executive and Legislative Branches "do" something about inequality the decision it is merely a concept. Faith without works is dead as they say.
I for one think we need a good bit pragmatic of Socialism back in our lives, like health care and retirement benefits. Capitalism works well in theory, but the execution leaves a little to be desired, hence regulations are needed. We need market regulation just as we need traffic regulation, where would we be if there were no laws regulating traffic? In a world without traffic ordinance the person with the biggest vehicle always get's the right of way.

[sheputstheLinPAIN]

Yours are Limbaugh numbers.

The Obama tax plan offers a tax credit for families who make under a certain amount. That money goes to certain things like child care and other things.

It's the same premise as McCains tax credit for healthcare, which would also be available to the 40% you mention.

This mock outrage about the 40% started dancing around a few days ago from the same "Obama is a muslim" idiots. We know where you get your "information". Again, the "tax credit" Obama proposes is more fiscally conservative than McCain's, but you people are so easily manipulated you don't even know when you are arguing against yourselves.

[HamletsMill]

The United States primes the Keynesian pump through corporate war socialism. Everyone knows it. See Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the nation in 1961. It is time to change the stranglehold of the military industrial complex on our nation after 50 years. It is time to re-think everything. "Redistribution" of $700 Billion just happened on Wall Street by the "godless" "atheistic" Reagan Republican Red Communists so what are you talking about? You better start studying the CDO's and CDS's and the Lehman settlement to understand what the Brooks Brothers Suit Che Guevara on Wall Street have wrought!

[skippy20008]

What bothers me more is Palin's disturbingly small brain.

[SilverFoxUna]

McCain lost whatever mojo he might have had a long time ago.

[Cherryanf]

I think most McCain/Palin supporters are working and not taking the day off to go to a rally. Somebody has to pay all of those new taxes that will be imposed if Obama is elected. Also, going to a McCain rally isn't a religious experience. The Obama crowds think he is something special, a kind of messiah character and nothing could be further from the truth.

Check out the Howard Stern Harlem YouTube video. Positions of McCain were attributed to Obama and all of the Obama supporters agreed with McCain when questioned. They were just for Obama, regardless of his positions on important issues. That's very telling. It's a kind of blind following of gullible people.

[unscum]

Why take sides at all in this election. Why not go the candidates respective websites, download their election manifesto's, compare them line by line and decided which candidate best represents you.

Simple, without all the name calling, jingoism, dogmatic, partisan, electioneering, bs.

[Cheryllou]

May God have mercy on those who incite hate, and you all call yourselves christians!
Like Bush didn't mess up this country enough for you. Stupid is as stupid does.

[stumptownliberal]

Another repug with his head up his arse...

[isee61]

Cherryanf,

you got up on you high horse to say that Obama supporter are Gullible people, what the hell you think you and the other supporters to go head over hills over a female that you have never heard of till 1 week before the repug convention and have the audacity to say this air is qualified to be VP let alone THE P.

Sweety don't hate the player hate the game. And next time have your player take a lession on "How to operate a campaign 101"

Obama/Biden 08

[Cherryanf]

Interesting factoid I've read...aft­er the 2004 election the Dem party made a concerted effort to get Secretary of States in battleground states and have been pretty successful. Both Fl in 2000 and OH in 2004 had Rep Sec. of States.

I do think Obama might win but it's due to ACORN style voter fraud and under-informed voters. I can't believe Americans really want a socialist as our president. Or do you want lots of freebies? It sounds like a resurgence of the welfare state to me. We got away from that during the Clinton years and it actually helped people live better lives.

[BWonka]

Aww... poor baby - so desperate, so wrong. Just like McCain.

[loria]

What, no kids to bus in to fill the stadium as he did last week in Ohio when an entire school district of 2500 was used to fill the stands?

[hortonhearsawho]

teletubbies on ice or mccain? tubbies win.

[jakkib]

In referenceing Mike Barnicle, who I'm a big fan of - this really seems like "McCain at Sunset" (see previous article on "Post" about 2-3 weeks agao.)a mere shell of the man that people once knew.

[KeithMayass]

what i really would like to see when everything is over is a "best of" of all the delusional statements from that campaign. especially fake peope spewing talking points all day....

a little like bagdad bob who was saying they were winning and were crushing the i.n.v.a.d.­.e.r.s while they were getting a$$ kicked

just to rub a little more all those people, in the dirt

[haval2]

THE HATE TALK EXPRESS CAN'T PACK THE HOUSE BECAUSE JOHNNY PROMISED A CLEAN CAMPAIGN AND IT'S JUST FILTH, LIES AND RACISM AND THE MODERATE REPUBLICANS ARE PUKING OVER HIM AND THE CHRISTIAN WITCH HE CHOSE.

[sarah2012]

What was that about "hate"? The irony on this site is always worth the visit. Ha.

[treklady]

This is a website not a rally where Sarah Palin spews all her vile h-ate and b-igotry. She can't talk issues because she has no clue, so sarah2012 go on to a rally and join those h-ate filled people, you'd be a lot more comfortable.

[longfeltwant]

I'm really glad you typed that in all caps. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have realized how important it was to you.

[260Parkway]

The crowd fit the man and his campaign tactics: SMALL!

[MadDog]

They were too busy abandoning the SS Titanic (McCain/Palin) ticket. They're in the lifeboats and rowing toward Obama.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

McCain ran his campaign from the gutter,
Which just made The People retch and shudder.
When it came time to vote,
McCain sunk down like a boat
Caught in a whirlpool with no oars or rudder.

[man4ourseason]

I THINK THEIR ARE A LOT OF DECENT REPUBLICAN'S AND THEY MAY HAVE BEEN FILLED UP TO THE NECK WITH THE HATE AND NAME CALLING AND FINGER POINTING. SO THEY ARE NOT COMING OUT.