I just got back from the Obama rally at Civic Center Park here in Denver. The Denver Post estimates the turnout was 100,000 people, which is really just astounding considering the total size of the city is about 550,000 people and the total size of the metro area is about 3 million. Here's a shot that gives you a sense of the crowd - and let me just remind you, it's not a short distance between City Hall, where the speech was, to the steps of the state capitol:
Here's an up close photo from the speech:
Most Americans have seen Obama speak, and millions at this point have been to his events, so I won't bore you with my opinion on the details of his promises (pretty progressive) or of the energy at the event (high). But what I will say is that while most of the rhetoric was standard Democratic stuff, what really seemed new and "transformative" (to admittedly use a cliche description of Obama) - what really seemed to capture those 100,000 Coloradoans (including me) - was his discussion about struggle. I may be an old seadog from the many campaigns I've worked, and I may have learned enough to not be easily mesmerized by politicians, but I will admit right here: the flash I saw from Obama at the end of his speech really blew me away.
Indeed, as he was closing his remarks, he touched on how making change is incredibly painful and incredibly grueling - and how it always has been throughout our history. And the best part - the part where the audience was most silent and rapt - was when Obama veered off his prepared remarks and made it personal:
"Maybe some of your parents or grandparents, they were born in another country without freedom of speech or freedom of worship, but they said, you know what, we know there's this land across the ocean called America, where it's a land of opportunity and a land of freedom, and we're willing to take the risk to travel to that place to create a better future for our children and grandchildren. In this audience, there are people whose parents or grandparents couldn't cast a vote, but they said to themselves you know, maybe my child or grandchild, if we march, if we struggle, maybe they may be able to run for the United States Senate, maybe they might run for the Presidency of the United States of America."
Those references to the courage of immigrants and the civil rights movement are clearly personal to Obama, and they are rarely voiced in Colorado politics - an arena that has often been about bashing immigrants. That he departed from his prepared text to talk about those issues, and tied them to a discussion about how difficult change is - well, it suggests that very "transformative" possibility of the Obama candidacy.
Whether you believe Obama represents real change or not, I came away believing that he understands the challenge of actually making change, should he win. That is, he understands that if he really attempts to fundamentally alter the status quo on major issues, it is going to be a very tumultuous and difficult process - one that only begins on election day.
I'm not 100 percent sure, knowing how hard this will be, that Obama will move into the breach. My heart hopes he will, and my gut tells me its more than likely he will, because Republicans are helping create an even bigger mandate for an Obama presidency than Obama ever wanted. But we will never know if he will unless he gets a chance - a chance which, since early into the Democratic primary, I have believed he deserves (even though I stand by my concerns/objections to some of his specific positions). If he wins, I am sure we will have a president who grasps how tough it will be to make progress - and I am becoming more confident we will have a president who will try to make that progress a reality.
UPDATE: I fiddled with one of my pics from the rally, and made it into an artsy kind of image for my desktop. You can download it here if you'd like to do the same. It depicts not just Obama, but the massive crowd - and in that, it is more a picture of democracy, than of an individual candidate.
UPDATE II: For those who want to try to make their own poster version of the photo I took, here's the raw photo (it's cropped from a larger photo). Good luck - and feel free to post your version and then link to it in the comments for everyone.
The quote is out there that in politics sometimes the man chooses the time but in the case of Obama, time has chosen the man. So many things are possible with him as our leader, but he's correct when he says that we each have to do our part . This is our election and the people are determined to have change. If you haven't seen him speak and he's coming to your city, please try to be there. His speech was a historic and soulful moment to be a part of . I don't want to sound too gushy but when he spoke in Omaha, you could feel in the crowd the camaraderie, the patriotism, the passion and compassion, and dare I say the love? It felt right.
We need Obama more than ever. How can there ever be a Palin VP? Doesn't that alone send chills down your spine? And BTW....where are her medical records that she promised last week? What is she hiding?????? Any suggestions to find out or post about it?
I am most moved by the remarks Barack added to the speech... reading them flat on a screen made me cry. I can only imagine him delivering those words in person. Whew! He doesn't think change will be easy, but he does believe it is possible. I think he emodies that pioneer spirit, and that hard-working visionary immigrant spirit - both of which made America strong.
I am an expat who is prouder of America every day with this man leading the way.
His words may be inspirational but I'm more concerned with his actions.
I am so excited we are (crossing fingers because I'm superstitious) about to elect him President.
So happy to see the turnout there in the spot where I once saw Pat Schroeder speak.
My mother, who lives there, voted last week for Obama. This year she attended a caucus for the first time in her life to support Sen. Clinton. My hat is off to the NY senator for that alone. Both HRC and BHO have done much to energize people of all stripes.
I am truly proud to be an American. Can't wait to vote next week.
if obama wins, he will represent 100%.
the choice is simple.
And I believe we must keep three things foremost in our minds: Obama & Co. are not the Messiah & Angels. What Obama will bring to the table is not only a brilliant and rational steadiness, he will bring something we haven't seen in generations: a president whose aim is not to screw mainstream America in favor of the rich and make you love it. Obama will attempt to distribute the pain and the rewards in the coming years as fairly as American reality will permit; Obama is not a mendacious leader, but a principled one.
The second thing to remember is that Obama is not an ideologue: we liberals-progressives-leftties will do well not to shoot ourselves in the foot by lambasting Obama every time he veers from "our agenda".
Barack's greatest strengths are his decency and pragmatism; let him govern with tearing him apart with our "orthodoxy". Provide him with gentle and insistant proding; he is not our enemy, he is our hope. Which leads me to my third, and final, point.....
His 50-state ground game of volunteers, in numbers beyond our wildest dreams, must keep active to provide ongoing support for an Obama presidency; mark my words, Obama will encounter fierce opposition from the rich and the powerful. We must be a witness for, and with, an Obama presidency far beyond election day. Let's keep this movement alive!
Obama/Biden 08/12...It'll take that long!