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McCain, Palin Draw Surprisingly Small Crowds In Ohio
John McCain and Sarah Palin crisscrossed Ohio over the weekend, appearing at multiple rallies that drew surprisingly small crowds -- especially taking into account the GOP candidates brought with them the star power of 9/11 hero Rudy Giuliani, movie idol Arnold Schwarzenegger, and country music headliner Gretchen Wilson.
On Friday, former New York mayor Giuliani stumped for McCain at a school gymnasium in Hanoverton, a reliably Republican rural community in northeastern Ohio. Speaking to several hundred people, America's 9/11 spokesman told the small crowd that Barack Obama's policies would be "disastrous."
In Columbus the same day, McCain tried to leverage the political wattage of Schwarzenegger, governor of California, to reach out to Ohio independents. But together the two men barely filled half of the same hockey arena that George W. Bush packed with 20,000 people on the eve of his re-election four years ago.
On Sunday morning, vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke in Canton following a warm-up performance by Grammy winner Gretchen Wilson, a popular singer who has had five singles in the Top Ten on the Billboard country charts, including her #1 hit Redneck Woman. Despite the free admission, the crowd at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse in northeastern Ohio was estimated at just 3,000.
On Sunday afternoon, Palin and Wilson teamed up again, this time in southeastern Ohio. The vice-presidential candidate promised the crowd of 5,000 at Marietta College that her ticket "will not let Obama kill the coal industry. Instead, we'll make clean coal a reality."
That evening Palin wore a buckeye necklace threaded through a green jacket when she spoke to a raucous crowd of 3,500 inside an airport hangar at Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus. By comparison, Barack Obama spoke to a crowd estimated at 60,000 people in Columbus earlier that day. His supporters crowded the west lawn outside the Ohio statehouse, spilling over into the blocked-off streets around the capitol building.
Later on Sunday, Obama spoke to a crowd estimated at 80,000 in Cleveland, where long lines of supporters hoping to see the candidate -- and superstar singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen -- snaked for blocks around Malls A, B and C in the city's downtown.
On Sunday evening, the Democratic presidential candidate spoke to about 20,000 supporters under the lights in Nippert Stadium at the University of Cincinnati in southwestern Ohio. This was Obama's final stop in the Buckeye State before Election Day.
In north central Ohio, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden drew crowds of about 2,000 in Marion and Bowling Green over the weekend. Unpretentious Biden was working as a solo act with no celebrities in tow.
These rallies -- and others like those in Florida today -- demonstrate a significant enthusiasm gap when it comes to the two tickets. Ohio is a must-win for McCain, but it is Obama supporters who are voting convincingly with their feet.
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I hope and pray for your country's success!
Crowds don't equal votes. We need to -- all day -- remind everyone to get out & do their thing!!!!!!
No long lines in my precinct here in Ohio. No glitches.
I voted for Obama today in Southern Az and I was in a line of Obama voters!
what is surprising?
time for Sarah to go home...it is moose hunting season...my son in law has been out every weekend....
Does she not answer "the call of the wild"
What is going on? 160,000 in Ohio for BO! God Bless America!
over a hundred thousand people here in st louis missouri at the gateway arch downtown 2 weeks ago!! i didnt go and no one i know went and we are all obama supporters!!! my wife and i already voted obama cause were old and cannot stand in line but this old man is predicting a LANDSLIDE BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WONT GET FOOLED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!
Voting is the key... The info age will asist, as it did in Tienanmen Square...
A 1965 Voting Rights Act national radio spot informing the public about CHANGE... w/ a Motown beat.
http://current.com/items/89434265_obama_2008_things_are_changing
Must be the weather... Winds are blowing for Obama!
MCCAIN /PALIN should ask OBAMA to teach them how to be a community organizer. They would learn a lot. The people are tired of all the negativity. Maybe MCCAIN/PALIN will get the message after it is all over, when PALIN is in Alaska , and MCCAIN has retreated to the old soildier's home.
I really think we need to reconsider the true meaning of hero. It was mentioned in the article in reference to Rudy Giulani and also John McCane. Were they true heroes or were they just doing their jobs? I believe the word hero is overused and misused. A hero is someone who goes above and beyond his duty to help another human being (or animal in the case of firemen who rescue not only people but pets from burning buildings.) Heroism is more like what makes the person extraordinary; it is not about taking the full measure of credit for what others have done before you. There were so many other men in POW camps; yes, they were brave but John McCane, just because he was there with them, does not deserve the distinction of being a hero any more than they do. I come from a military family of Marines, consider myself patriotic and find the pandering of calling people heros when they may not necessarily be one, really kind of wrong.
linzy,
McCain is a HERO.... Guiliani is a HERO...
don't discount their service....
now THEY ARE TRYING TO BANK ON THEIR HEROISM
McCain is a hero. Guiliani is NOT - he is a disgrace to my city.
What's the surprise? Who jumps on the bandwagon of a loser.
The Mac ain't back. Get ready to say goodbye johnny and all the worse for wear with no soul left, your dignity flushed down the toilet and your reputation more soiled than the Depends you likely wear.
McCain and Palin only spreads hate. They divide America. Barack wants to bring us all together in unity. Barack wants to bring back the GOOD TIMES when we all had money. We diden't half to choose
if we should buy peanut butter or bologna.
tail gate tomorrow, make it a party take shifts standing in line for bathroom breaks. the rethugs can't win...not this time, not this time!!!!!
I think people are just sick and tired and tired and sick of all the negative speeches coming from the rethug campaign. They have worn out their welcome on the voters and that's the end of it! Good Riddance!!!
It's not over yet guys. I have a really bad feeling.......
You are right, its not over yet. But this is a good sign. That bad feeling is why we have to get out and vote tomorrow. We have to stand in line as long as it takes. It has to be done or we will have 4 more years of McBush.
http://billmel8er.wordpress.com
Put your "concern" into action. There is still plenty of work to do. Gi ti barackobama dot com and do something.
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