Also see: Presidential Crowd Comparison and associated links within.
"Last dash toward the prize; McCain, Obama woo pivotal states for today's voting" by Scott Helman and Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff | November 4, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - McCain raced defensively through a series of states President Bush won in 2004. Obama, sobered by his 86-year-old grandmother's death early yesterday, finished with three rallies in Republican bastions - Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia - that reflected his push to expand the Democrat map.
At his first rally, in front of more than 9,000 people at Jacksonville's Veterans Memorial Arena, Obama hammered McCain anew for saying, in the same setting on Sept. 15, that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong."
In any other recent presidential contest, it would be impossible to imagine a Democratic candidate spending the eve of the election in North Carolina, which last voted for a Democratic presidential candidate 32 years ago, and Virginia, which last did so 44 years ago. But polls suggest Obama has a shot at winning both states, and he hoped a final exclamation point might make the difference.
Yesterday evening, Obama revved up about 25,000 supporters on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte who braved pouring rain to hear his last-minute appeals. "I know it's a little drizzly and you've been standing here getting wet," he said. "That's all right - you worth it!" a woman screamed back.
Yeah, that HAPPENED BEFORE! And McCain cancelled!!
Of the 20 events Obama held in the final full week of campaigning, just one - a rally outside Philadelphia a week ago - was in a state that Democrat John F. Kerry won in 2004. The rest were in the traditional battlegrounds of Florida and Ohio, but also newly competitive Colorado, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia.
The capstone of Obama's almost two years of campaigning was a late-night rally in Manassas, Va., outside Washington, D.C., in Prince William County, which Bush won by 7 percentage points in 2004. Obama, seeming to soak up every minute of his final rally, asked 90,000 people - many of whom had waited hours to see him - to show the same grit and determination today. "It starts here in Virginia," he said, to roars from the crowed. "This is where change begins."
Holy shit!!! McCain NEVER gets those crowds, nor do they WAIT to see him!!!
McCain, who has followed a lighter schedule than Obama, approached the last tour of his nearly 18-month campaign as a chance to catch up with a grueling seven-state swing yesterday.
The look of a LOSER!!
He asserted confidence about his chances today in the face of what polls suggest are long odds. "There's just one day left until we take America in a new direction," McCain told a raucous, salsa-paced midnight rally in Miami alongside actor Kelsey Grammer and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback.
So WHAT does McCain know that we don't readers? Which states are going to be stolen!!! Which path is he gonna take?
From there, he launched a 20-hour fly-around covering a range of political terrain, from Tampa, a booming coastal metropolis rich in suburban independents to Prescott, the old territorial capital of his native Arizona, a state that has become competitive in the campaign's closing weeks.
Where are the CROWD numbers?
Fueled by coffee and fried chicken, McCain grew both hoarse and punchier as his long day went on. "Joe Lieberman and Joe the plumber are the best!" he exulted at one point.
Pffft!
With the exception of Pennsylvania, all the states where McCain campaigned yesterday voted for Bush in 2004. He is expected to visit another, Colorado, while voters are at the polls today. In a radio interview yesterday, Obama said he was calm, befitting a candidate ahead in the polls.
"I feel pretty peaceful, I gotta say," he said on the "Russ Parr Morning Show." "Because my attitude is if we've done everything we can do, then it's up to the people to decide. And the question is going to be who wants it more. And I hope that our supporters want it bad, because I think the country needs it." --more--"
By jove, I think he's got it!!!
More crowds for Obama:
"Obama's grandmother dies of cancer at 86; Candidate halted campaign to visit her in Hawaii" by Scott Helman, Globe Staff | November 4, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - "Look, she has gone home," Obama, his eyes welling up and his voice thick with emotion, told a crowd of 25,000 at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte last night. "She died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side. And so there's great joy, as well as tears. I'm not going to talk about it too long, because it's hard to talk about."
"She's one of those quiet heroes we have all across America," he said. "They're not famous. Their names aren't in the newspapers. But each and every day they work hard. That's what America is about. That's what we're fighting for." --more--"
Is he talking about me, too, readers? Sure sounds like it!!
I'm here 8+ hours everyday!
