Barack Obama
February 9th, 2008
Jarrod, Blaine and I went to the Obama rally today at Key Arena in Seattle. 18,000 people were there and 3,000 got turned away. Really intense atmosphere. Senator Clinton was also here in Seattle today and had a smaller rally and town hall/luncheon of her own, but I heard that you had to pay to go to that.
It was really fascinating to see the Obama campaign team pass out two types of signs: the first set of signs were professionally made, like the ones you see in the photograph above. The other set looked like they had been made by a group of overly excited junior high cheerleaders. It was obvious that they wanted the television viewers to think that the people in the crowd brought their own homemade signs.
Washington’s caucuses are tomorrow. It will be interesting to see the results. I have my own theories and hopes as to which way it goes. I love politics.
I haven’t typically put political views here, but I will say state a theory: If Barack Obama gets the nomination then I don’t think the Republican Party has much of a chance. If Senator Clinton gets the bid then I believe that McCain might win. We shall see. I could be, and most likely am, very wrong.
did you wear your Hillary ‘08 shirt?
ha. i have the same theory myself. i sure would’ve loved to go to the rally. the fake “home-made” signs, though… kinda lame.
we shall see.
well let me ask you guys since i am not in the states anymore and i cannot investigate americans, what do you think would be better for the us, i mean which of the candidates .. who would you prefer?
looks like you guys had fun. haha. i’m so excited about this election!
I want to like this man Obama so badly but not sure on some of his issues–in particular the pro-life stance…
Help me make sense of this Obama hype.
Bright Eyes opened his rally here in Omaha the other day…crazy stuff.
I agree with the prediction, which is only one of the reasons why I support Obama. Next to that.. the man is a dreamer and an amazing speaker both are presidential qualities that I’ve only read about in books or seen played back on old scratchy film.
As far as his pro-life stance goes this is how I feel. How many lives have been lost under president Bush? Between the soldier’s and civilian’s (children, pregnant woman, fathers, mothers) lives lost in the war and the slashing of human service organizations in the united states I would guess millions (that’s a conservative estimate). It just doesn’t seem very “pro-life” to me. On another note, making it illegal while refusing to give sex ed in schools, and cutting human services to *help* people who are desperately needing help, will only exacerbate the problem and take it off the books. I do not support abortion.. I just would rather have it stay legal and *watch* the numbers drop when we teach people how to not get pregnant and then give them legitimate assistance if they do.
ok.. sorry so long. I just felt like I needed to respond. :o)
fake plastic trees.. err fake homemade signs.. agreed.. extremely tacky.
How amazing that must have been to take part in that small piece of history (regardless of political views). Like everyone else, though, I’m not quite sure how I feel about those homemade signs…
Not my choice of rallies, given the two options, but it looks like you had a good time.
I’m sure you’re not trying to incite a political discussion on here (well, an inflammatory one, anyway) so I’ll be reserved. :)
I can’t get behind someone so glaringly inexperienced for the most powerful position in the free world, simply because he has good speech writers. 2 years in national politics does not qualify you, in my opinion. He’s playing on people’s emotions with nothing to back it up and his arrogance overwhelms me. I’m genuinely *scared* by the thought of him being elected, for reasons I will not go into. I am a die-hard, staunch Democrat, but I will not vote for him if he wins the nomination. I’m at a loss for what I’ll do, because I will not vote Republican, either.
I don’t entirely agree with your theory, either, but that’s ok. :)
I thought this Obama video was powerful:
http://my.barackobama.com/yeswecan
A couple of positives for Obama, imho. (1) He has said that if he doesn’t win the election this time, he would not run again b/c after 8 more years he would be too entrenched in the DC system to make change. And (2) his response at the SC primary debate, re: battling Republicans on National Defense not being the true issue (being agents of Peace in the world is) was brilliant.
I’ve voted Republican my whole life (I know - don’t rag on me) - but that is about to change.
I agree with Emily.
I just totally agree with her.
And…though I am not in the US I read a lot about what is going on there….and just REALLY hope that (alluding your theory, Joshua) there will be no Republican president after this election.
EMILY! Word up yo! Pro-choice is NOT necessarily pro-abortion, and pro-life is not limited to reproductive rights. Pro-life extends to foreign affairs, health care, and economics as well because life and death are matters of war, medical care, and financial access. It just goes to show that there are more complex perspectives behind labels such as “pro-life” or “pro-choice”. Behind every label is a story, and the reasons people choose to claim such labels are so vast.
And, also, as a veteran of political rallies, it’s relatively standard fare for a campaign–republican, democrat, or other party–to distribute signs that look home-made when in reality aren’t. Consider it rolling up the shirtsleeves of the masses…
so the blockquotes didn’t work… sorry ’bout that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fZHou18Cdk
obama’s artsy cred
Looks like you had great seats. Is that the wall behind you? As in, the wall that supports the rafters.
what if the homemade signs were, in fact, made by overly excited junior high cheerleaders (or what have you) as a show of support for the campaign… maybe the daughter of some richity-rich contributor… and the Obama camp couldn’t very well toss them in a dumpster with a “yeah, thanks. these are tacky.” it’s a stretch, but I’m just saying that maybe there were other forces at work besides blatant posing.
thats awesome.
i got to see mr. obama in 2006 at the world aids summit at saddleback. he was great.
I think your theory’s right on the money. If the Dems want to win this election they have to put up Obama, not Hillary.
I’m not real excited about any of my options, but my vote doesn’t matter since I started living in Indiana. I miss living in a politically important state!
Ouch Melody! I live in Indiana! Now I’m sadder than ever about that. :(
At least we’ve got pretty scenery?
I live in Philadelphia but I’m registered to vote in MI… talk about not counting! :o(
As one who volunteered for Obama in Iowa, I can assure you that it is not only possible, but likely, that those homemade signs were made by enthusiastic volunteers. I was recently in California, where I also volunteered, and campaign materials such as yard signs, buttons, flyers were much harder to come by. The Obama campaign does a marvelous job of keeping it’s volunteers involved and enthusiastic. Hence, homemade rally signs.
Obama can beat McCain. Hillary can’t.
I agree that Obama has a better chance at beating John McCain, and that is the reason I am against Obama winning the nomination. I won’t go into detail, but with the issue of taxes, there is no doubt in my mind that taxes will rise the first couple of months that Obama is president.
Also in response to Emily, roughly 6,000 men and woman have died in Iraq. 10 times more people have died from car accidents then those in Iraq.
I believe pulling out of Iraq could be one of the worst things ever done in the history of this country. Just like when Bill Clinton pulled out of Vietnam, the proven reason for 9/11, that proves that we cannot let that happen again.
And one more thing… I agree that we should encourage abstinence and adoption in every circumstance, but the only reason abortion is alive is not because of young teenagers getting pregnant, it is those middle-aged woman who have had children already that are having abortions… If abortion wasn’t legal, back-ally abortions would not be only killing the baby, but a lot of the time killing the mother also. So I believe it is the right of Americans to protect woman and the babies. So I am pro-life, not because I am a “Conservative Christian,” more moderate, if you might ask. But I believe that as a Christian, and because of proof from history, if our morals do not change as a people, our nation will end. That will be the cause of the end of America, not the economy falling because president Bush has spent to much money in Iraq. War causes freedom, and freedom is a price to pay.
@Stephen:
“it is those middle-aged woman who have had children already that are having abortions…”
Careful. Those are very, very strong words, and they say more about you than you are probably willing to reveal.
[...] blogger Joshua Longbrake writes about his experience at an overcrowded, spirited Obama rally in Seattle earlier this month. He has this [...]
I dont know how I feel about all of this.
I haven’t involved myself too much in the political realm as of late, but I really don’t want either Hillary or Obama to win.
I’m leaning towards Mccain.
I don’t know.
I Definitely do not want Hillary AT ALL to win.
I really think she is a really, uh, evil person.
I just really feel this bad vibe about her.
Anyway, political discussions are fun sometimes, but sometimes it really divides people sometimes.
You know what I mean?
That’s just how I feel about that.