I attended the campaign kick-off rally back in May, and it was my privilege to attend President Barack Obama's final Ohio campaign rally yesterday afternoon. There was an estimated crowd of 15,500 according to the news reports. The crowd was enthusiastic and very patient with all of the delays. I arrived at Nationwide Arena just before 2 pm, but the doors opened at noon, and there was a crowd waiting in line from the early morning hours onward.
Fortunately, I had a campaign office ticket, which meant I didn't have to wait in a line, and I was able to work for much of the day before heading to the rally. I sat in section 119 and had a decent view of the stages, although I was slightly behind the stage where Bruce Springsteen and Jay Z did their sets.
I have been inspired by Barack Obama since I first heard his speech at the 2004 DNC. He has been a president who represents and cares about the majority of citizens in this great country of ours. He represents the demographic of current day USA, whether the conservative GOP pundits want to recognize that or not. When I look out on the audiences of Obama's rallies I see people from every ethnic and religious background, cheering him on and lending their energy to his campaign. When I look at the audiences for Romney and Ryan, I see a bunch of scared and angry old white men, but mostly I just see white skin color - a sea of it, with a lot of hateful messaging to go along with their support.
I've never seen so much spiteful hate in a campaign, and it starts with Fox News, carries on with Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter and Shawn Hannity. Why do people get sucked into this misinformation that is largely misogynistic, bigoted, racist, and full of hate-mongering? I just don't understand how any woman can vote for the GOP ticket when one of their main goals is to take away our rights.
As you can probably tell, I support Barack Obama for president. Whether you agree with me or not isn't relevant, but getting out to vote today is. Exercise your right to vote and please inform yourselves about the issues, the candidates, and the future before you hit that "vote" button.
Here are more pictures from yesterday's rally:
Obama's final Ohio campaign rally
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1 comment:
Great post, Andi. And thanks for the photos.
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