Thousands turned away at OBAMA rally today! 17,000 seats filled to capacity!

[peoli]

Officials closed the entrances to KeyArena at about 11 this morning, turning away thousands who had gathered to see Barack Obama.

Thousands of Obama supporters had snaked through Seattle Center, lining up outside KeyArena where the Democratic presidential candidate was scheduled to speak about noon.

Lines began forming before 6 a.m. An Obama campaign volunteer said KeyArena's capacity for the speech was about 17,000.

Those in line before the doors closed had high hopes of getting in.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004171983_webobama08m.html

[AtomicKitten]

1. Wow.

[Flabbergasted]

10. Took the words out of my mouth.

[Enrique]

2. bad planning

I can no longer support Obama.

[hogwyld]

9. Obviously it was bad planning

They should have reserved Quest Field which holds up to 72,000

[Renew Deal]

12. No worse than running out of money in the middle of an election.

:shrug:

[boricua79]

36. hahaha...that's a good one

THe nerve of that guy for not anticipating record breaking crowds!

[Teaser]

3. I'm in before the Sun Myung Moon comparisons...

.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. lol ! Hey, if they want to call me a cultist - so be it - I'm a Cultist !

[Teaser]

29. I'm one of you dude...I also bear the sacred brand

A tiny O, burned into the palm of my left hand.

[hedgehog]

4. What time was the rally scheduled to start? nt

[peoli]

5. 11am

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. This is SO damn exciting ! Can't wait till he comes to TX. I just

can't remember feeling so damn good about a candidate in a very, very long time !

It is just what people are yearning for and it makes me think, personally, that I will finally rid myself of all the bitter hatred I've been carrying for 7 years !

[gateley]

30. I'm so excited he's in Seattle! And I'm not even in Seattle and I'm not even

an Obama supporter! I'm just happy for his supporters there, because Seattle is where my heart is.

I hope we get lots of pics!

[Whisp]

34. first time in 7 years for me too.

I dare hope, I am actually excited and pumped about this race.

I would never have believed this just a couple weeks ago - how Obama has impressed me so much of late - but what really impresses me are the numbers he is drawing - I just love big crowds all excited and yelling. :)

[LisaM]

7. Rally is scheduled for 11:00, they warned people to get there early

I waited outside quite a while at the Hillary rally last night. Both events were scheduled at almost the last minute.

I'm a bit curious who the 17,000 people who can leave in the middle of day to go to a rally are, though I imagine a lot are from U-W.

[peoli]

14. well people can call in sick to work or school, ya know?

[LisaM]

38. I don't call in sick unless I AM sick.

I don't know what kind of parents you had, but mine raised me a bit differently, apparently. We are shorthanded at work and they need me. I've worked in my job for almost 8 years and I had one (legitimate) sick day.

[RoadRage]

Yesterday in Nebraska - 10,000 showed up at our Arena..

The Rally was suppose to start at 5pm (didn't actually start 'till 6pm) and people began lining up at 11:00am.

Most of the people lined up were in their 20's - 30's.. quite a few college kids.. even more boomers.

Many just got permission to sneak out of work by 2:30pm like My husband & I did.. and i'm glad we did!

[gateley]

32. Where was Hillary's rally held? Thanks.

[LisaM]

37. It was at Pier 30 at 8:00 last night

South end of the waterfront, opposite of the SoDo building. I suppose getting a last minute venue isn't that easy (there are a lot of events at night) and you cannot get there on public transportation - given the number of women who attended, that was a major issue, since I was coming from work and had to arrange something. Obama's venue is easily accessible by transit, luckily.

[COFoothills]

11. Wow!

He's gonna win Washington big I think.

[CalebHayes]

13. GObama!

[kentuck]

15. He's a rock star.

What more can we say? :-)

[gateley]

35. Key Arena (then called the Coliseum) was where I saw The Beatles, Led Zeppelin,

Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, The Yardbirds, and a LOT more I can't remember. So he's in rock star surroundings!

[msedano]

16. one seat + one ass = filled to capacity

i enjoy your headline, poster, thank you for the amusement.

it's great to see so many folks turning out to see and hear a candidate. let's hope (a) this demonstrates their commitment to a candidate with a "D", and (2) when the november election arrives they bring their family and friends.

[TexasObserver]

17. Meanwhile, 50 people at a Rotary Club in Rockport heard Bill.

I keed, but he's not drawing crowds like O, and neither is Hillary.

[K Gardner]

18. Meanwhile, Hillary's rally is getting exclusive live coverage on MSNBC. Saw nothing of Obama

yesterday OR today. Then there was the bio last night of Hillary. I'm starting to get pissed.

[MadBadger]

20. They showed Obama little today earlier speaking at his Alternative Energy Event.

[K Gardner]

24. I saw that. She's on CNN and MSNBC and has been for a long time, slamming Obamas healthcare

plan. Yelling and pointing her finger. If they're going to cover one, they need to cover the other.

[MadBadger]

27. Saying Obama says no we wont, and she will say Yes We Can!

Real Original Hill.

[LisaM]

39. "Yes We Can" has been the farmworkers' slogan for decades

And they endorsed Hillary, so not sure why Obama stole their slogan. They won't say anything because if he is in the GE they will endorse him, but it's certainly not an original slogan to Obama!

[Drunken Irishman]

26. Wait and see when the rally starts. I don't think Obama has started speaking yet.

If they closed doors at 11, that was only 43 minutes ago there.

[K Gardner]

28. Ah, OK.. I just wrote MSNBC and CNN. Not that they care :-)

[Drunken Irishman]

31. Looks like CNN will go to it after the break!

WHAT A CROWD!

[woolldog]

33. It doesn't matter

What matters is the local coverage he's getting in the Washington area...and Nebraska....and Louisiana, which is huge.

[K Gardner]

40. LOL... heh, I forget about those LOCAL people.. :-) thanks !

[SeattleGirl]

19. Wow.

I was going to go, but woke up with a bad cold this morning (I'm hoping for a 24 hour cure, because I'm supposed to caucus tomorrow).

I was going to get there about 9:00, but from what that article says, I probably wouldn't have gotten in.

[CalebHayes]

21. I went and saw the Foo Fighters with Weezer there ... and they didn't fill it!

Obama is bigger than U2! - cult member

[1776Forever]

22. Hooray for the Change Washington Movement - GObama GO!!!!

:patriot:

[scheming daemons]

23. Clinton supporters spin: Uppity Obama excludes thousands from his revival meeting...

...

[fenriswolf]

25. so if they had to turn people away

I guess their were no empty seats right?