Obama in Kansas City - pictures

[proud2BlibKansan]

Wow what an experience.

I have been to lots of political rallies. KC generally gets several visits from the presidential candidates since MO is so often a swing state. I can remember seeing Kerry, Gore, Clinton and Dukakis here. But this rally today was, as my friend said, historic. Kerry appeared just a block from where Obama was and the crowd didn't even compare. That was a huge crowd, Obama's crowd was immense and just overwhelming.

I have never seen so many people at a political rally in my life. Our newspaper said "thousands" but that is not even close. We guessed at least 50,000.

I got there 2 hours before the gates were to open and the line was already 3 blocks long.






Met up with my friend Jim who ended up taking most of these pictures since he was tall enough to hold up the camera and get the shots. Thank you Jim!!




While we were in line I couldn't help but notice that not one person yelled anything inappropriate, no one had any little stuffed animals and other than being excited about hearing Barack Obama, the crowd was actually pretty calm. I even took my video camera and went around talking to people, trying to get on tape something, anything to compare to the lines at the McCain/Palin rallies. But I struck out. My video is too boring to post. Darn.

My friend told me that he saw a guy drive by who was holding a sign out of his window that said
I AM DAVE THE DRYWALL GUY AND I AM VOTING FOR OBAMA
I so wish I had gotten a picture of that. LOL

I did get a picture of this sign though.




After 90 minutes of being in line and going through security, we were finally in the park in front of the stage. It was still 3 hours before Obama was to speak and we were packed in like sardines. But I felt safe cause these guys were there.




Also had to take a picture of this, the big repuke law firm in town. I sure hope some of them were watching from their windows, looking at all those Democrats gathered in the park on a beautiful Saturday.




Finally after becoming best friends with all the people around us, (we had a lot of time to get to know each other), the program started. The wonderful 5th district congressman from MO, Emanuel Cleaver, was our first speaker.




Susan Montee, MO State Auditor (she replaced Claire McCaskill when Claire ran for Senate).




Our wonderful KS governor, Kathleen Sebelius, was loudly cheered when she came on stage.






Then the man of the hour. He was great, talked right away about the Mizzou and KU football games being played yesterday and our intense inter-state rivalry. And he related that to our need to come together as Americans and get through the tough times ahead. Then he brought up the Chiefs and their coach and the crowd booed. (That was pretty funny, since the Chiefs really do suck.) Anyway I was impressed that he had done his homework and worked right away to relate to the crowd.


















He spoke for around 30 minutes and was of course, fabulous. On the way out, the crowd was happy and enthused. Again, no inappropriate remarks. I didn't even get my video camera out. My friend said as he left, an African American woman he had been standing near said to him "No offense, but I am amazed to see so many white folks here, This is great." And since KC is a very racially divided community, that was great.

And here is coverage from our local paper: http://www.kansascity.com/703/story/847604.html

[democracy1st]

1. great pics thanks for sharing K & R

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Thanks - just noticed I am competing with Colin Powell LOL

[roguevalley]

48. that cloud looked like an angel or a white dove. wonderful.

[Hope And Change]

3. Thank you for sharing these great pics.K & R!

[REP]

4. ...except for Emmanual Cleaver, great to see pics of my hometown!

I was there for the Flush Creek debacle and other Clever missteps (hell, I as there for most of my life) so I'll disagree with the "wonderful," but it is nice to see my hometown and if I recall correctly, the WDAF tower.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Have you ever heard him speak?

I love him and think he is a wonderful congress rep. He's very progressive and has even signed the resolution to stop voting for war funding. I know he had some missteps as mayor, but he is a FABULOUS congressman. And Brush Creek is now beautiful. (For that matter, you should see what Kay Barnes did to downtown - it's amazing!)

And hey have you heard about the idiot who is mayor now?

That is the old channel 5 tower, now KCPT. WDAF is further west but not far from Penn Valley Park.

[Onlooker]

5. Those are great photos

They really captured the moment. Thanks for posting.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Thanks Onlooker!

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Oops forgot to add something

While we were standing in line, a woman came walking by handing out campaign lit from her husband who is running for Congress against Emanuel Cleaver. I shouted out "He's a republican" and the woman shouted back "But he is a GOOD man."

Still laughing about that.

Besides, running against Cleaver? He is much loved here, he was KC mayor before running for Congress. As the political reporter at our paper said, it's hard to beat a guy who has a boulevard named after him.

[RayOfHope]

7. Thx for the report! 2 of my friends here in Spfld hopped in the car a the last minute

of course they didn't get in, but LOVED every minute of it. They were supposed to pick up a tshirt for me, hope they didn't forget.

I love the evening lights in those shots. The line shots are wonderful too.

And Lathrop and Gage. EW. They have an office down here, I spit every time I drive by.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. I bought a shirt

It has the Obama logo and says

THAT ONE

Hear ya on Lathrop and Gage. :puke:

[PA Democrat]

9. Great pictures! Thanks for posting them along with your impressions.

The difference in the temperament of the candidates seems to trickle down to their supporters, doesn't it?

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. It really does

I was even egging people on in my video. But no one would yell 'terrorist' or 'kill him'.

I also noticed when Obama brought up McCain, no one even booed.

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. You mean no one was yelling "off with his head"? lol.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. And we even tried to get someone to yell that!

LOL

[babylonsister]

11. You took some great pix, proud. Thanks for sharing! Rec'd! nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Got a new camera for my birthday

Used the telephoto lens for the first time yesterday. The pics are amazing, considering how far back we were standing.

[Saturday]

13. Great pictures, thanks for posting them. nt

[1corona4u]

15. LOL love that sign; "vote for Steve"...

:rofl:

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. That was my favorite too

But I wish I had gotten one of the guy with the sign that said

I AM DAVE THE DRYWALL GUY
AND I AM VOTING FOR OBAMA

:rofl:

[1corona4u]

23. LOL....that would have been great...

[Neecy]

17. great photos!

And a couple more points - notice how Funkhouser was nowhere to be seen? And I was really kind of embarrassed when the crowd loudly booed Herm Edwards.

You're right in how terrific it was that this event brought the whole community together. Everyone was chatting with everyone and the vibe was amazing. My feet still hurt but it was worth it!

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Funkhouser is an idiot

He claims to be a Dem and wanted to be a super delegate. Then he talked about hiring Jeff Roe (for non KCers, he's our local Karl Rove).

And when I think that our DFA group even voted to endorse him!! (I was the lone vote for Alvin Brooks)

[Neecy]

21. I think he's just frackin' nuts - and his wife, too

Speaking of Alvin Brooks - we were registering voters in south Kansas City a couple of weekends ago and Alvin stopped by to thank us for our efforts. He's truly one of the good guys. He's almost too nice to be a Kansas City politician.

And hey! I bought a new lawn sign at the rally to replace the one that was filched last week. A great day all around.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Someone knocked on our door Friday and gave us 4 Obama buttons!

They were going around the neighborhood handing out buttons to folks who had signs in their yards. I thought that was pretty neat.

I am so glad you were able to replace your sign. I was worried they would have no more.

When I was going down SWTraffway yesterday, I noticed a big Obama sign at the corner of Valentine and someone had drawn a big red circle over it with a line across it.

[Jeanette in FL]

22. WTG, Proud

Awesome pictures and great commentary.

I can feel your excitement!

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Hey Jeannette!

How are you? :hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07tAN0Ov_dI&feature=user

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny7Uz4RBQ18

[Cybergata]

28. Most Excellent Pics! n/t

[Cybergata]

29. Most Excellent Pics! n/t

[Cha]

30. From a White Folk..those pics were beyond

Awesome, proud2Blib!! I feel like I'm almost there with some of these photo journalist essays from DUers:bounce: :toast: :patriot:

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. Yes there have been some great pics posted

This has been a fun campaign.

[Cha]

35. I like this guy's shirt a lot..

Maybe in something green..B-)

[MarthaMyDear]

37. I REALLY like that shirt! (*starts Googling "orange Obama shirt"*)

[Cha]

38. I found this and they donate 50 % to the Obama campaign

I've gotten shirts from American Apparel before but didn't know they were so Progressive! Thanks for making me look..I googled Obama Sun ShirtsB-)

http://www.projecthope08.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=23&gclid=CI-NjpmftJYCFQIWFQod3SdALw

Check this out!
http://skreened.com/mg/obama-sun

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. That's the Kansans for Obama shirt!

Isn't it neat?

[Cha]

47. Yes.. every State should

have their own "For Obama Shirt"!

I know I'll be wearing Obama statement shirts right on down through the years.

[Phx_Dem]

31. 75,000 people in Kansas City, after getting 100,000 in St. Louis!

That's a mindblower.

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. It really is.

[VolcanoJen]

32. Fantastic! THANK YOU!!!!

I love rally reports!!! And Pie!!!!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

:yourock:

[Thrill]

36. So what? This isn't REAL Missouri

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. Huh?

[Thrill]

45. LOL. A dig at the McCain aide who said Northern VA isn't REAL VA

[proud2BlibKansan]

46. Oh gotcha

LOL

[loyalsister]

39. Awesome

Nice job on the pics!
:thumbsup:
What a great piece of history to be a part of!

[blogslut]

40. Great job!

Good pics. Good stuff!

[MagickMuffin]

41. Thx for the pics and commentary

and Thx for sharing:hug:

I :loveya: Jim's t-shirt, did he have it made?.?.?

I want one, of course I want a long sleeve black shirt.

[proud2BlibKansan]

44. It's the Kansans for Obama official t-shirt

Cool, isn't it?

[BrklynLiberal]

49. K & R for the late class....

:thumbsup: :hi: