Want to boost your optimism? Look at this Kerry rally in Madison WI.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

John Kerry speaks to a crowd of more than 13,000 at the "Rally for a Stronger America" in Madison, Wisconsin.

Photographer: Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. from Sharon Farmer

[XanaDUer]

1. What a beautiful site.

Lovely!

[blm]

6. A sight that most of the media does NOT want America to see.

.

[XanaDUer]

15. Yup. Might give us ideas.

Eom.

[Only Me]

38. I Noticed that too. Shrub always shown in the media..

against a huge crowd and Kerry a small assembly somewhere. It has been that way from the start. And I guess the media thinks we don't notice this sort of thing. :crazy:

[mourningdove92]

2. Holy Shit.

They are packed in like sardines.

Thanks for sharing this. Poor disenfranchised Texan that I am, I attend these vicariously through these wonderful pictures posted by DU'ers

[sonicx]

3. rock concert! nt

[tedoll78]

4. Question..

will this run in any local newspapers there? Just the sight of a crowd of that size could subconsciously (but powerfully) influence voters there..

[LittleClarkie]

27. Madison is not a battle area

They are solidly liberal, and a college town to boot.

Still the sight gladens me heart.

[speedoo]

29. Turnout... Newly registered college kids....

Maybe even some statewide coverage.

We need all the positives we can get in Wisconsin.

[LittleClarkie]

31. Good point

Who knows how apathy affected us in 2000.

Don't look apathetic, do they.

Sorry. I've been preaching it. I gotta walk the talk.

Go Madison! Show us the way!

[RevCheesehead]

50. before assuming anything:

I was there with a friend. I'm a single 40+ woman, and we were remarking about the great diversity of the crowd. There were students, elderly, and everything in-between in that crowd. There were even buses of high-school kids there.

Madison is liberal, without a doubt. However, many of us travelled from far away to attend this rally (we drove from Green Bay area), and I know that this was not a "Madison-only" crowd.

Not to be picky, but Madison is not a college town, but a University city. (image is everything!)

[newsguyatl]

5. best pic ever

[sonias]

7. I love that picture

Wish I had been there. I'm not in a swing state so I won't see the next president of the U.S. until he's in office. What a sight!!

Sonia

[wuushew]

8. My mom and sister are somewhere in that crowd

I showed her the picture but she can't find herself yet.

[girl gone mad]

23. Where were you?

It looks like a giant warehouse.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

9. Holy shit is RIGHT!

DAYUM!!!!

[cindyw]

10. * winning Wisconsin my a**

Who cares what the polling says. Wisconsin is Kerry country.

[LittleClarkie]

28. City Kerry, Burbs Bush,

I'm in a Burbs Bush area. Help.

Who knows about the upper section. Underpopulated, it is. But his conservation stance could strike a cord there, but then again we gots lots of hunters.

Some people are saying that the fact that he mispronounced "Lambeau" as "Lambert" is having an effect.

Oh please. The fate of the free world hangs in the balance, and my fellow Wisconsinites may be hung up on a mispronounce. Who give a f***. I hope my neighbors aren't that stupid. The only ones I'd expect to feel that way would be ones who weren't voting for him anyway.

I still think it's gonna be a blow out, but we gotta get the vote out on Nov. 2.

[nomatrix]

34. I love that pic you have of Kerry the early years

is that from his site?

[LittleClarkie]

36. Nope

NYTimes, around the time of the RNC.

Copied it from their online edition. Also snipped out the hard copy, laminated it and put it in my wallet.

People can use my photobucket link if they like. Just right click on it and copy it out of the url. I have plenty of bandwidth on photobucket.

[Arkana]

54. If they were THAT hung up on mispronunciations

Then they sure as hell wouldn't vote for the English Strangler, would they?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

11. An addendum on the green "AFSCME" signs you see in the crowd

http://www.afscme.org/

"AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO"

This is HUGE, folks.



http://www.afscme.org/publications/political/peso0408.htm

Counting on Kerry

By Susan Holleran

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

It was the fall of 1997, and Sen. John Kerry had just addressed the Council 93 convention. As he left, he stopped to ask Betty King about the status of her workers' compensation claim. Told it had been denied, Kerry responded angrily, "You were injured on the job. You have a right to those benefits." He offered to help.

That Saturday, Kerry called to tell King that he was personally asking the U.S. Secretary of Labor to investigate. As a result, King's denial was overturned, and she was able to retire on disability.

Four years earlier, King had been a senior nursing assistant at Boston City Hospital, assigned to care for an abusive patient. He was assaulting her — punching her, throwing his urinal at her — and, although she kept asking for help, nothing was done. Finally, as she was checking his vital signs, he pushed the swinging TV at her. Jerking back just in time to keep it from hitting her head, she felt her neck snap. Ever since, she has lived with pain and deteriorating health. But her efforts to win workers' compensation benefits were stymied at every step.

King, who had always been a leader in Local 1489, and served as Council 93's recording secretary, deeply appreciated Kerry's actions. He knew what she was going through. And while other busy and famous folks might just sympathize, Kerry took immediate action. "That's just the kind of man he is," says King, who is now confined to a wheelchair. "I'll always support him. I've told the Senator, I'll do whatever I can to help him win this election."

[LittleClarkie]

37. Oh man,

There are some beautiful stories on that site. Thanks for the link!

[onecent]

12. Wow ought to send this to some CBS affiliates that didn't air 60 Min

n/t

[RevCheesehead]

13. I WAS THERE!!!

Yes, we WERE packed in like sardines. We couldn't see anything (I did glimpse Kerry's shirt and tie). The place was packed, loud, and full of energetic cheering and screaming!

This event was supposed to take place on the Capitol Square, but was moved indoors because of rain. The beautiful thing is that he promised to come back to Madison and hold a rally on the square. (The photo-op will be fantastic, since our capitol looks very much like the US Capitol!)

WI Capitol in Madison:


See related story from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/sep04/259115.asp

The Wisconsin State Journal has not yet posted a story, but I will add to this thread when it does.

By the way, it took us over 1-1/2 hours to get out of the parking lot!
And, I saw 3 Nader people there, begging us to "do the right thing." We, of course, laughingly told them "Nader is SO OVER. Time to cash it in and get on the winning side!"

:party: :party: :hippie: (hey, it's Madison!) :bounce: :toast: :party: :party: We're gonna win BIG!:bounce:

[RevCheesehead]

17. NOMINATE THIS PICTURE FOR HOME PAGE!!!!!!

[faithfulcitizen]

35. wow -nt

[NewYorkerfromMass]

20. I would have told those Nader asshats to to "do the right thing"

and vote for Kerry. Wake the fuck up Nader asshats!

[Lefta Dissenter]

21. I WAS TOO!!!

Did you see me there? Huh??? :bounce:

I've already posted a couple of times about it, so I won't repeat all that, but it really was great! I took my daughter and two of her friends.

There were numerous unions represented, and people ranging in age from 5 months to 84 years old (probably broader range than that, but that's the range of the people I knew there!)

It took me 45 minutes to get the 1/2 block from the overpass to the entry drive before the rally. But I had parked in a great spot, so I got out of there pretty quickly afterwards.

What a great time! I can't wait till he comes back! :D

edited to add: now that that picture has finally finished loading (I can't WAIT to get my cable internet next week...), I can say that the crowd was even huger than it shows there. I was to the left of what is shown in that photo, and it was totally packed wall to wall.

[RevCheesehead]

22. yeah, and I was on the other side (I no longer say "Right")

didn't you see me wave?

This photo doesn't even begin to show the size of the crowd!
And, again, please nominate this photo for the front page, and pass it along to your favorite media!

[Pluvious]

51. say whaaaa ?

"do the right thing."

What... Allow the election of Shrub, is the RIGHT thing ?

WTF they smoking ???

__________________
"I think the American people--I hope the American--I don't think, let me--I hope the American people trust me."
-George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2002

[Cronus Protagonist]

14. That pic has to choke in Rove's throat

He can't even get a small invite-only event to be that enthusiastic.


http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. Thanks, I needed this. n/t

[cheshire]

18. That is huge and indoors. OMG

[jean]

19. absolutely LOVE seeing Kerry w/o the podium - great to see him striding

around on that little stage!

[AgadorSparticus]

24. what a picture! i love seeing these images. we need to pass

this around to let people see the truth. nice job and thanks for posting this!

[democrat_patriot]

25. Holy crap - I see D*ick Chen*ey!!! Behind the guy in the black

t-shirt.

2nd row in the middle. Finger to lips.

He's flipping him off!!!

This pic is great! Go Kerry!!!


Hey everyone: We're gonna win this thing.

[RevCheesehead]

26. Story and Photo in WI State Journal

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=10234&ntpid=1


>snip<
Kerry spoke forcefully and without notes for about 30 minutes to the crowd, some of whom waited in the rain to get into Exhibition Hall. Warming up the audience was singer- songwriter Sheryl Crow, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk.

After taking the stage, Kerry tossed aside his blue blazer and rolled up his sleeves. Playing to the students in the crowd, Kerry threw in references to Badger football and drinking beer on Union Terrace, and he drew a large cheer when he talked about his proposal for a $4,000 tax credit to pay for college.

Kerry also promised, "I will be back - to the center of town," referring to his aborted plan to hold the rally on the Capitol Square. No date has been chosen for the return visit, said George Twigg, Kerry's Wisconsin spokesman.

About 20 protestors wearing large pink flip-flops on their backs stood several hundred yards from the Exhibition Hall. Their protest repeated a theme advanced by Bush backers that Kerry often changes his positions.

"I think it's important for people to understand that on the most important issues of the day, Kerry has a track record of being all over the map, and Iraq and the war on terrorism are prime examples," said Chris Lato, spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

In his speech, Kerry tried to turn the issue of decisiveness back onto the president.

"(Bush) runs around the country telling people that he makes big decisions," he said. "Well folks, it's not just making decisions. That's a requirement of being president. It's making the right decisions."

Kerry called the decision to invade Iraq without a large coalition of countries "disastrous," adding that the $200 billion spent on the war could be better used to provide health care and education. He blamed the president for running up "the largest deficits in the history of the nation," and he said 1.6 million jobs have been lost and 5 million people have lost health insurance during Bush's term.

>snip<

The decorated Navy veteran didn't mention the controversies surrounding his and Bush's military service during the Vietnam War, nor the fact that Vice President Dick Cheney got student deferrals to avoid service in Vietnam while studying at UW-Madison.

But Cieslewicz did. The mayor joked that while Kerry has gone back to Vietnam to visit the site of his military service, "Dick Cheney could come back to Madison to visit the site of his deferment."

One of the biggest cheers of the afternoon came when Doyle said, "We are here to declare a pretty simple truth: Wisconsin is Kerry country."

[wtmusic]

30. Hey, there's the dude the from Firdos Square/Saddam statue celebration!!

j/k, that is awesome --

and you can help Kerry win Wisconsin. Mail your check to the KE campaign made out to "Wisconsin Victory '04 Federal Account"

[KingofRock]

32. If this was * would we notice how white the crowd is? n/t

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

33. If it were Bush, it would be a tight close-up shot.

The only time Bush uses crowd shots is when they're taken from behind, so you can't see the facial expressions. Other than that, the camera ONLY zooms in on the Emperor and several loyal, swooning serfs.

[LibertyorDeath]

39. That is Beautiful

On Nov 2 Americans with a brain are going to drop the hammer on Shrub.

The media will be eating crow for years. :)

[Skinner]

40. Thanks for posting this.

What an awesome picture!

[WI_DEM]

41. He said he is coming back to Madison in October

hopefully for a rally at the capital and we'll even have a bigger turnout--probably 30,000 like Clinton had in '92

[Cartooner]

42. FANTASTIC!!! like the rally in Dubuque, Iowa

We also had many thousands attend here. hahaha... there were three "tortured" souls on the street corner with BUSH signs .... and THOUSANDS WAITING IN LINE TO GET IN... many thousands COULDN'T GET IN ...

KEEP THE FAITH!!!

[HughBeaumont]

43. ONCE again I gotta ask . . .

K/E draw crowds like this in most places they show up at. THOUSANDS. Not hundreds, like you see in the ONLY small shots that the media gives of Kerry shaking a few hands like he's speaking to a church bingo hall, THOUSANDS. UPON THOUSANDS.

Edwards ALONE draws 4-7 thousand when he speaks.

400,000 (est) protested at the RNC.

250,000 (est) protested at the impending decision to go to Iraq.

*/>8S are lucky to draw a grand at their Bund of handpicked slobberers.

WHY are the polls/Electorals as close as they are, or continually in favor of the stupid-assed puppet chimp?

WHERE are all of these brainwashed clones coming from?

[Mad_Dem_X]

44. And not one of them...

had to sign a "loyalty oath"! :kick:

[Eurobabe]

45. that's AWESOME!!

thank you so much!!

[Sugarbleus]

46. Good God! Is this for real? Wooooooooooohooooooooooo

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou..... for posting this "GEM"

Indeed it is a spirit lifter.

I've been reading in here this am..about Dems being weak *ahem* That ticked me off. WE ARE NOT WEAK!

Screw the polls; they're probably being manipulated anyway.

GET OUT THE VOTE .... Hope is on the way :bounce:

[johnlal]

47. Thanks, I needed that.

[johnnie]

48. Great Pic!!

I can hear it now though..."that picture is photo-shopped", "They use mirrors to make it look like more people"....blah blah blah

Thanks for posting this, it is a great sight to see.

[MrBenchley]

49. Meanwhile pResident Toot hides from the public

and demands signed loyalty oaths from his "supporters."

[stray cat]

52. How many are registered republicans?

The people I know from work who went are republicans or independents.

[obiwan]

53. That looks about right...

... like the crowds we used to see at Dean rallies.

Go JFK!

[TNMOM]

55. Wow!

Thanks for posting.

[doubleplusgood]

56. great photo !

n/t

[JetCityLiberal]

57. Excellent!!!

thank you for posting this!


JetCityLiberal

[chaska]

58. I knew it. WI for bush. No effin' way. YES!!! More of this, please.

[huskerlaw]

59. Fabulous! Looks great as computer wallpaper!

It really doesn't look like he's losing in Wisconsin... :toast: