I attended Sen. Obama's campaign rally today in Asheville, NC, and it was amazing. Asheville is located in the mountains of Western North Carolina, a very red area. Asheville itself, however, is a fairly liberal oasis surrounded by a sea of deep red. Police estimates indicate that Obama drew 28,000 people to the Asheville High Stadium, an unbelievable feat considering this state has not seen a major presidential candidate in many decades!
Let's put this number in perspective. In 2004, John Kerry got 51,868 votes in Buncombe County (Asheville is the county seat) and Bush got 52,391 votes. Yet Obama was able to draw MORE THAN HALF of either Bush's or Kerry's vote total for a rally. Simply Amazing! However, some of the people were from South Carolina or Tennessee, but the vast majority were from these parts.
The gates opened at noon, but my wife and friends got there at 9:30, getting in line behind about 3,000 people, some of which camped out over night. The mood was festive, with lots of campaign volunteers registering voters and making sure people knew where to vote early - North Carolina has "One-Stop Voting" and Buncombe County has 15 sites where you can do that. There were also lots of people selling buttons, t-shirts, drinks, towels, and other items - we couldn't tell if it was for the campaign of not, but probably. Around 11:45 am they started letting us into the stadium, and what a beautiful site. The beautiful Asheville High School provided a majestic backdrop as we entered the football stadium. We had to pass through an impressive array of metal detectors - the first time I had seen portable walk-through metal detectors. The dude frisked me pretty good - I actually felt violated, but I digress. Slowly but surely, the whole freakin' stadium filled up. We were 50 feet away from Obama when he spoke, but we couldn't see his face most of the time because from our vantage point the teleprompter was covering his face. However, we did get to see his face when he delivered the applause lines and leaned back on the podium. We also saw him up close when he entered and left the stage. I felt like I was a part of history, and I've still got goose bumps.
Much of the speech was on health care. No one could argue Obama didn't provide specifics. I think it is really hard to explain why McCain's $5,000 tax credit is a bad idea, in large part because the inner workings of health care and insurance are so vexing for the vast majority of Americans. But Obama took his time, explained his universal health care plan, and belabored the point of how bad McCain's fake plan would be. The best moment came toward the end when Obama told the personal story of a Mom in Florida whose son was denied care after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Essentially, the poor kid was not treated properly because it would cost the family tens of thousands they don't have, and the kid has been forced to abstain from all the physical activities that he enjoyed, including basketball. Obama implored us all to think about this kid when we played basketball and engaged in other physical activities, and the crowd was touched. It was magic.
Although Asheville autumns are very pleasant, we were surprised to find highs in the upper 70s and not a cloud to be seen. Normally, that would be OK, but when you're packed like sardines and the sun is in your face for hours, it takes a toll. Many people had to leave my area during Obama's speech due to overheating. Many of us were either in line or waiting for Obama to speak inside the stadium for over 5 hours, and it took its toll on some.
Before getting to the rally, my friends and I were guessing what the demographics of the crowd would look like. I was thinking that blacks would make up about 25% of the crowd, and young people about 15%. This seemed reasonable for the original estimates of 10,000 people, but way off for 28,000! Boy was I wrong! The vast majority of the people in attendance were Anglo-Saxon. Like 90-95%. And young people, say 30 and under, made up a huge percentage of the crowd, maybe 35-40%. It was a great surprise. A refreshing surprise.
All in all, it was a wonderful day. You have to remember that no one in their right mind thought North Carolina would be in play, much less a month out from the election. For crying out loud, a black man having a chance in North Carolina, in 2008? Further, many strategists have argued that it would be better for Obama to run up the margins in the big cities (Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) than to waste time in Asheville. Today, we gave Obama 28,000 big reasons why he made the right decision.
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