I'm a bit like you, I am more excited by the magnitude of the crowd than by Obama's presence. I voted for him, and I think he will do some good things, but what his campaign has done to galvanize people in this country will be, I think, as important as anything he does in office.

People were very excited but I didn't see any signs of any Obama-cult mentality. I saw people excited about participating in the process, and having someone (for the first time in many cases) that inspires them to get involved.

I am actually underwhelmed by the national coverage of today's rally so far. It is being underplayed.

i wouldn't say i was "swept up" in "mania", but i loved hearing obama talk about:
-getting us out of iraq when he takes office
-getting people health care by the end of his first term
-investing in science and technology
-making taxes more fair to the middle class by making corporations pay their shares
-keeping politics clean and civil
-paying teachers more
-closing guantanamo
-respecting the constitution and civil liberties

i know it's sunday, mercury, but i wasn't taking notes and i know there was more to it than line length, crowd size, and "mania."

but the beautiful pictures of the crowd and the setting did make me feel pretty damn proud to be an oregonian.

As of a few moments ago the story was the Fox News national headline. I really wish I could have been part of that rally! Way to go Portland!

there were definitely alot of hot chicks there, so my vote has been decided.

Yeah, promising universal health care by the end of his first term. Like all politicians, I guess he really thinks we're all fucking morons. Great sentiment for sure, but will never happen. Like most of the hot fucking air he spews. Do think he'd be the best choice for pres though--just nothing will really ever change. At least urban yuppie shitbags and other assorted other deluded left wing idiots will feel better about themselves. For that, I'm thankful.

jake is boring me.

Enough! I'm voting for the man, but 6 posts about the rally is OVERKILL! Can we please move on?!

Sure, he woos all of the feeble-minded, but does he ever say HOW he's going to make these changes? HOW he's going to pay for them? Hope you losers enjoyed your rock concert. It's a sad, sad state of affairs to vote from the bandwagon instead of doing specific research. I would bet 80% of people at the rally have no idea Obama voted for the Bush/Cheney Energy Bill that strips Oregon of its self-determination when it comes to liquified natural gas and nuclear power plants. His "leadership" left us with no choice in the matter. And this is the kind of guy you want to vote for? Purely pathetic.

Pay for it, PDXEric. Easy. How much are we blowing in the Middle East each month? We leave Iraq and, wa-la, instant waterfall o' tax dollars.

I'll vote for Barack but I'm not convinced he's flawless. No politician is. Do I like the idea of him voting for Bush's energy bill? Of course not but I'm not about to vote for the other guy because of it.

gosh. for some reason, calling me an urban yuppie shitbag and a feeble-minded loser doesn't convince me you're right, jake and eric.

powerful rhetoric, though. sincerely.

having been able to obtain a press pass [from a cable access outlet], i was privileged enough to have been let in early. the the build-up to obama's arrival was pretty palpable in the sense a lot of people were there hours before the gates opened. the campaign's ground game was pretty damned organized. and were anticipating 30K, per the TSA at 10 am.

while my preferred candidate is no longer in the race, i found the experience to be wonderfully motivating. everyone i spoke with was ready for change. yeah, obama's speech was a stump speech, but the turn-out really showed how ready we are for the end to the current administration. i will proudly for for the democratic nominee [ostensibly obama] in november.

i scoped out the secret service detail because wanted really to see his motorcade and his arrival, more than anything. so yeah, i was pretty stoked to be standing about 75 ft away from the next president of the united states [245 days!]

check out ntodd's pics at:

http://www.dohiyimir.org/2008/05/bam-in-pdx.html#more

i also saw sam adams, earl blumenauer and richard wolfe from msnbc, a few dudes from cnn i don't know and spoke with some wicked cool people from portland.