For those talking about the large turnout at Kerry/Edwards rallies. . .

[dolstein]

Need I remind you that Howard Dean also had very large crowds at his rallies? Large rallies don't necessarily translate into a large turnout on election day. Sure, I'd rather have large crowds than small crowds, especially for the benefit of the local news media (that is, after all, the purpose of these rallies -- to generate free media). But we shouldn't read too much into this.

[Obamarama]

1. 20,000+ In Grand Rapids, MI today....that's not "very large," that's HUGE!

GR is a strong and steadfast Republican stronghold. 11 p.m. news on two local West Michigan stations reported the crowd being 20,000+ and they both reported a "a few dozen anti-Kerry protesters."

There were only 4,000 people when Bush & Pickles came to Kalamazoo a few months ago, and at least 200-300 anti-Bush protesters.

You do the math. Bush is TOAST!

[NWHarkness]

2. OK, thanks

I'll make sure I don''t think any good thoughts in the future.

[ibegurpard]

3. LOL

I think he has a point (which is don't get cocky) but he certainly didn't come across very well, huh?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. His Point Was Lost....

The Duke had huge crowds in the waning days of the 1988 campaign...

[MichiganVote]

4. Sorry dolstein but if you knew West Michigan

you'd know that the G.R. visit was a love fest and THAT is a huge victory for dem's in that locale whether Kerry wins or not.

Cheer up.

[Aunt Anti-bush]

5. Police estimated 10,000+ in Greensburg, PA

And that is gargantuan, considering that Greensburg isn't a giant city. It's quite small compared to Pittsburgh, etc. The streets were filled with people who were just brimming to cast a vote for Kerry in November and not ONE Bush supporter showed to protest.

But, I will agree that we shouldn't read too much into it and get complacent. We have to keep up the hard work to get Kerry elected.

[osaMABUSh]

11. Don't think all those at a Kerry rally are locals

I was at the Greensburg, PA rally and it was fantastic to see 10,000 people for such a small town and repuke area. But, realize, I and many others drove a distance to get there. I drove my family of five about 40 miles; and Pittsburgh is closer than that. In fact, I saw some folks I knew from Pittsburgh.

Let's not think that these rallies are all local folks. There are many within a 100 miles who will go like groupies to a rock concert. The good news is the support is strong from those folks; the bad news is the local support is not always as large as it seems at a rally.

[Aunt Anti-bush]

17. I do realize that a lot of folks came from very far away.

I came from Ligonier. And I heard others talking about the rally in Scranton so I guess they're from mid-state. But regardless, the support was there.

My mother in law refused to go because she had already been invited to a church event. She lives about 3 blocks from where it was held in Greensburg. I tried but she's not concerned. I'm going to work on that, though.

[KittyWampus]

6. You Consistently Throw Cold Water & Negativity

thanks, but no thanks.

[otohara]

7. Remember There's Not 11 Candidates

running - Down to 3 - wonder how Naders crowds are?

[JI7]

8. John Kerry had large turnout at his rallies in the primary

the polls showed his large turnout at the rallies was happening at around the same time his poll numbers were rising, especially his personal positives. kerry had a higher turnout at a rally of his than dean did at a rally held at the same time with gore.

but i do agree it's not the only thing we should be dependent on. we need to make sure we get additional people out to vote. those who aren't the type to care about attending rallies but if the voted they would probably vote for kerry type voters.

[no name no slogan]

9. And people say I'M a wet blanket...

10,000-20,000 for a political rally is not only big, it's HUUUUUGGGEE.

I'm not a big Kerry/Edwards fan, but even I'll admit that turnout like that is EXCELLENT!

[gauguin57]

10. Don't forget the 25-30,000 at Harrisburg, PA Friday ...

... that's according to the Secret Service. I was there ... the feeling was electric. People waited hours in stifling hot weather to hear Kerry/Edwards speak. The roar of that crowd was unbelievable.

Those things look great on TV!

True, we shouldn't take anything for granted. But BOY OH BOY, if you had told me a year ago that those kinds of crowds were going to turn out for Kerry, I'd have told you you were nuts.

I live in a very conservative area near Harrisburg. Since the end of the convention, I have seen Kerry signs sprouting EVERYWHERE!!

These are GOOD signs, if not SURE signs.

[Johnyawl]

12. If I remember correctly...

...the really big Dean rallies came early, before the other candidates really got up and running. His visit here in Seattle last August is a prime example. He drew 10,000 people at a time NO ONE was thinking about the primaries. And yet by the february caucus he came in a distant 2rd.

[demwing]

13. Considering that the population of Grand Rapids is apx 200,000

you're looking at 10% plus of the city's population showing up.

Pretty damn good. :)

[PeaceProgProsp]

20. It's probably 25% of all registered voters.

[Jokinomx]

21. I have to say... many of the people I talked to were not from G.R..

I and many others drove into the city to see him.... G.R. has a large black poplulation... I didn't see very many. I was really disappointed with that. I live in a small town about 35 miles out...Greenville to be exact... and we all have our work cut out. We NEED more registered voters... talk to friends and neighbors.. anyone that will listen.. ask them politely if they are registered.... 50% of our country is not. Those are the ones that we have to get interested.... I was talking to my neighbor Saturday... I asked if he was registered and he said that he had NEVER voted.. he served in Vietnam and very disillusioned with our country.

I talked with him about Kerry some.... and his Vietnam service and he has agreed to register and vote for the first time in his life. His girl friend also...Now I will see if his sons have ever voted... which I doubt.. and see if they will follow the Father.

We all have to get involved and get one or two or more to vote Kerry...those that have never voted... we would win by a landslide.

[incapsulated]

15. It proof the the base is fired up and...

We may well be attracting a boatload of new voters this year, especially when the turnout is huge in swing states. Turnout is everything this year.

No, I disagree that this is meaningless. I'm not doing backflips or anything, though. I'm an "imagine the worst outcome" type this election, because of who we are up against. I take nothing for granted and do not allow myself to get worked up over anything.

[radfringe]

16. 15,000 in Scranton PA on 7/30

one speaker remarked that the crowd was the largest she had ever seen since John F. Kennedy back in 1960

pics -- http://radicalfringe.freeservers.com/photo.html

[PeaceProgProsp]

18. Dean had smaller audiences in bigger cities. Kerry is having

huge audiences in small cities. When 20,000 people go see him in Grand Rapids, that's a significant % of registered voters in that region. And those people are probably going to show up to vote for him.

And I'd love to compare that to Bush's next audience in Grand Rapids.

[Zynx]

19. Dean never had 20,000 people back to back to back.

I'm not sure he even had it once.

Why do you always spread pessimism dolstein? Do you hate your party?

[PeaceProgProsp]

22. And he never had anywhere near that number in cities as small as

Grand Rapids, Harrisburg and Scranton (which are not only small, but are also in SWING STATES).

Dean got a big crowd in Seattle and in New York City (and I still think it was only in the 2.5-4k range, IIRC).

[Zynx]

23. I think you're right.

[AVID]

24. Thanks for the "Need" to remind us.

If the crowds were small and thin everywhere at this point, would you be saying the same - "DOn't worry, don't read too much in to this" or would your position been - "Wow, Dean would've had 25,000 - 30,000 people there."

[janx]

25. There's a pretty big difference in what we saw in the primaries

and what we're seeing now before the general election, I think. Keep in mind that Kerry's just starting, and his rallies are HUGE, taking in people not just from the Dean campaign, but from all of the other campaigns combined.