Wow! Great shot of John Kerry taking the stage at Portland, Oregon rally!

[flpoljunkie]

AP/Mike Segar

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. Geez. That's like a concert shot

must'a been 10,000 people there easily.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

19. "OOOOOOO-REEEEEE-GOOONNNNN!!!"

"Nobody rocks like Oregon rocks!!!" :D

[connecticut yankee]

63. More like 40,000

I just got off the phone with a friend who was there.

She said there were at least 40,000. She came back so elated, she's practically flying!

It's clear across the country, and I can only fantasize being there, too. Connecticut is a "safe state," so we won't see anything like that here.

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[gratuitous]

2. Free appearance, open to the public

Anyone who could get down to Waterfront Park was allowed to see Mr. Kerry.

Bush? You'd better come with a substantial check and be willing to sign a loyalty oath.

Who do you think is going to win?

[MissB]

Substantial

Like as in $15k.

[Liberal Veteran]

3. That can't be real....I thought all people attending a campaign rally....

...had to be wearing military uniforms?

Oh, wait. That's just the Bush rallies. Never mind.

[Trajan]

10. Surely ...

HALF of those uniformed soldiers are not Bush supporters ...

How do I know ? ... they reflect the population at large, by and large ...

[Liberal Veteran]

14. I agree. Just pointing how closed Bush appearances are.

Usually on military bases or VERY ritzy hotels.

[Trajan]

16. Chuckles ... Indeed ....

Captive audience on a base ... or 'his base' ...

[DoYouEverWonder]

26. And a fair number of those uniformed soldiers

are secret service agents dressed up to blend in.

[PA Democrat]

29. In Pittsburgh, Bush had doctors wearing white coats

lined up behind him. When is the last time you saw YOUR doctor in a white coat? Also behind him uniformed policemen and firefighters. It was so obviously choreographed that it made me laugh.

Bush's rally was invitation only and inside of the Pittsburgh convention center. Kerry had a rally in nearby Greensburg, PA and more than 10,000 people waited for HOURS in a constant rain to see Kerry & Edwards. I was there and waited more than 2 hours in line to get into the rally.

[cmf]

4. Holy cow!

:wow:

[flpoljunkie]

5. John and Teresa waving amid the crowd today at Portland rally

AP/Mike Segar

HELP IS ON THE WAY!

[klook]

17. HELL is on the way...

for Bush, if we keep our eyes on the prize.

[Eurobabe]

6. here's a TV link

http://www.katu.com/

Make sure you hit the right candidate! ;)

[gristy]

7. Impressive

How long until a freeper says it's photoshopped?

[oasis]

11. Freepers would say "Why do Oregonians hate America?".

[Sparkly]

18. "They must all be French."

Freeper Two: "Oregon is in France?"

Freeper Three: "So now Kerry's campaigning in France? Figures."

[vickie]

33. Tell Gordon Smith (of Oregon) to take a good look and see if he

could draw a crowd like this (I think not even close). This is like Springsteen of the Stones (in their heydey)!

Yippee!!!

Vickie Carter
Redondo Beach, CA

[senseandsensibility]

8. Kewl!

He looks great, especially compared to his nemesis, John O"Neill. He is really in shape, and a good looking man, if you'll allow a personal comment.:-)

[prolesunited]

9. That's incredible!

I would say there's a movement afoot. With the crowds their drawing, there's no way the Gallup polls are right.

[Nite Owl]

12. No more calling him stiff

he's sure gotten his pace and looks great.

[flpoljunkie]

20. He was never stiff. As HC said, "JK is a serious man for a serious job..

in a serious time in our country's history." She could not have been more right.

And John Kerry will make a great President of the United States.

[Sparkly]

13. Great!

He's really photogenic. Day after day, the news photos appear and he almost never takes a bad picture. (Whereas, as I've posted, the Chimp looks increasingly stupid each day.)

Thanks for posting this! :)

[Trajan]

15. THAT pic is freekin amazin ....

What a moment ...

Bush Co. MUST be shakin in their size 5 shit covered boots ...

I am going to see Edwards this weekend: I am so looking forward to that ...

[flpoljunkie]

21. Yes, I have been known to call him the "Midland Shit-Kicker" on occasion

BAAAAAAD, I know.

[brainoverload]

75. only the half of it

I was there and it was unbelievable. The local news said that there were an equal number of people on the streets who didn't get into the official area (and only part of the official area is visible in the photo).

Gates opened at 10 and the first speaker didn't start talking until well after 12:00. No one seemed to mind despite a glaring sun that left a nasty sunburn on the back of my neck. Around 1:00 Bon Jovi started to play and the sense I got from almost everyone around me was that they couldn't wait for that act to end and for Kerry to show. There was a good 20 minutes of dead time between Bon Jovi's and Kerry's appearances and the crowd did nothing but grow during that time.

I've been to presidential rallies every year since 1972. I've never seen anything like this.

[canuckybee]

22. Just now CNN says Kerry had a "huge" crowd

no mention of the size of Bush's crowd.

[flpoljunkie]

24. Here's another amazing crowd shot! Unbelievable! A sea of people!

AP Photo/Mike Segar

And another...

AP/Laura Rauch

[59millionmorons]

25. This is a landslide in the making

I know people hate to hear this, be it's true. Remembers these things. Olberman after doing a segment on the Kerry crowds ask "How close is this race really" Also the same night he had a pollster who said you cannot accuratley predict who will show up to vote. Pollsters take the previous election results to form there formula. So the pollster goes onto say that in CA in 2002 elections there was 34% more voters who turnedout to vote than in 2000. In other words you cannot predict turnout, so a pollster cant predict turnout.

[lcooksey]

53. *boggle*

That's amazing.
:wow:

[autorank]

60. Oh, Right. Oregon's a Battleground State.

Not

[59millionmorons]

61. Who said it was ass?

What's your point? PA is a battleground state and Kerry had 25,000 at his Harrisburg rally. This is happining all accross the country. To bad you boy can only get 600 thoroughly screened supporters bused in to his rallies.

[autorank]

62. Relax partner, take a deep breath, stop tweaking

I was mocking the notion that Oregon was a battleground state BECAUSE KERRY IS KICKING BUSH-ASS OUT THERE. GEEZ. NO CIRCULAR FIRING SQUADS! Another exmaple of 'newbie abuse!!!'

[senseandsensibility]

30. Does anyone know the size of *'s crowd?

Since he insists on stalking Kerry, the mediawhores should be making a direct comparison between the size of the crowds. It's part of the 5 W's of journalism that you learn before you can write for your junior high newspaper: who, what, when ,where, why? This is part of the what. Is anyone covering it?

[SteveG]

52. Well it couldn't have been huge it was held in a

High School Gymnasium (and was by invite only)

[Jawja]

37. I've noticed that the

* campaign always stages the Jackass inside and presented "arena" theatre style - he is always on center and surrounded by his invited, loyalty oath followers. The house lights are dim (you don't see much of the audience, but you always see veterns up front); bright lights are focused on *.

So while the * campaign puts out photos that focus on *, the Kerry campaign puts out photos of Kerry against huge crowds.

I think that's a strategic mistake in the long run. Either Rove doesn't want a direct comparison between the huge outdoor crowds for Kerry and the smaller indoor crowds for *; or the Great Chimporer has decided all the focus should be on HIM - the War Prezdint.

[59millionmorons]

23. WOW

This election is so over.

[flpoljunkie]

27. Leonardo DiCaprio joins John and Teresa onstage!

AP/Mike Segar

[flpoljunkie]

31. More DiCaprio with Richie Sambora; Jim Rassmun also seen in photo

[barbaraann]

28. Northwest Cable News was superwhoring for Bush today.

I couldn't believe it. They showed all of his event in Beaverton, all of the extensive handshaking before he got on AF1, the plane sitting before takeoff, the plane after takeoff, the plane sitting in Seattle before deplaning, ETC....and I only saw ONE small picture of the Kerry rally transposed against a Bush picture. They also repeated parts of Bush's speech.

THE MEDIA IS THE ENEMY. WE ARE THE PREY.

[OnceUponATime]

32. Just got back from rally... 40,000 at least

My friends and I stood in line for two hours and still didn't get in, but we got close enough to hear Kerry speak. Absolutely huge crowd, with lines stretching back across the bridges toward the east side of the river.

A policeman there told us there were 40,000 in the park, but there were at least several thousand who weren't allowed into the park that lined the streets of downtown.

p.s. this is my first d.u. post!!!

[flpoljunkie]

34. Welcome to DU! And thanks for your first hand report. We are pumped!

[Beaverhausen]

39. Welcome! and thanks for that report!

:hi:

[NMDemDist2]

43. welcome to DU and thanks for the eye witness report

:hi:

[Cha]

47. Welcome to du, OnceUponATime!

And thanks for that wonderfully, descriptive, report!

[sundancekid]

48. welcome! and what a BANNER worthy post you give us ... kudos

:yourock:

[OnceUponATime]

51. Thanks!...

for the warm welcome.

I was so pumped when I got back from the rally, but I just watched NBC nightly news and became somewhat deflated when they didn't show or even mention the huge crowds today in Portland. All they showed of Kerry was him speaking to a small group in Springfield this morning. But they sure showed Bush at his 600 person invite-only rally. It's downright enraging. Well, I guess I shouldn't expect anything better from our "free" press.

Oh well, I don't think you can hide the truth from people for too long when these kinds of crowds are showing up.

Glad to be part of the D.U. community. I've been reading here for a while now, but I finally decided to stop being shy and start posting!

:hi:

[West Coast Democrat]

35. There were 40-50 thousand....

if you include the people lining the sidewalks who couldn't get in!!

[West Coast Democrat]

36. My husband took some photos today too...

when I get home from work I'll try to post some of them.

[blondeatlast]

38. I swear I can feel the energy here!

Fantastic shot--look at his face, wonderful!

[flpoljunkie]

40. Can you imagine what an incredible high it must be for him? And the crowd!

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

44. Head on over to KGW.com to see video clips of Kerry!

They have a full 30 min speech *and* they have a question and answer session too. I just finished watching both and he is simply amazing.

I started with Gore, then had to move on to Dean and with a heavy heart (IWR vote :-( ) started looking into Kerry. I swear, the more I look into this man, the more I am convinced he is going to make one amazing President.

He seems to learn something new everyday and integrate it into his speeches. We could be watching something phenomenal happening here and I am completely excited for our country, the world and its prospects with this man at the helm...

[flpoljunkie]

49. Thank you for sharing your political journey and your newfound enthusiasm

for John Kerry. It is very gratifying to those of us who are long time Kerry supporters. He will make a great president.

Oh, forgot to add-- welcome to DU! I can't get that video to work; am dying to see it!

[QuidditchFan]

41. I totally agree. Pictures don't generally cause goose bumps...

But I have gotten a serious case of goosebumpitis when seeing pictures of the crowds at Kerry's campaign events. And even my wife, who has grown tired of me exclaiming that "you have got to see this", has an awe-struck reaction to these pictures. It is really, really amazing stuff...

[roguevalley]

42. You should know that the weather is in the 100's and that in Central

Point, Kerry was an hour late but it didn't matter. HUGE enthusiastic crowds. Bye, *.

[flpoljunkie]

45. Here's another great crowd shot! Masses of people!

AP/Mike Segar

[Cha]

46. That is sooooo Marvelous!

Thank you so much for this picture..My daughter lives in Portland and I want to tell her about this awesome picture of Kerry going on stage in her neck of the woods.

[ronnykmarshall]

50. That is amazing!

Look at the size of the crowd!

[Lenape85]

54. Out-of-touch Massachusetts liberal my ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's hope the out-of-touch Texas conservative gets thrown out.

[stevedeshazer]

55. I am so proud of my city today

We Portlanders have a reputation for being "rowdy" and "hostile" to Bush. So much so that Bush had to hide in the far corners of Portland. He is so much hated here that he has to pretend to appear here.

Kerry went straight downtown to the waterfront where the people could gather and see him. Nothing happened. Totally peaceful, positive and uplifting.

Don't believe what you see on the "news", folks. This is FOR REAL.

Thanks to flpoljunkie for posting the pics.

[eeyore]

56. I am too Stevie!

It was totally positive and calm. I've never seen anything so politically unified here. People were patient, polite and all there for the sake of one thing - making our country a better place to be. Absolutely incredible!

I dare W to come down to Waterfront Park for a public rally! He wouldn't be able to make it downtown. It would cripple the city and he knows it. His little invite only Beaverton bit was pathetic in comparison.

Now if only the national medial would report the dramatic difference between the two events. I'm not holding my breath. They can ignore it all they want, but eventually the truth will have to be shown.

OREGON IS NOT IN PLAY FOR 2004!!!


-eeyore

[TNMOM]

57. Wow. Can a landslide be far behind?

The rethugs must be wringing their hands. Poor Karl.

[blitzen]

58. check out the video

http://easylink.playstream.com/katu/040813kerry_arrival_waterfront.wvx


credit to swag for posting it in another thread

[MODemocrat]

59. Every knock has been a break for John Kerry

This is a cliche, granted, but with all the crowds he's garnering everywhere he goes, I truly believe people are getting so tired of all the lying and spinning of the Bush gang, that they are elated to just see someone who looks and acts presidential.

Go Kerry/Edwards

[misty3k]

64. You know what I've noticed?

I don't think I've ever seen the HUGE sweat stains on Kerry that I've seen on Bush!

Kerry exudes confidence and strength--Bush....well...basically exudes flop sweat. :puke:

[mcar]

65. Wow, what an incredible crowd!

Contrast this with the shots of * on the campaign trail with his Potemkin people.

[ArnoldLayne]

66. This is a large crowd I can't get over that

I wish I were there too.:dem:

[in_cog_ni_to]

67. Holy Moly!!!!!

Would you look at that crowd???!! Great shot!

[someother]

68. It was a great day, but ...

I was there yesterday, with my 15 year old son.
He is fairly intelligent, but not politically turned on.

The largest influence on him yesterday was his experience talking to republican protesters. He felt they were reasonable and polite, and was very turned off by the unprovoked insults being hurled at them by large numbers of democrats as they passed.

It was difficult trying to convince him that (to paraphrase Clinton) people who think are liberal. It clashed with his direct experience.

Yes, I know, my first post comment here looks like a troll.

[in_cog_ni_to]

70. My 11 year old son would have

understood WHY Democrats would hurl insults at repubs. They deserve it! ;) He KNOWS what this administration has done, is all about and why Democrats are the "people's" party and repubs are not.

Explain to him that if it wasn't for "LIBERALS" we wouldn't have a 40 hour work week, overtime pay, the right to organize, civil rights, clean air, clean water, Medicare, Social Security, safety in the workplace, the right to vote..... WE care about the homelessness in this country, the less fortunate, repubs don't......you get it.

What's NOT to like about the Democratic Party? When one compares the 2 parties???? EGADS! I would be ASHAMED to admit I was a repub. They need to be insulted. LOOK at what they have done to our country!

Welcome to DU, BTW. :hi:

[someother]

77. I guess I'll just have to come to terms with it ...

... I seem to have raised someone who wants to think for himself :/
His reaction to F911 was 'Moore definitely hates Bush. Why so heavy
handed?'.

I'm going to point him at free republic and see how long it takes
him to see real hatriotism in action.

Thanks for the welcome. I'll try to be more on topic in future.

[sattahipdeep]

69. Oregon is tired of the bs

buch isn't doing any good for Oregon or anyone else.

[rhite5]

71. Political Cartoon in today's Oregonian

calling attention to the extreme contrast bewteen the gathering for Bush and the gathering for Kerry yesterday
(except the cartoonist could not possibly have envisioned how big the Kerry crowd was) Thanks for DUer TrueAmerican for locating the cartoon

[img source=""

[rhite5]

72. Contrasting styles cross paths on trail in Oregon

Contrasting styles cross paths on trail in Oregon
By Jill Zuckman and Jeff Zeleny
Tribune national correspondents
Published August 14, 2004
snip---------
Like their dueling appearances in Iowa more than a week ago, the candidates' visits to Oregon were rooted in political math. The state is narrowly split and considered up for grabs. Four years ago, Democrat Al Gore won the state by 6,765 votes.

The two appearances here were also a study in contrasts. Kerry wound up his 15-day postconvention tour with stops in Medford, Eugene and Portland, where fire officials said nearly 50,000 people turned out along the banks of the Willamette River to hear Kerry speak and see a contingent of celebrities, including actor Leonardo di Caprio and rock stars Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.

Bush, on the other hand, highlighted the successes of select small-business owners at a rally of several hundred supporters in a suburban high school gymnasium. At the event called "Ask President Bush," invited guests posed friendly questions.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. President," said the first man called upon to ask a question. "You're an awesome president. I wanted to know if I could get some inauguration tickets."

Indeed, the heavily managed event came in for some criticism from the Oregonian newspaper Friday. The editorial cartoon showed two panels, one with Kerry addressing voters and a sign that said "Kerry campaign rally Open to Public." The second panel depicted a gate with a large `W' on it, and a sign that said "Bush Campaign Rally A Gated Community."
more---> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0408...

Thanks to DUer Steviet for posting this small story about Portland from a midwestern newspaper

btw - my own newspaper pegged the Kerry crowd at "at least 50,000", but only 22,000 could get into the area by the river. They obviously were not expecting so many people. It is the biggest political gathering officials could remember for Portland.

[MoonRiver]

73. Sure looks like a WINNER to me!!

:kick:

[tblue37]

74. Considering the bubble Bush lives in,

I find myself wondering whether he is even aware that Kerry drew 60,000 people to a rally while he had only a few hundred prescreened suckers at his rally. I wonder if he has even seen any of the pictures.

[NJCher]

76. rubbetin

If I could be in the same room as bush, I would take this photo over and rub it on his nose. Then I would graduate to the face, muuuuussssshing it around all over that red nose and bleary, bloodshot eyes. Then I'd say, "Thanks for the memories."


Cher

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

78. This should be followed by a few "noogies" just for good measure.