Saturday, February 9, 2008

Barack Obama is a Man to be Reckoned with

At 6:00 a.m. on Friday, February 9, 2008, people began lining up to see Barack Obama speak at Key Arena.  Doors opened at 11:00 a.m. and the venue was filled to capacity by about 11:20.

Keep in mind that Key Arena holds just under 18,000 people for a basketball game.  When Obama spoke, the entire floor was filled as were the hallways.  Mayor Nickels joked that he was glad he gave the fire chief the day off because they were way over capacity.  Thousands more were turned away when they were forced to shut the doors.  About 3,000 of those left outside refused to leave and Obama wisely placated the crowd by grabbing a bullhorn and giving a short speech before heading into the Arena.  

The footage in this video is from my bike as I rode by the line outside Key Arena.  I only had about 3 minutes of footage left on my camera, so I was only able to capture about 1/2 the line on film.

When I first heard he had booked Key Arena, I thought he may have been overestimating his drawing power.  After seeing this display, I think he grossly underestimated it.  This guy inspires people to leave work, school, home, etc. to stand in line for hours for just a chance to be near him.
Quite amazing.

1 comment:

Krissy said...

That was a cool perspective. The people want to see a man who has something to say as opposed to something to read.