Obama rally in Portland OR draws records 75,000 spectators

Today I attended the Obama Presidential Rally on the Portland waterfront, which drew a record crowd to the shore of the Willamette. We were originally waiting in the 15-block-long line to get our free tickets, when we decided it might be better to drive all the way back home, get the boat, put it in the water and run it up the Willamette from St. Johns to the Hawthorne Bridge area near downtown. Well, it turned out perfectly and we had a comfortable view of the rally and the 75,000 spectators from about 100 feet off of the waterfront.



From the Washington Post:
"Sen. Barack Obama has seen his share of large crowds over the last 15 months, but his campaign said they have not approached the numbers gathered along the waterfront here right now.

The campaign, citing figures from Duane Bray, battalion chief of Portland Fire & Rescue, estimated that 75,000 people are watching him speak.

The scene suggests this is not an exaggeration. The sea of heads stretches for half a mile along the grassy embankment, while others watch from kayaks and power boats bobbing on the Willamette River. More hug the rails of the steel bridge that stretches across the water and crowds are even watching from jetties on the opposite shore."