Local news says the NC crowd today is Kerry's largest crowd EVER

[Lex]

.
at any Kerry event, even in the primary.

They are saying 15,000 to 20,000 are there (outside in the sun on an almost 100 degree day).

Scheduled to start in the next 30 minutes or so.

Go Kerry and Edwards!

[JI7]

1. i would LOVE to take this state

[acmavm]

4. They look very comfortable together, don't they? I have come around

to thinking that the choice of Edwards was a good one after all. (Clark supporter here.)

Senator Kerry was right to take his time and let this play out. He amazes me more and more every day with his political acumen. He doesn't seem as stiff anymore, either. I am thoroughly happy and comfortable with our candidates.

[AP]

6. You'd rather have beer & a BBQ with Kerry now, right?

That's what Kerry has done this last week.

[acmavm]

9. You bet I would, in the proverbial heartbeat.

.

[Old and In the Way]

62. "He doesn't seem as stiff anymore, either."

Interesting....I've heard this from a lot of people. I suspect that it was a media invention that evaporates as people see more and more of him. No doubt Edwards relaxed style helps Kerry's image, too.

[Rose Siding]

2. Why don't they live stream these? n/t

[AP]

3. Someone PLEASE find me a live feed!

[Literate Tar Heel]

5. what station?

I went to high school at NCSSM in Durham and college at UNC-Chapel Hill, but live near Charlotte and don't get any Raleigh stations, but I watched them for several years ... I saw in the N&O where 5,000-10,000 were expected, but 15,000-20,000 sounds much more likely considering the liberal populations in Durham, Chapel Hill, and Greensboro ... there's still an outside chance at winning N.C. and that would go a loonngg way toward putting Kerry/Edwards in the White House (15 electoral votes ... only 8 states have more)

[Lex]

8. Locally they are going to show the rally on

News 14 Carolina (Time Warner Cable's local news channel)

Digitial 256 (WRAL's digital news channel). http://wral.com

And CSPAN may be carrying it at around 5pm? Definitely will show reruns on CSPAN.

Don't know of any live feeds yet.

[ShaneGR]

68. Keep your chin up.... NC will go Dem now....

Rick Flair moment.... WOOOOOOOOOH!!!

[billybob537]

7. They'll be in Boston Monday the 12th at

the Fleet ctr. 6:00pm. concert/rally.
call Boston Hdqrs. for tix.
Jackson Brown and many more to perform.

[treepig]

10. too bad he's so pro-war

lost the opportunity to address crowds 10x that size.

oh well, one's gotta pander to the masses i suppose.

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. may i respectfully request that you go hug a tree..pig?

n/t

[HFishbine]

51. Pig?

That's not nice, not to mention against DU rules.

[Tarheel_Dem]

55. i didn't name him.......

he named himself.....treepig.

[AP]

15. Kerry-Nader? Kerry-Kucinich? C'mon. Those crowds are big, and they're

much bigger than crowds that would have turned out for Kerry+{insert any anti-war candidate} for reasons much bigger than the IWR vote.

When Edwards says he will make corporations good citizens again, that solves the Iraq War problem, in my opinion.

[Lex]

16. I guess some people would rather pout than

figure out how to try to get the Democratic Party back in power again.

Can't figure it out.

[treepig]

32. my post was unclear

i was referring to kerry's refusal to appear to the pre-war, anti-war rallies (where the crowd size was hundreds of thousands).

it's not clear to me how making corporations into good citizens is going to be of much confort to the 37,000 innocent iraqi civilians killed by the bush war (cheer-led by kerry/edwards) or the 500,000 iraqi children killed by clinton's sanctions. but then again i'm a bit dense (i accidently ingested some deuterated water).

for me these are bigger issues than just getting a democratic operative back into power.

[AP]

34. We're fighting in Iraq to serve the interest of misbehaving corp's

[VolcanoJen]

36. You're got your priorities, we've got ours.

Thanks for the collective guilt trip, but we're aware, and heartbroken, and outraged, and doing everything we can about it, already.

I also take issue with your attempt to characterize Kerry and Edwards as "cheerleaders" for the war. That's just plain ridiculous.

:eyes:

[treepig]

45. have you read what edwards said?

in totality:

http://www.vote-smart.org/speech_detail.php?speech_id=M000003142&keyword=&phrase=&contain=

in short:

powell made a powerful presentation to the un

saddam and his WsMD are a terrible threat and must go

one year, two years, five years . . . from now (feb 2003)the war will be demonstrably be shown to be the "right thing" to have done

the iraqi's will cheer the arrival of the us troops

blah blah blah - hitting all the neocon talking points.


if that's not cheerleading for the war, i don't have a foggiest clue what is. but as long as you're so "aware" - i'll go crawl back into my hole and let the pro-war tide continue to sweep across the land and firmly ensconse itself in the only two viable parties we have.

[Lex]

48. have you heard what Kerry and Edwards have said . . . recently?

just wondering . . .

[treepig]

52. have you considered that it's easy to be anti-war

now it's everyone with an IQ above 20/20 or so realizes it's a complete clusterfuck.

what matters to me is what they were saying/doing in the critical period before the war started - a real leader would have stood up and done something then instead of

1) being a complete moran and actually falling for the lies told by powell/cheney/georgie and crew.

OR

2) blatantly pandering to the pro-war bloodthirsty elements that dominate (if not numerically, then in volume and tone) this country.

either way, such persons should be disqualified from holding office for a long, long time.

[Lex]

56. What matters to me is that George Bush be put out on his ass

and if you are NOT for that proposition right now, then you ARE for the war in Iraq right now.

All the hand-wringers need to get out of the way so we can get Bush out of the White House immediately.

[VolcanoJen]

53. Oh, please.

I didn't come off nearly as condescending as you did in your post.

As Lex notes below, have you heard the pro-war senators recently? Do your understand their outrage at being duped right along with us rank-and-file slobs?

And, if you call Edwards a "cheerleader," what kind of words have you reserved for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Feith, Tenet, Rice...?

Just curious. But, feel free to pop in and kill the buzz every chance you get. Any other issues you care to get off your chest, while the rest of us work our collective asses off to effect some real CHANGE in this desperate nation?

Here's a little more from that cherry-picked Edwards interview:

EDWARDS: The world will watch whether we follow through on the president's...

MATTHEWS: Right.

EDWARDS: ... promise to do something about the Aids crisis in Africa.

MATTHEWS: Right.

EDWARDS: The world is watching to see whether we, in fact, talk to our allies and consult them before we make decisions. There is a difference between announcing to the world this is what we're going to do, you can come with us or not...

MATTHEWS: Right.

EDWARDS: ... and leading in a way that brings others to us. That's the fundamental difference between George W. Bush and John Edwards.

<snip>

MATTHEWS: Do you support the NAACP boycott of South Carolina for flying the Confederate flag on the Capitol grounds?

EDWARDS: I believe very deeply that the Confederate flag should not be flown in front of the Capitol in South Carolina. It is having grown up in the South, having grown up with the Civil Right's movement, having seen the affect that that flag can have on a huge chunk of our people in this country, particularly African Americans. I think it's an enormous mistake to fly that flag, and it ought to be taken down.

<snip>

MATTHEWS: Do you think a person should be able to buy a gun at a gun show without a background check because they can't do a background check at a weekend gun show?

EDWARDS: No, I don't.

MATTHEWS: So you're against -- you're willing to stand up to the NRA on that baby?

EDWARDS: Absolutely.

[oasis]

67. Pro-war? Thickheaded rethugs call pro-choice "pro-abortion". They've

got a lot to learn as well.

[proud patriot]

11. Woo hoo

:bounce:

[Lex]

12. They have Dean Smith (UNC's basketball coach) right behind the speakers

on the stage.

Good move, imho.

[wishlist]

21. Elizabeth Edwards dad was an assistant coach at UNC Chapel Hill

I would guess that was after he served as a career Navy pilot

[Lex]

46. And Dean Smith's a Democrat too!

[LittleApple81]

13. I think somebody said that they will have it on C-Span. n/t

[AP]

17. Right now on CSPAN:

C-SPAN
U.S. Policy Toward Cuba
 
C-SPAN2
My Life
 
C-SPAN3
Ernie Pyle's War



Where's my RALLY!!!!

[LittleApple81]

29. I went and checked and found the same thing you did. Sorry. n/t

[LittleApple81]

31. This is what appears on their site:

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/event.csp?timeid=211956190798

Today's Events

Democratic Platform Committee Meeting
Presidential Radio Address
Democratic Radio Address
Democratic Platform Committee Meeting
Kerry-Edwards Campaign Rally

[Lex]

18. Elizabeth Edwards said "Wouldn't you rather have someone

in the White House who cares more for a family in Smithfield* than a Prince in Saudia Arabia?"

Good line!



*just a smallish NC town

[oasis]

30. "Prince in Saudi" she must've seen F/911 on the sly.

[HFishbine]

54. "just a smallish NC town" - PUHLEEZE!!!

Home of the worlds' best damn barbeque!

[Lex]

58. Okay, you're right! I can't argue with that!! n/t

[HFishbine]

60. I wonder what they could do

with tofu.

[patricia92243]

19. I'm so proud of my state.

[Tarheel_Dem]

20. same here!

i definitely think (fingers crossed) this puts us in play :toast:

[SunDrop23]

23. My heart is beating so fast with excitement and hope right now!

I am watching the rally live on local TV. I was unable to attend today as I had planned because my grandmother (lifelong Dem) is not feeling well. We are watching it together and are so impressed, excited, overcome with pride to be Democrats!

What a fantastic day!

[Tarheel_Dem]

26. cheers sundrop.........

& welcome to DU. hope your grandmother feels better. wish i could be there too. unfortunately, i'm in high point & there's no local coverage & i have 223 channels :shrug: ?

[faithnotgreed]

28. good on you and your g'mother! hope she feels better after the rally!

[SunDrop23]

41. Thanks for the welcome!!! and my grandmother says thanks too!!!!

[faithnotgreed]

43. absolutely! i graduated from nc state and i feel a bit of me there

with you guys, cheering them on. im not in nc anymore (after 14 years of living there) but today i sure wish i did!

i really do hope your g'mother will feel better. ive heard how hot it is there so it wouldve been a tough time even for those in good health

thanks for the enthusiasm from both of you. its a beautiful thing

[Lex]

22. Teresa Kerry said "We need leaders who are respected because

.
they inspire, not because they attack."

And she said: "It is time that the opinions and knowledge of women be a part of the governance of the world!"


And "We need to see a time when women who merely express opinions are NOT labelled 'opininated' but are called 'thoughtful, intelligent, and well-informed!'"

[SunDrop23]

24. John E. just said 25,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yaaaaay!

[Lex]

39. 25,000 people---awesome!

[SunDrop23]

The place is packed!!!!!!!!!!

[SunDrop23]

42. The place is packed!!!!!!!!!!

[Literate Tar Heel]

25. Edwards speaking now

on News 14 (a N.C. channel) ... getting huge response ... huge crowd

[Tarheel_Dem]

27. welcome L.T.H.

:toast:

[Literate Tar Heel]

33. ha

Kerry just asked if he could borrow Edwards for "at least 4 years", the crowd started chanting "8,8,8", and Kerry said, "how about 16?" ... big cheers

[SunDrop23]

66. Yes, welcome LTH from another newbie!

[wishlist]

35. Fox at least showed a good long part of Edwards' rousing speech!!!!!!!!

Just now, had some great coverage of him talking about Kerry's military service and Senate votes for vets, health care, clear air and water and his most forceful line was that when Kerry is in the White House he will always tell the American people the truth.

[Lex]

40. Glad the Fox News crowd got to see it!

" . . . he will always tell the American people the truth."

Damn right. Everybody's sick of the lying liars in the White House.

[VolcanoJen]

37. The Wednesday crowd in Dayton, Ohio was 18,000

Or so said the local police...

This is SO encouraging!!! Keep the huge crowds swelling!!!!

[Lerkfish]

47. I was there at the Dayton Rally

I personally estimated 20,000....though the paper said 15,000. I think I was closer. Great rally, btw!

[VolcanoJen]

57. Very cool, Lerkfish!

And, a belated welcome to DU!

I wrote my account as an official volunteer at the Dayton event a few days ago, in this thread, if you're interested. :D

Wasn't it a beautiful day?

[Lerkfish]

72. great summary of the event..

I was not ENTIRELY enamored of Kerry as of then, but this rally tipped me over into full support.
I Liked Dean previously.
Up until the rally, I was voting to get Bush out of office, but now I'm voting to get Kerry in.
He hit on all the things I care about, for the most part. I realize, as a democratic president against a republican congress he won't be able to deliver on all of them, but the fact that he recognizes what NEEDS to change is most of the battle.

[Lex]

38. Kerry talking about their similarities (himself & Edwards)

Kerry said,

"One, we both have the name "John"

Two, we are both lawyers

Three, he was named Sexiest Politican by People Magazine and . . . I read People Magazine!"


Big laugh from the crowd!

[VolcanoJen]

44. CNN LIVE with video NOW!!! Also reported the 20,000 number!!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Lex]

49. It was almost 100 degrees outside and 800 were treated for the heat

and 7 went to the hospital because of the heat.

People REALLY wanted to see these guys!

[VolcanoJen]

50. It was similarly uncomfortable in Ohio Wednesday.

The heat and sun took down at least 10 people... my kudos to the Secret Service agents and paramedics who quickly tended to the crowd.

I am so encouraged by this huge crowds turning out to see the new ticket; I'm also encouraged by the wonderful anti-Bush crowd in Lancaster, Pennsylvania - check out this thread!

[BlackVelvetElvis]

59. WXII-our NBC affiliate

showed the entire thing live! I wish I were there.
That was followed by a Broyhill, Robinson and Bush commercial.
I felt like pulling an Elvis on my tv. :evilgrin:

[Tarheel_Dem]

61. you're kidding me....

i missed it. :-(

[HFishbine]

64. Howdy

neighbor!

:hi:

[salonghorn70]

63. Comparison To Clinton

Clinton didn't draw crowds of this size until September.

[ShaneGR]

I remember a rally in 92 in Akron, Ohio

25,000 came to see Clinton at the Akron Air Docks (Goodyear air blimps). This time around it will be more.... I'd guess that if they gave a 2 week notice 50 thousand... at least.

[ShaneGR]

69. I remember a rally in 92 in Akron, Ohio

25,000 came to see Clinton at the Akron Air Docks (Goodyear air blimps). This time around it will be more.... I'd guess that if they gave a 2 week notice 50 thousand... at least.

[Literate Tar Heel]

70. I was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill

when Clinton came to speak there during his first term ... we filled Kenan Stadium to the brim (about 50,000 or so) ... and gee, no protesters had to be carted off to "free-speech zones" either ... imagine that

[ArnoldLayne]

71. I saw Clinton in July 1992

at a Wheeling WV rally their were about 10,000 people even though Raleigh is a larger city.

[Zomby Woof]

73. Welcome to DU

Syd Barrett is with us! :hi:

[Lex]

65. Thanks to Literate Tarheel for this great picture!

The crowd estimated to be 25,000 on a near 100 degree day today in Raleigh, NC.