A record crowd of 75,000 gathers for Obama in Oregon
The Chicago Tribune | May 19, 2008
By Jim Tankersley
They waited for hours under a warm sun, the line snaking for blocks and blocks through downtown. They packed onto the park lawn, from the makeshift stage to the waterfront and up to the street.
...They brought their parents and their infants. Some skipped work. Some wilted in the heat. A few jammed the streets afterward, hoping for a final motorcade glimpse. Fire department officials counted 75,000 in all, a record for the main attraction, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
...The event's energy called to mind the icy Springfield day, more than a year ago, when Obama announced his candidacy. He had made "a bet," he told the Portland crowd, that Americans were hungry for a fresh face and a new brand of politics.
"I am here to report that my bet has paid off, that my faith in the American people was vindicated," Obama said in Tom McCall Waterfront Park. "This is the message that Oregon is going to send on Tuesday. We are tired of business as usual, and we are going to change America."
