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Obama in St. Louis

Oct 18, 2008

maha

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[Update: This photograph moves me deeply, and not just because of the size of the crowd. The blue-domed building in the background is the old courthouse, where the Dred Scott case was tried in the ~~1840s~~ 1850s.]

There was a massive Obama rally in St. Louis this afternoon. Here’s some coverage from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Video diary of Obama rally

Watch: Video from the Obama crowd at the Arch

Obama rally: Secret Service puts crowd at 80,000

The Secret Service estimated 80,000 people attended the rally at the Arch today, but St. Louis police estimated 100,000. That’s a lot of people. Missouri recently slipped from the leaning-McCain column into the slightly-leaning-toward-Obama column, I understand, although it will be very close.

And judging by the videos, people at Obama rallies are nicer than people at McCain rallies.

Tigers! Maul those Longhorns!

Update: “All I Can Say Is, Wow“

Spotlight

7 Comments

joanr16 • Oct 18, 2008 @4:50 pm

Just ten minutes ago, I made HuffPo’s front-page photo of that crowd my new desktop wallpaper.

I’m in that crowd in spirit. And we’re the pro-Americans standing up to the hate-ist dregs at the Palin/McCain rallies.

I was admiring that old domed building in the background; I thought, “How pretty and dignified it looks in that context.” I was ignorant of its history. Now it looks to me like the torch in Miss Liberty’s hand.

You go, Missouri.
maha • Oct 18, 2008 @4:59 pm

So far I haven’t seen anyone else mention the courthouse, which surprises me. The symbolism is just too perfect.
Crawford Kilian • Oct 18, 2008 @5:46 pm

The courthouse symbolism is indeed powerful. The Dred Scott case was decided by the Supreme Court in 1857, but who’s counting?

One consequence of that decision was the mass migration of hundreds of black persons from San Francisco to British Columbia in 1858, where they helped to ensure that the new nation of Canada would stretch from Atlantic to Pacific.

So as a Canadian strongly supporting Obama, that courthouse means a lot to me as well.
A Canadian Reader • Oct 18, 2008 @6:03 pm

Here’s a link that a friend sent to me. It’s a great laugh:
http://www.palinaspresident.us
maha • Oct 18, 2008 @6:08 pm

Crawford — we were both wrong. Dred Scott first brought suit in 1847, and lost. The case was heard in several other courts, including the Missouri Supreme Court, then to the U.S. Circuit Court in St. Louis in 1854, finally to the Supreme Court (which is not in St. Louis) in 1856, and was decided in 1857.
Crawford Kilian • Oct 18, 2008 @8:04 pm

Good point, Maha–I was focussed on the USSC decision, not on the start of Dred Scott’s case. It was clearly part of the astonishing intellectual and political ferment of the black American community–free and slave–in the 1840s and 1850s.
Swami • Oct 19, 2008 @12:12 am

That’s an intense photograph..there’s a lot that can be read into it. For me, I gain a sense of pride in America, and a sense of hope and progression for America by viewing it. The words of Dr. Martin Luther King come to mind…” I might not get there with you,but I’ve seen the promised land”.