Kerry Rally in Madison a big bust?

WTMJ Radio | 10/29/2004 | 620 wtmj

[small voice in the wilderness]

Exactly. If Kerry needs the stoner votes, he should set up a voting booth at Taco Bell.

[wildandcrazyrussian]

I was going to type in something about how the Pittsburgh newpaper had front-page coverage of the rally with a nice large picture so that everybody could think Kerry had 80,000 at a Democrat rally -- but I got distracted coming down the thread and forgot what I was going to say

[Boomer Geezer]

Does this sounds like Kerry has 'momentum' going into the final days of the election???

Nah ... they should hold the offices open until midnight when all the folks that got drugged up during the "concert" finally "come down" and just happen to remember they should have voted. ... that is if they have a note pinned to their jackets or something like that.

[MisterRepublican]

Fox News often depends on AP and the rest of the leftwing media for their information.

[brewcrew]

There were a good number of people there. 80,000? I don't know. What's more interesting is that he was in the heart of his base 5 days out from the election.

This image adorned the front page of our local rag this morning.

[hchutch]

FYI ping...

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Dave Grohl really pisses me off. Grrrrrr.....

[silverleaf]

Maybe we'll find Kerry's huge mass of supporters in the same place as the missing 377 tons of Iraqi ammunition?

[flashbunny]

yep. He's a talented musician and songwriter. But he's an idiot when it comes to politics.

[ricer1]

"What's more interesting is that he was in the heart of his base 5 days out from the election."

Is it possible that he's in overdrive... while in retreat?

This is strange...

[mountaineer]

The media consistently have overstated the size of Kerry's crowds everywhere since Day One. It's no surprise they'd turn 10 or 15 thousand into 80,000. Wishful thinking at its worst.

[Freebird Forever]

On radio station 'wiba' a reporter on the scene asked police who were present who said the crowd may have been 10,000 at most.

I saw the news video and the event appears to have been held outdoors. Do you know where? (Mifflin St. perhaps?)

News footage can distort the perception of crowd size, but when I heard the 80,000 number and then learned that it was NOT held in Camp Randall stadium, the BS meter went off.

Where there any aerial photos taken that can be compared to previous block parties or festivals?

[latina4dubya]

i believe Joe Scarborough said there was 40-50,000 people...

[Sulsa]

Madison is known as the Berkeley of the midwest. It's an area Kerry should have sewn up by now.

Kerry has Madison (Dane County) sewn up with no problems, it's the rest of the state that is going to vote Bush. The President is being more effective campaigning here in Wisconsin because he is speaking to areas that are more evenly split politically. Kerry comes to Madison to speak to people that are going to vote for him anyways. Not the best strategy to have, IMO. He can't go to the rural areas because he won't get a turnout like he will in Madison. He's struggling for breath and wanted to have a huge crowd to make it look like he is pulling huge crowds.

[EDINVA]

there were a LOT of factors against increased voting .. 1) people from out of state bused in; 2) teachers from other parts of the state; 3) students also from out of town, who probably vote at home town, if they vote at all!

[flashbunny]

Yep - GWB has been appearing in 'reagan democrat' areas and drawing big crowds all by himself.

Meanwhile, Kerry is going into die-hard dem areas and having to use star power (springsteen, clinton) to draw crowds.

I think at the end of this, many pollsters will be revealed to be nothing more than frauds used by the news media to create storylines.

[numberonepal]

Dave Grohl!
Aww man :(

[BushisTheMan]

Well, Dems always like something for free, even a concert by a hasbeen like the Boss.

I noticed that the cameras took a long shot of this rally to show the big crowd. Normally the OLD MEDIA only show the few people behind Kerry and in the first rows (sort of like Saddam rallies used to do)....but never a shot back at the crowds in attendance, except for this one.

hmmmmmm.....

[Sulsa]

Don't worry my fellow FReepers... I believe the Cheeseheads here will deliver Wisconsin into Bush's hands on Nov 2nd! I bet 70% of the people at this rally were there to see Bruce Springsteen and the Foo Fighters. Don't let this 80,000 number get to you out there...

[spottswoode]

I'm glad you made the point about the teacher's convention. There are thousands of teachers from all over the state in Madison for 2 days.