I was outside the Portland Expo when the President came. About 2,000 people got tickets to go inside to hear him speak, some standing in line for over twelve hours. About 200 couldn’t get in even though they had tickets (they handed out more than were seats available, not expecting some people to show up. But all who had tickets did so anyway).
The area outside was very different because of the Presidential visit. A Coast Guard chopper was circling overhead. At the fire station up the street, there were vehicles parked outside ready to respond, along with a couple Maine State Police tactical units. All of Park Avenue, which runs along the Expo building was blocked off, with traffic also blocked where Deering Avenue intersects Park. It’s basically a straight run from the Portland Jetport to the Expo Building. Portland Police lined the street on Park from around Weymouth to St. John Street. They had the K-9 units there, too, along with guys in suits who were obviously Secret Service (outside of Portland’s downtown business district and the universities, no one wears a suit).
There were between 300 and 400 people outside the area. The Obama supporters were in a bunch that occupied the middle of Park by Weymouth. The Obama protesters were in a bunch that was at right angles to them, going from Weymouth on down the street (that’s the highest point, as the street slopes down a bit until you reach St. John).
Of the total crowd outside, about 60% were Obama supporters and about 40% were protesters. The protesters were very visible with lots of signs and the “Don’t Tread on Me” flags. I walked down from the top of the street, to where the crowd started to thin out. That turned out to be the right thing to do.
About 3:10 or so, the Presidential motorcade came tearing up the street. Obama was in the second limo, with several big black SUVs and police cars surrounding him. The limo had to slow down to turn left into the Expo building, which was right where I was. I took some pictures and saw him wave to the people on the street. The crowd was very thin where I was (most were at the top of the street). The only protest sign that happened to be there was from a young guy who wanted to legalize marijuana. Two young Somali women in traditional dress were to my immediate left, and they were positioned just right to see the most of the President as his limo slowed down to turn into the building.
The women were smiling and giggling because they had seen the President and he had waved at them. The limo went straight into the Expo building, and we never saw him get out. Of the crowd overall, everyone was pleasant and friendly. It was a nice sunny day after two days of solid rain, and everyone was excited to see a President come to our small state (even if you didn’t care for his policies).
Maine is a state that will tend to support Obama, obviously. Maine is about 95% white, but the composition of the crowd outside was a little different, just because of where the Expo is located. Park Avenue and the neighborhood around it has many older buildings, the kind that are three stories or so and divided into multiple apartments. So that area is home to many recent immigrants; those I saw were mostly African or Somalian, with a couple of Mexicans. Naturally, since they lived right there, they just had to step outside to see the event.
Of the Obama supporters, they mostly had signs that were of the “Yes We Can” type (possibly 2008 left-overs), and a few more with ones thanking him for health-care and a couple others that advocated immigration reform (held up by some SE-Asian people). The Obama protesters had more signs and were more visible, but they were still of fewer numbers than the supporters (but likely were more energetic).
Everyone knew the President was going to be there for only an hour or so. About 4:00, the Obama protesters moved down the street from Weymouth to the intersection at St. John. That way, he would be sure to see their signs on the way out (unlike the route he took coming in). Around 4:10, we saw the Secret Service agents moving around, then five minutes later, the motorcade came out again. This time, since they did not have to slow down to turn, the motorcade got up to speed very quickly, just hauling ass out of town, with little chance to see anything of the President.
It’s a straight run from there to the Jetport, and they obviously did that for routine security. At best, Obama would have only gotten a brief glimpse of a few protesters when he crossed St. John (at least they tried). The crowd of people broke up very quickly after that, with everyone heading home.
Everyone was well-behaved; no incidents at all. I did see several of the small blue & white pro-Obama signs on the ground around the barricade area when I left. The only problem one person had was a lady in a blue sedan, who got into a car accident on Forest by Deering Park (a tricky place to drive at any time, but aggravated by the increased traffic). But I got a bunch of photos and I got to see the President drive by.