Minor point: The speech was given at the University of Illinois in Urbana. (Or Champaign-Urbana to be even more exact)
However....
Considering that UI/Chicago (aka Navy Pier back in my day) has a smaller student population than the Champaign-Urbana Main campus, that attendance figure leaves me "seriously" gobsmacked.
There were only 28,000 students at the school 'way back in the 60's when I was there and I'd claim you could draw a crowd of well over a thousand in thirty seconds flat for a stone-ugly coed's costume malfunction. (I recall a celebration of the Illini football team's upset victory over Purdue that wound up with close to 10,000 of us running all over the entire area....)
Gee. No wonder The 0 was sounding so out-of-sorts.
has a smaller student population than the Champaign-Urbana Main campus
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No doubt why the smaller of the two was chosen for his visit. Just like Hillary, who began to campaign in smaller and smaller halls and rooms with fewer and fewer students, some who were photoshopped in.
Agree..
My Sister attended UI at what was called then the Chicago Circle Campus
I have been to events like Choir where she was a member and even UICC Football games that drew more people than he did
I find that attendance says a LOT about where his “status” stand, even in Illinois which is pretty blue even if moreso in college towns and Cook County
Great sign to me
My kids both graduated from U of I Champaign and a showing of 1000 is dismal especially in liberal land! There were 36,000+ in attendance in 2006. There has to be more now.