[CedarDave]

AHA!! the 17,000 figure was from the organizers, not the press. Here is this from the morning ABQ Journal story:

With President Bush returning today to New Mexico— a state considered one of 10 or 11 battleground states nationally in the Nov. 2 election— Kerry spoke to a big crowd in a high school football stadium called "The Field of Dreams." The crowd appeared to number at least 10,000, and organizers said there were 17,000 people.

http://abqjournal.com/elex/248165elex10-24-04.htm?rrc

[Logophile]

AHA!! the 17,000 figure was from the organizers, not the press. Here is this from the morning ABQ Journal story:

With President Bush returning today to New Mexico— a state considered one of 10 or 11 battleground states nationally in the Nov. 2 election— Kerry spoke to a big crowd in a high school football stadium called "The Field of Dreams." The crowd appeared to number at least 10,000, and organizers said there were 17,000 people.

One of the local TV stations showed both the Kerry speech and the Notre Dame football game on split screen. The TV news people estimated the crowd at "several thousand." (It was hard to tell because they did not show many wide angle shots of the crowd.)

What struck me about Kerry's speech (aside from his shameless pandering and prevaricating) was how lackluster it was. At this point in the campaign, I am sure the candidates exhausted, and in Kerry's case it showed. The joke he told about Haliburton didn't get much of a response, and he did not seem to expect much. The various dignitaries on stage with him—including Governor Richardson and Senator Bingaman—applauded at the right times, but not with any great enthusiasm. My impression is that everyone is looking forward for this thing to end.