Posted on 10/26/2008 8:19:17 AM PDT by ResistorSister
CANTON Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who is scheduled to be in Canton on Monday, will deliver "an important address" at the Memorial Civic Center rather than his typical stump speech, his campaign said tonight.
A campaign spokesman said he could not disclose any further details.
The campaign is apparently organizing an event at the civic center at 1101 Market Ave. N that's different from the standard political rally. The spokesman said that no entertainment has been booked. In addition, Geoff Tompkins, manager and director of event services for the civic center, said Obama's advance team told him that they wanted a venue that would be appropriate for a "policy speech."
A press release said that Obama would "discuss his plans to turn around the economy, bring new jobs to Ohio and deliver the change we need in Washington."
The campaign says it will not release specifics on Obama's arrival and departure from Canton, nor would it say where he'll stay Sunday night. He is scheduled Sunday to campaign in Colorado. After his speech in Canton, he's set to go to Pittsburgh, a spokesman said.
LIVE IN CANTON
The event here will start at 12:30 p.m. The Obama campaign said the doors at the McKinley lobby entrance on the south side of the civic center will open no later than 10:30 a.m. Free tickets were distributed this afternoon and evening at Obama's campaign offices in Canton at 111 Second St. NW, Alliance at 15 S. Arch Ave. and Massillon at 35 Erie St. N along with the Stark County Democratic Party office at 4220 12th St. NW in Canton Township. Tickets were to be handed out between 2 and 8 p.m. Sunday.
The campaign declined to say how many tickets still were available or how many were passed out Saturday. Tompkins said the civic center's capacity can vary from 3,500 to 5,000 people, depending on the configuration. He added that the Obama campaign will pay $12,000 to rent the facility.
Healy said the campaign also had considered holding the event at Fawcett Stadium, but the campaign apparently went with the smaller civic center because of forecasts of chilly, rainy weather Monday.
RUSHING TO GET TICKETS
At about 7 p.m. tonight, a steady stream of people was stopping by Obama's Canton office to pick up the blue event tickets. At times, a line went out the door. A campaign volunteer said the line wrapped around the building at one point in the afternoon.
C.J. Cooper, 19, of Dover, a Walsh University sophomore, originally went to the office looking for tickets to a pro-Obama rally in Cleveland on Wednesday featuring rapper Jay-Z and Cavs star LeBron James. He ended up settling for tickets to see Obama on Monday.
"It's a little disappointing, but still encouraging at the same time," he said, tongue in cheek. He said he'll be skipping statistics class to attend Obama's speech. But he doesn't think his professor will care.
"I think he's for Obama."
Ophelia Owens, 60, of Canton, was shopping at the Value City Department Store in Canton Township, near Meyers Lake, when her son called her with news of Obama's visit. She immediately rushed to the Canton office.
"I want to be there to support him," she said. "I think we're almost in a depression. I think he's going to bring back the economy. I think he's going to bring troops home from the war."
Mayor William J. Healy II said Obama told him earlier this year at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Miami that he planned to visit Canton. Local Democrats have been pressing the campaign for weeks to arrange for Obama to visit Stark County. Healy said it could be Obama's last major stop in Ohio before the election.
"They knew Canton was one of the biggest cities they hadn't hit yet. I knew they wanted to save it for the end."
Is the bus being warmed up? Usually these “important speeches” involve someone being thrown under it.
there are election laws against campaigning within so many feet of a voting booth. they wouldn’t DARE to place a real voting booth at that rally.
“Hope for the future” meaning hope I can take the white house and establish a dictatorship in the USA.
My solution is to be the best person I could be, dive into the Church and pray for God's will and do good works within my community. What else can we do?
I thought every word that passes from the lips of that pompous ass was to be considred “important>
My connections tell me that this new Department of DOPEs might even be a new Cabinet position and will include the eradication of any and all unfairly obtained advantages of personal expertise.
Discussions maintain that Federal Government officials will provide services intended to provide critical essentials to all incapable (unfairly) citizens. Such essential services to be provided include bottom wiping for those mis-fortunate Americans who need a “hand up” due to the unfair policies of George Bush.
He’s changing his definition of “wealthy” to “$265,000/year and white collar”.
The new policy is that we want to impose Sharia Law in the USA begining January 21st , 2008 the day after I am sworn in on my family Koran.
He’s probably going to announce his star cabinet lineup.
Bill and Hill, Colin Powell, Warren Buffett, etc.
He’ll do something to preempt Berg’s appeal to the Supreme Court. Now that its at the Supreme Court’s door, team Soetoro needs to address the issue publicly.
“Will he tell Canton that he is really a Socialist?”
They’d probably welcome the news. That part of Ohio is really, really bad off. I mean - really, really bad off. It’s my understanding 0 has the Akron/Canton area locked up tight.
They did in Fayetteville, NC at an Obama rally.
Source: AP FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — North Carolina's Republican leaders lashed out at a county elections board that expanded the number of early voting sites open Sunday to accommodate people attending a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Terri Robertson, director of Cumberland County's elections, said she was concerned that a crush of people Sunday afternoon would leave her staff working all night to process voters. Elections officials are required to process anyone who is in line by close of polls at 5 p.m. "We decided that the best thing to do for our staff was to open two more sites so they weren't up all night processing voters," Robertson said. The full elections board, including one Republican member, voted unanimously on Friday to open two additional voting sites Sunday, bringing the total to five. The county does not plan to open voting sites on Sundays for the rest of the early voting period, but will have polling places open the next two Saturdays as well as week days, according to a schedule on the state elections Web site.
Whatever it is, it’s probably a precursor/teaser to his airtime on Tuesday. I heard last night he got all 4 major networks.
I think he’s inducting himself in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
I’m wondering if it’s a sick grandmother leveraging stunt of some sort.
Democrat: Obama’s Grandma Confirms Kenyan Birth
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2115674/posts
Maybe he had to go see his sick Grandma to find out what she said on the tape so he can get around it...Oh and he is getting free news coverage. HA
I found this very odd the other day when I heard Michelle on the campaign trail telling about a phone conversation less then an hour earlier with a sweet little lady who was a single mom, lost a son, is going blind, and faced many hardships that was so worried about Obamas grandma and was praying for her. Michelle’s response was to say how touched she was that this women was concerned about grandma with all the hardships she was going thru and she just wanted her to know, “GRANDMA IS ALRIGHT”.... If any one can find that video and post it..... Because there is a major difference between the wife’s and the hubby’s description of how grandma is. And yes, bless grandma, she is innocent!
He’s gonna admit he was born in Kenya and is a Muslim.
</sarc>
these sites were AT the site of the rally? OR were there just two new sites openned at other sites?
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