One weekend, two presidential candidates

Last weekend I went to a John McCain rally and a Barack Obama rally in Denver. Colorado is an official 'battleground' state so they want our votes! Here's Friday at the Western Stock Arena, the McCain rally attendance 4,000 strong (sorry, no Palin)::




Former Broncos quarterback John Elway introduced the Senator, as did John Lynch, a really popular Bronco who left last year and is considering another team, I hear.


48 hours later, Barack Obama made history by speaking to over 100,000 Coloradoans at Civic Center Park. A sea of people flooded the Park and stretched all the way to the steps of the Capitol building. In front of me::



See Barack? He's right there, at the podium!

And behind me (click for the larger version)::


It was amazing. I've never seen this before in Denver. I was one of 84,000 people at the Senator's DNC acceptance speech in August at Invesco Field, but this was different. No tickets required, first-come first-serve, early morning on a cold Sunday. People of all ages, hues, ethnicities, heights, temperaments, political affiliations attended this speech. It's a testament to Barack's overall message.



For comparison, last week's Obama crowd under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis reached about 100,000. Obama's excellent adventure throughout Europe this summer peaked in Berlin, where he spoke to a crowd topping 200,000. I counted the crowd while Barack spoke and my final tally was 114,293 people. Denver represent! We'll see if this Denver crowd translates into votes.