Obamamania coming to Oakland!

[Rickypt]

http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/oakland0317

Obama's having a rally in downtown Oakland this Saturday! I'm there....hope I don't faint!

Obama in the afternoon, then Storm Large concert in the evening. Does it get any better?

[skcin]

Yes - if it were Obama & Dilana. Make sure you give us some info afterwards.

[Rickypt]

Obama rally....interesting and slightly underwhelming. First, he needs to fire the fool who decided to put the stage BELOW the crowd. Nobody could see him except the first few rows.

We stood in line for 1 1/2 hours, then stood for another 1 1/2 hours for him to show up (while listening to a tired band doing covers of 70 funk songs). Then we can't see him the entire time he's speaking? That's messed up.....I felt not connected.

And, for all the hoopla about how he is a great public speaker, he fumbled quite a bit over his words. Maybe he was tired. I liked most of what I heard: war was wrong from the start, we need to start withdrawing in next few months, we need quality care for troops when they get home, let's invest more in education, we need universal health care, etc.

However, his speech was a strange mix of overly vague and too specific on boring things. For example, when talking about the health care crisis, he droned about things like electronic medical files. I think if you're doing to talk about health care, you should reach people in the heart and the gut and give real examples of people who have to choose between rent and medicine and people who have become bankrupt because of lack of health care insurance. Missed opportunity and he needs to work on that.

His shining moment was talking about the need to overcome pettiness and cynicism and that government can be an agent for change. Also when he talked about how change is made from the bottom up and he gave examples throughout history.

After the speech, we stood with people where his car came out and he flashed the peace sign as he drove away.

I give it a B-. In many ways, he's a victim of his own success. There is so much hype about how inspirational he is, that if he gives a so-so speech, then some people are going to be disappointed.

Big plus for holding the rally in Oakland, an often neglected urban area. The crowd was very diverse and tons of young people. I don't expect Hillary to have a rally in the same city. Obama is doing a good job reaching out to people not typically included in the political process.

My friend and I have a goal of seeing all Democratic candidates, so I will post reviews as they happen.

I'd say that the result is Obama still my #1 candidate, but I'm much more open to others like Edwards.

[estranged4life]

Obama is coming to OKC tomorrow - however I aint paying $25 to see a candidate.

Sorry, there's NO CANDIDATE I would be willing to pay to see.

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by estranged4life

Obama is coming to OKC tomorrow - however I aint paying $25 to see a candidate.

Sorry, there's NO CANDIDATE I would be willing to pay to see.

I wouldn't pay either. I'm surprised to hear there is a charge.