I’ve seen bands ranging from Tool, to Jars of Clay, to Hootie and the Blowfish in concert.
I’ve been to a World Series game, but never before have I seen this type of celebrity status and celebration for a member of congress. It is understood he is one of the last men… err persons… in the road to Washington, but never would I have imagined hearing chants of “Yes we can” and “Si se puede” eight months before the real election day.
Earlier this week former president Bill Clinton came through Fort Worth. To be honest, he was more of a traveling sideshow than the former leader of the free world.
If a numbers comparison is needed, Obama’s rally in Dallas drew about 17,000 people. The indoor stadium capacity of the convention center is 10,500. There are 10,000 overflow spots available to watch the junior senator speak away from the hall.
For a fun juxtaposition, by midway through the 2007 season the Texas Rangers were averaging only 29,000 fans per game. As the season progressed the numbers continually dropped, it seems to be different for Obama.
They are young. Perhaps it is the growing trend in politics. Start them young and get them to the polls early.
It isn’t just a white aristocratic thing to do anymore.
Voting is for everyone. It is a right. It is a privilege. It is the 26th Amendment.
When the music from James Brown to Bruce Springsteen echoed through the Fort Worth Convention Center, there was an attitude of change.
There were more than just the AARP coming out to see a congressman speak.
It was black, white, Hispanic, Asian, old, young, rich and poor standing in wait.
Nobody was turned away from the man who professes he is a “change we can believe in.”
From the press row, the arena looks more and more crowded. There are more people in here than have ever shown up for a Fort Worth Brahmas hockey game and more were here than were ever in attendance for the Fort Worth Flyers basketball team.
Families are gathered together to see someone who they trust can change the nation. He already changed the face of politics, the next thing is to see if he can change the face of the White House and eventually the Face of a Nation.
The lines seem to be moving faster than in Dallas last week. In fact, the Convention Center looks to be at about 90 percent capacity already and the doors have been open less than an hour.
There’s already quite a bit of purple here — as both organizers and attendees.
Photo by Andrew Chavez, editor-in-chief
From the respective campaign press offices:
Obama
When: 8 p.m. Thursday; doors open at 6 p.m. Thursday
Where: Fort Worth Convention Center
1201 Houston St.
Fort Worth, TX 76102
Huckabee
When: 4 p.m Friday
Where: Stockyards
Clinton
When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Stockyards
130 E. Exchange Ave
Fort Worth, TX 76164
Results of a recent CNN poll reveal the opinion of Texas voters about the presidential frontrunners and the issues.
The poll interviewed 2,149 adults including 751 voters who say they are likely to vote in the Texas Republican presidential primary and 861 who say they are likely to vote in the Texas Democratic presidential primary.
When asked which candidate voters would support for the Republican nomination for president, 56 percent of likely Republican voters said they would vote for Arizona Sen. John McCain, while 36 percent said they would vote for Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Nine percent support Ron Paul and four percent had no opinion.
On the Democratic side, 50 percent of likely voters support Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president and 46 percent support New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. The polls reveal four percent had no opinion.
The poll also includes public opinion on issues such as health care, the economy, illegal immigration and the war in Iraq. Both democratic candidates are basically tied in this part of the poll.
CNN conducted the survey by phone and the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
According to a news release, there’s a “Stand for Change Rally” for Barack Obama at the Fort Worth Convention Center at 8 p.m. Thursday. Doors open at 6 p.m. The campaign is encouraging everyone to RSVP on Obama’s Web site. Space is available on a first-come, first-serve basis; the campaign discourages signs and personal items for security reasons, according to the release.
Hillary Clinton’s office has released more details about her husband’s upcoming appearances in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, two of which will be tomorrow in Fort Worth.
Check back tomorrow for coverage.
The schedule:
10:00 a.m.
President Clinton Attends Early Vote Event
Grauwyler Park
7780 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas
11:45 a.m.
President Clinton Attends Early Vote Event
Mountain View Community College, East Patio
4849 W. Illinois Ave., Dallas
1:15 p.m.
President Clinton Attends Early Vote Event
Park at Samuell Grand Recreation Center
6200 E. Grand Ave., Dallas
2:45 p.m.
President Clinton Attends Early Vote Event
Grapevine Community Center (field behind parking lot)
1209 S. Main St., Grapevine
4:15 p.m.
President Clinton Attends Early Vote Event
Worth Heights Community Center
Northeast Parking Lot
On Echo Lake Drive (near community center)
Fort Worth
5:30 p.m.
President Clinton Attends Early Vote Event
Marine Park
Corner of Ellis and Northwest 15th streets (near soccer field)
Fort Worth
Presidential hopeful Barack Obama is coming to Fort Worth on Thursday for a “Stand for Change Rally.” The location isn’t public yet but it’s supposed to be an evening event, according to the candidate’s Web site. More details to come.
Also, former President Bill Clinton is stopping in Fort Worth on Tuesday for an early vote rally after he makes a Dallas stop, according to his wife, Hillary’s, Web site. The stop is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Marine Park (map below).
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has yet to reschedule the rally she canceled last week but she’s scheduled to make a stop at a Fort Worth home Friday for a fundraiser and local organizers said she might reschedule the rally for Friday.
Hillary Clinton spoke for about five minutes this morning downtown, opting to not hold a scheduled campaign rally. She cited the death of a Dallas police officer this morning in her motorcade as reason for the cancellation.
Former House Speaker Jim Wright was in attendance and said Clinton will return to Fort Worth soon.
“I think she did the right thing,” Wright said. “Its obvious you cant give a campaign speech when someone has sacrificed their life.”
The debate is over now, but instead of watching Anderson Cooper parade a circus of experts around the newsroom asking each one of them if Hillary “showed enough leg” to pull off a Texas upset, let’s reflect on a few things that may have been overlooked about this Austin showdown.
Why, at the largest public university in the country, was a debate for 1,700 people? CNN political director Sam Feist told the University Daily Texan, “We need to balance the number of spectators in the hall or in the auditorium with the ability to produce the debate for your television audience and the millions of people that are watching at home.”
I guess the Frank Erwin Center was booked for the night.
But that didn’t deter Texas students from weighing in. Earlier this week, students stopped by the University Daily Texan newsroom with their own questions for the presidential hopefuls. You can check out their questions at www.dailytexanonline.com.
Students ran the gamet of issues from asking whether the candidates prefer pie or cake to debating the affordability of higher education. The Daily Texan submitted the questions to CNN to ask during the debate.
We didn’t find out if Hillary preferred coconut cream or red velvet, but there was something on those kids’ faces that looked very familiar to me. College students are crying out to be heard in this race, but I’m really not sure if anyone is listening.
I think many politicians group young people into one category, and fail to see the diversity that exists among kids today. We may all be YouTube and Xbox junkies, but we’re also an opinionated and educated crowd that raises some pretty good questions.
On that note, I think I’m going to have to get myself a piece of pie.
The staff at the Daily Skiff blog on DailySkiff.com about campus news and sports.
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