Obama Rallies 75K in Portland

Barack Obama drew an estimated 75,000 people to the Portland waterfront yesterday, in the largest political rally Oregon has ever seen. The gates were filled to capacity at 60,000, another 12,000 crowded outside the gates, and some even gathered on boats in the Willamette River and on jetties on the opposite bank. Obama’s speech focused primarily on John McCain, with occasional Oregon-specific flourishes, and big anti-war applause lines.

“Wow, wow, wow,” Obama said, looking out over the sea of people. “We have had a lot of rallies. This is the most spectacular setting, the most spectacular crowd we have had this entire campaign.”  (More Obama 2008 stories.)