Obama Rally In Houston
As Errington mentioned in a recent post, I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Barack Obama rally held in Houston on Tuesday, 2/19.
Here are some facts and observations about this event.
It was held in the Downtown basketball arena used by the Houston Rockets. Nearly every seat in the house was full. Concession stands were open and people were having hot dogs and beer just like at the basketball game.
The crowd estimate I read was 19,000 people.
The line to get in the arena had been quite long. It took me maybe 75 minutes to get inside. Many waited much longer. I saw maybe 20 people in the line reading a book or a magazine.
A rough guess would be that maybe 60% of the crowd was black. I saw a number of older black men wearing suits and ties. This suggested that the rally was important to these men.
I saw a number of mixed race couples.
I felt there was a greater racial diversity among the younger people at the rally. But there people of all colors and all ages in attendance.
It is amazing to consider that Houston was a segregated city 45 years ago.
A warm-up band played disco and funk as well as songs sung in Spanish.
Rarely at events such as this, we were spared speeches by local politicians.
Still, the wait for Mr. Obama was long. I got inside around 6:15. I’d say Mr. Obama began speaking around 8:30.
The crowd was very good natured. This is what I took home from the rally. It was a happy group of people.
I had a book, but I called people instead. I called people all across America. Some people I called three or four times.
I’d say–”Hey, I’m at the Obama rally!”
A woman sitting near me kept trying to get folks to start the wave. The three young ladies behind me laughed a lot.
Finally, Senator Obama came on.
One of the first things Mr. Obama said was that he had won in Wisconsin.
This made the people even more happy.
Mr. Obama’s speech went on for some time. It ran a bit long.
That was okay though—He worked in both the policy stuff and the inspirational stuff.
The rally was fun and also had substance.
I feel that solid policy ideas were discussed. I agree that it does not hurt to talk to Iran. We do indeed need plans to help people pay for college. The Bush tax cuts should be allowed to expire.
More to the point, the multiracial and friendly crowd Senator Obama attracted represented a possible American future that was hopeful and decent.
What a contrast from the war and exclusion we have seen over the past 8 years.
