Yesterday, I met Reagan Democrats waiting on line in Pittsburgh who are happily voting for Obama.
They're finally fed up, disgusted and know the whole thing was nothing more than a bunch of bullshit and one big con game on the American people.
Doors opened at 3PM at the Mellon Arena.
But before we got in, we waited on line. And what do you do on a long line? You talk to the people around you. I talked to two woman who had come from a Pittsburgh suburb about an hour away. They were unabashed Republican. One said, "they've (the Republican Party) destroyed us". Her Republican friend was a "straight up" healthcare voter.
Then they grabbed me by the arm and whispered, "we're Obama Republicans, don't believe what you read in the papers. So are lots of our neighbors, I'm positive there are thousands of us here."
The Mellon Center arena seats 16,958 for ice hockey, 17,132 at standing room capacity. It was PACKED!
In Pittsburgh Obama spoke of economic renewal, his mother's simultaneous fight with cancer and insurance companies, and his own vow to "end discrimination against sick people" by these very insurance companies. This is the message that is resonating with the lovely people who call themselves Obama Republicans.
Take a look.
Wonder why so many Republicans are deserting their party? Because the party deserted them.
We shouldn't be surprised. By the end of the eight year assault on the American people by George Bush, Republican moderates (my friends from the Obama rally line) were driven out of the party. Today, the depravity of the McCain campaign has even exiled many of their so-called intellectuals -- people like Andrew Sullivan, George Will, David Brooks, Peggy Noonan and Christopher Buckley. But, for average Americans, (my friends again), the final assault was the total collapse of market fundamentalism which is at the core of conservative ideology.
Let's talk about election day reality in a critical swing state for a moment.
The GOTV effort which has a huge make that formidable AFL-CIO participation will be responsible for returning to the Democratic fold the Reagan Democrats and turning them into Obama Republicans, or whatever they'll now be called. I saw for myself what's going on. We went to the headquarters of the United Steelworkers. I'm hapy to report that it is an immense beehive of election focused activity. Call it, Leave No Voter Behind.
Here we are receiving a pre-November 4th pep talk from Geri Jenkins and Deborah Burger (Council of Presidents of the California Nurses Association) and Tom O'Brien the Assistant Director of USW Strategic Campaigns at the Steelworkers Union, a monumental icon of American labor power.
Then on to the rally.
What can I say? I was so damn blessed to be there--witness to history. I wasn't in Denver, so this was a real big deal for me.
The pundits seem to think that Pennsylvania will be McCain's last stand, so Obama urged the crowd to vote, vote, vote. He knows the future is in our hands, not his, we're in this together. He is our mesenger, we--the American people--are his muscle.
Please join us inside this amazing event.
This was my first Obama rally so it was breathtaking to see the lines of ordinary citizens eager to participate in an historic event. The lines snaked for blocks.
If the GOTV is as well organized as this, we win. The Obama campaign had volunteers every few feet moving us swifty. The wait was not bad at all, and there were goodies to buy along the way.
When we got to the magnatometers, I was surprised to see them behind run by our friends (off duty, presumably) from TSA.
The significance of the line was the incredible organization, speed and military-like precision which bodes well for election day.
The AFL-CIO is going to be out in force on election day. They've poured millions of dollars, and hundreds of thousands of union member volunteers into massive voter outreach, which will go into overdrive on November 4th with the most elaborate GOTV campaign in the history of our nation.
Here's a steelworker who was sitting next to me getting fired up and ready to go.
I had great seats right next to the TV camera stand, here is Major Garrett our friend from Fox News getting himself squared away for some fair and balanced reporting.
Governor Ed Rendell, and Senator Bob Casey spoke first.
