Ah, now I understand why the schedulers put Joe Biden at Mehlville High School in South St. Louis County today. The area is critical to Obama’s chances in Missouri. It is a part of the third congressional district that’s been split evenly, with Bush edging Kerry out there in ’04. It used to be decidedly Republican, but now it’s like St. Charles, starting to ease in the direction of the Democrats.
As Russ Carnahan, Congressman for folks in South County, pointed out, “Missouri is the best bellwether state in the country” so South County voters “are going to decide not just who wins Missouri but who wins the presidency.” And, Carnahan warned, “this is not the time for a warmed over McBush third term in Washington.” To justify using “McBush”, Carnahan noted that McCain has bragged about voting with Bush 90 percent of the time. “Is there anybody here that only wants 10 percent change? Because if you do, then McCain and Palin are your candidates.”
Carnahan has become a polished speaker; he was a fine warm up band. But make no mistake about it: Biden was the show.
Hot damn, he went after Republican ideology with fire breathing fervor, pacing the stage and sometimes leaving it. Had that crowd in the palm of his hand, he did, as he sent McCain and Palin to Davey Jones’s locker, then lifted the crowd to cloud nine with visions of what an Obama administration hopes to accomplish as far as keeping jobs at home, offering universal health care, and subsidizing alternative energy.
He was specific. It’s not easy to rev up a thousand people with statistics, but he knew how to mix outrage, optimism and facts into a heady brew.
Biden spoke for 45 minutes. I’ll put sections of the speech up as I get them posted to YouTube in the coming days.
Not to make you poor working stiffs who couldn’t attend resent me, but I have to tell you that you regret missing this event.
what kind of persons were in the crowd? I can see the importance of South County. But unless most of the people in South County are shift workers who are off in the afternoon – it still seems an incredibly odd time to have an event.
Biden is one of the best campaigners ever. His ability to connect with an audience in a room was supposedly unrivalled by Clinton, Obama, or even Edwards in Iowa. He just didn’t have the money or organization to turn that into caucusgoers this year.
was well received with a positive reaction. I have been watching his voting record and for the most part I have been very pleased. Seems to me he has earned some creds in his short time in office.
I really hated missing Biden’s speech as I am already a big fan but had a scheduled event I couldn’t cancel. I look forward to seeing your videos. Also, I’m glad to hear it was well-attended even though at such a tough time of day for many.