Previously:

Rallies in Jefferson City, Saturday, Feb. 26th: support organized labor or teabaggers, your pick (February 24, 2011)

Rallies in Jefferson City, Saturday, Feb. 26th: organized labor or teabaggers – photos (February 26, 2011)

Indications of the lunatic fringe, on a vehicle parked near the teabagger rally on the south side of the capitol building in Jefferson City.

From a teabagger web site:

On this Saturday the 26th of February the communist organization moveon.org is organizing a rally in Jefferson City to support  destroying our nation through deeper debt in the name of “protecting the working man”….

[emphasis added]

I heard one of the speakers at the teabagger rally say the same thing, so, I thought I’d talk to some of the good working people at the MoveOn organized labor rally on the opposite side of the capitol.

The MoveOn organized labor rally on the north side of the capitol in Jefferson City.

Show Me Progress: So, why are you here today?

Robert Shoemyer : I heard there was gonna be a rally here to support the people of Wisconsin.

Show Me Progress: And you decided to show up?

Robert Shoemyer : I decided to show up.

Show Me Progress: What does, uh, what does collective bargaining mean for you?

Robert Shoemyer : I farm. And, but, collective bargaining, I mean, I’ve always been in favor of collective bargaining. I mean, without labor nothing would happen. So, I mean, you have to have your salesman, you have to have your labor. But then that’s it.

[….]

You’ve got to love the Teamsters.

….Show Me Progress: …What’s your affiliation.

Rod Herrmann: I’m with the Gas Workers 11-6 out of St. Louis. We represent with Laclede Gas, a public utility.

Show Me Progress: Uh, why are you here today?

Rod Herrmann: In support of unions and all working people. We deserve a fair shake. Uh, feel like, uh, we’re getting railroaded here a little bit and, uh, you know, we want to, we want an honest wage for an honest day’s worth of work. And, uh, it seems like the working man is being pushed down and put back.

Show Me Progress: What does collective bargaining mean to you?

Rod Herrmann: It means a contract with good benefits, good wages. Uh, you know we’re not asking for the world, we’re just asking for what we feel we deserve. Uh, it’s a, it’s a tough situation out there now a days with, uh, being competitive. And, uh, unions, uh, when they bargain, they bargain for safety, uh, productivity, we know, we’re not against any of those issues. And those are what big business wants and we spend a lot of money on training our members in safety and productivity. Something we all want.

Show Me Progress: The group on the other side, uh, uses rhetoric, uh, that sort of labels, um, the people over here. One of the terms that one of speakers said was that, uh, that there are, there are communists over here. Trying to, you know, agitate. Have you run into any communists that you know of?

Rod Herrmann: No, I don’t think there’s a communist in this group. Jimmy Hoffa pretty much sums that up for us in his day, uh, you know, there’s no communists here, uh, they’re basically riding the backside of the union worker that’s blazed the trail, uh, for the future of my kids and my grandkids. Uh, they’re just looking for a free ride.

Show Me Progress:All right. Well, thank you very much for your time.

Rod Herrmann: Thank you.

[….]

Show Me Progress: Why are you here today?

Wayne Parsons:  To stand up for the, uh, for the people up in Wisconsin. Show ’em that I’m their side, we’re on their side and we believe like what they believe.

Show Me Progress: Um, what does collective bargaining mean for you?

Wayne Parsons:  That means, to me, that means you’ve got people that can stand up against the bullies, that they can’t overrun you, and that you can fight for a right to, to, you know, to receive what you deserve.

Show Me Progress: …The, the folks on the other side, um, they use some interesting rhetoric. Uh, they’ve said that, uh, that they think that the communists are, are, uh, organizing this group over here. Have you noticed any communists around here?

Wayne Parsons:  Ah, I don’t believe there’s, really, I don’t really believe there’s any communists in America. And one thing about it, we’re all Americans. We’re not communists, we’re not socialists, we’re Americans. We’re people. You know, we want to be free. Communism is not free. We want to be free. We don’t want the rich man to tell us what we should do or not do. We want to be able to, to be free.

Show Me Progress: …Well, thank you very much for your time.

Wayne Parsons:  Thank you.

[….]

Show Me Progress: Why are you here today?

Chad Smith: Well, standing up for the middle class, for what’s right. It’s just plain common sense really.

Show Me Progress: Uh, what’s your affiliation?

Chad Smith: Uh, IBEW, Local 2.

Show Me Progress: And Local 2 is where?

Chad Smith: In St. Louis.

Show Me Progress: St. Louis.

Chad Smith: Yes, sir.

Show Me Progress: What does, what does collective bargaining mean for you?

Chad Smith: Well, it means my whole life. It means, uh, everything that the middle class has to work for. I mean, without it, you know, you got corporations, they got millions to sit around and have attorneys on retainer and, uh, regular working Americans can’t afford to have attorneys on retainer. And that’s what unions are there for, so, to make a level playing field for everybody.

Show Me Progress: Now, now the folks on the other side use some rhetoric that’s, uh, they think that, that, that this organization over here, this, this crowd here is, uh, basically being prompted by people that have motives, uh, other than what you state. They use the term, calling the people that are organizing this communists. Have you noticed any communists over here?

Chad Smith: I haven’t seen a one. Actually, I , I seen the guys on the south side and, uh, it’s pretty much, you know, basically all I got to say about them is, uninformed voters.

Show Me Progress: Well, thank you very much for your time.

Chad Smith:  Thank you.

[….]

Bobby Wright: I’m from Local 1887 in St. Louis, UAW.  Uh, we came down to show our support for the Wisconsin fourteen and the Wisconsin, uh, public service employees. And, uh, we think what’s going on here’s an attack on the middle class. I think it’s shameful of where our government’s headed. It seems to be organized by corrupt corporate agenda.  And, uh, basically I’m just fed up with it. You know, I’m out here, show my support for what’s going on in Wisconsin.

Show Me Progress: Uh, what does collective bargaining mean for you?

Bobby Wright: Collective barg
aining means for me, is that, uh, as a worker on the lowest level we can collectively get a voice on, uh, efficiency and operations within corporations ’cause we are on the front lines of, of their ability to make money. In my opinion, uh, as a union employee we don’t thrive unless the company survives, so we’re, we’re, our best interest is that the company stays involved and, in collective bargaining issues so that we can progress as a, as a community within the corporation. And talking away that right pretty much, uh, leads to what I would call a dictatorial state, not necessarily Democracy.  And that’s just my opinion and, and, you know, the way it’s headed I think the more information that gets out there I think we’re headed to a renewed labor movement. And I think it’s best what’s for the middle class. It’s a shrinking conglomerate. And, uh, and any time we can step forward as a society and start to get informed on what goes on at the highest levels I think we’ll be better off.

Show Me Progress: All right, thank you very much for your time.

Bobby Wright: Thank you.

Uh, I don’t think communists wear jackets like these, at the MoveOn organized labor rally on the north side of the capitol:

Sprinkler Fitters and Sheet Metal Workers.

American Federation of Teachers.

United Steelworkers of America.

Sheet Metal Workers.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Teamsters.

International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers.

Those are working people’s jackets.

A right wingnut bumper sticker, on a vehicle parked near the teabagger rally on the south side of the capitol:

And, and communists, too, so there.

There is a distinct difference between the south side and north side groups, eh?  

Previously:

Rallies in Jefferson City, Saturday, Feb. 26th: support organized labor or teabaggers, your pick (February 24, 2011)

It was cold. But the day in Jefferson City exceeded my expectations.

There weren’t very many teabaggers, though they did have banners and a beefy sound system. Do you think some billionaire patrons paid for that through an astroturf front organization? Just asking.

Today really wasn’t about the speeches. It was about showing up.

Though a teabagger speaker seemed a tad bit concerned about the “communists” on the other side of the capitol.

The teabagger rally in support of republicans and corporate interests on the south side of the capitol.

The organized labor folks on the north side of the capitol had greater numbers and one barely audible bull horn. I estimate the MoveOn organized labor crowd numbered from 350 to 400.

The MoveOn and organized labor rally in support of Wisconsin workers on the north side of the capitol.

Stop the war on teachers, we are not the enemy. On the north side of the capitol.

On the north side of the capitol.

On the north side of the capitol.

I’m in love with a union man. On the north side of the capitol.

From Egypt to Jeff City. One world, one pain. On the north side of the capitol.

Mo public workers in solidarity. On Wi[sconsin]! On the north side of the capitol.

On the north side of the capitol.

On the north side of the capitol.

Walker is addicted to Koch. On the north side of the capitol.

Tea party Taliban. Koch sucker. On the north side of the capitol.

What the teabaggers lacked in numbers they made up for with their sound system:

The teabagger rally. On the south side of the capitol.

On the south side of the capitol.

MoveOn is organizing rallies at every state capitol on Saturday in support of organized labor in Wisconsin. There’s one in Jefferson City:

Rally to Save the American Dream

In Wisconsin and around our country, the American Dream is under fierce attack. Instead of creating jobs, Republicans are giving tax breaks to corporations and the very rich-and then cutting funding for education, police, emergency response, and vital human services.

On Saturday, February 26, at noon local time, we are organizing rallies in front of every statehouse and in every major city to stand in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin. We demand an end to the attacks on worker’s rights and public services across the country. We demand investment, to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work. And we demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share.

We are all Wisconsin. We are all Americans.

This Saturday, we will stand together to Save the American Dream. Be sure to wear Wisconsin Badger colors-red and white-to show your solidarity. Sign up today to join in!

State Capitol in Jefferson City, Capitol Building on High Street

Jefferson City, MO 65109

Saturday, February 26th, 12:00 PM

[emphasis added]

Sure enough, teabaggers are doing the same thing:

March on the State Capital

The left via moveon.org and OFA are organizing protests in Jefferson City this Saturday, so the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition is joining the call from Tea Party and 9-12 groups across the state to counter protest on the capital steps.

   When: 10:30AM Saturday, February 26th

   Where: Steps of the Capitol Building in Jefferson City

Speakers are still being scheduled for Saturday. We will meet about 10:30AM to stake out our ground. The moveon.org rally is scheduled to for noon. Bring signs, banners, and bottled water/snacks.

We have to draw the line now before the fiscal problems in the country worsen. With Right-to-Work (RTW) legislation pending in Missouri, we have to support our conservative legislators. We can do that Saturday as we stand with fellow patriots from around the state to show our support for Gov. Scott Walker and the conservative legislators of Wisconsin who are trying to restore fiscal sanity.

It should be interesting.

Update:

Yep, it’s getting interesting.

On this Saturday the 26th of February the communist organization moveon.org is organizing a rally in Jefferson City to support  destroying our nation through deeper debt in the name of “protecting the working man”.

It is very, very important that you and I, the true lovers of freedom and liberty, step up to the plate and let our voices be heard!  We are tired of having our government being hijacked by a small minority!  We are tired of the middle class always having to pay for the unions’ demands of higher and higher wages, which they continue to demand even though those wages and benefits are 2 or 3 times higher than that of the private sector or fair market value!  We want to STOP driving ourselves and our posterity into crushing debt just because some people refuse to tighten their belts!….

[emphasis added]

I thought accusing someone of being a communist went out with high button shoes. Evidently not for fascists.

Now, they did write “union” and not “public”, but since they are organizing against the MoveOn rally in support of public sector collective bargaining in Wisconsin it’s probably safe to assume they were including public sector employees in the mix.

The following does compare public and private sector compensation:

Study: Public employees better-educated, more skilled, earn less

Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 8:00 AM by Laura Northrup

Are workers in the public sector really overpaid and too comfy for their own good? According to a new study from the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and National Institute on Retirement Security, not really. Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that state and local government employees are generally better-educated than their counterparts working in the private sector, but earn less overall, even including benefits such as health care and pension plans.

From the study:

       * Public and private workforces differ in important ways. For instance, jobs in the public sector require much more education on average than those in the private sector. Employees in state and local sectors are twice as likely as their private sector counterparts to have a college or advanced degree.

       * Wages and salaries of state and local employees are lower than those for private sector workers with comparable earnings determinants (e.g., education). State employees typically earn 11 percent less; local workers earn 12 percent less.

       * Over the last 20 years, the earnings for state and local employees have generally declined relative to comparable private sector employees. The pattern of declining relative compensation remains true in most of the large states we examined, although some state-level variation exists.

       * Benefits (e.g., pensions) comprise a greater share of employee compensation in the public sector. State and local employees have lower total compensation than their private sector counterparts. On average, total compensation is 6.8 percent lower for state employees and 7.4 percent lower for local workers, compared with comparable private sector employees.

[….]

So much for two to three times…

Johnson County, Missouri resident and nursing professional Susan Morgan addressed the crowd at the start of the health care reform march in Warrensburg on Wednesday evening.

Our previous coverage: “It floors me how absolutely brilliantly broken our system is.”

…We have gathered here this evening because we have a firm commitment to health care reform. [voices: “Yeah!”] It is time for our voices to be heard. [voice: “Absolutely!”][applause]

We recognize that a reformed system focused on primary care, prevention and chronic disease management is the right prescription, the right treatment [voice: “Yeah.”], the right thing to do. It is time for our voices to be heard.

We believe that health care reform must include a public plan option [voice: “Yeah!”] that will [cheers] allow affordable health care [heckler, shouting: “(inaudible) from a teleprompter.”], a public plan option that will promote needed competition [voice: “Yes.”] in the current for profit health insurance market, a public plan that will guarantee the availability of quality, affordable coverage for families and individuals. It is time for our voices to be heard. [cheers]….

….We cannot in good conscience continue to stand by while health care insurance companies decide who will receive treatment and who will not, who will be covered and who will not [voice: “Yeah!”], who will be paid and who will not, who will live and who will die. [cheers] We cannot continue to see the ranks of the uninsured and under insured grow and the number of health care related bankruptcies increase. It is time for our voices to be heard.

We know there is no acceptable justification, no acceptable rationale, for the wealthiest country in the world to deny its citizens basic health care. We know health care is a fundamental right. And it’s time for our voices to be heard. [voice: “Yeah!][applause][cheers][voice: “Get ’em, girl!”]

Opponents say health care reform is moving too fast. Well, where have they been for the last twelve years? Where were they in two thousand and seven when more than twelve million Americans were denied care or charged a higher premium for pre-existing conditions? Where were they in two thousand and six when nearly one point three million full time workers lost their health care insurance? Where were they during the years that health care premiums for employers increased a hundred and nineteen percent and and a hundred and seventeen percent for employees? It’s time for our voices to be heard. [voices: “yeah!”][cheers][applause][voice: “Absolutely!”]

Opponents, and we see them here, say that health care reform will negatively impact current health care insurance companies. And well it should! [voice: “Absolutely!”][cheers] The current health care insurance system is a system designed to maximize profit for those in control, not to maximize health care for those in need. Companies who have realized unbelievable profits over the years by hand picking who they will insure, by denying coverage of care as a matter of policy, by inflicting untold amounts of frivolous paper work upon health care providers and patients alike, and who have made payment for covered services an exercise in persistence for patients, these types of companies need to be impacted negatively [voices: “yeah!”] [cheers][applause]. It is time for our voices to be heard.

Opponents say if you are under insured or uninsured rely on your neighbor when a health care crises occurs [laughter]. This is offered as a solution to health care reform. Well, I have news for them, neighbors already help neighbors and they do so whether neighbors have health insurance or not. It is time for our voices to be heard.

Opponents who truly have no interest in health care reform, just a dislike of the government in general as a basic philosophy, and a strong desire to have a duly elected popular President fail. These people have used health care forums to shout down those who support health care reform. They have no justification for opposing health care reform, no justification, other than the generalized statement that they want government out of their lives. Apparently, they are not concerned that some unknown health care insurance employee or executive is already in their lives. [voice: “Hey, I got a question for you. Who would Jesus turn down because of pre-existing (inaudible)?”] Apparently, these people trust the government to fight a war on their behalf but not to provide health care. It is time for our voices to be heard. [voices: “Yeah!]

Opponents are desperate [cheers]. Opponents are desperate [applause]. We see that desperation in the erroneous information that they have created and spread and of the use of unjustified fear. They have no reasonable justification to oppose health care reform so they have made up false reasons, [sound of arguments in background] deliberate misinterpretations or outright lies. There is no death panel, there is no pulling the plug on grandma, there is no provision for health care for illegal immigrants and yes, if you are happy with your current health care plan you can keep it. [cheers][applause] It’s time for our voices to be heard. [applause]

Health care is a fundamental human right [voice: “Yes it is!”] and health care reform is a moral imperative. [sound of arguments in background] The need for health care cannot be ignored, it cannot wait for obstructionists to suddenly decide to be bipartisan, it cannot wait for next year or the year after. The time for health care reform is now. [voice: “Right!”] End the debate and take action. It is time for our voices to be heard. [voices: “Yeah.” “Yes.”] And let’s get our voices heard [cheers]…

This was one of the funniest moments of the evening’s events. The health care reform supporter (left) turned to the health care reform opponent (right) and said, “This is our rally, why don’t you go do your own…?”

 Hotflash will have a longer post with more details (her video camera is better than mine,) but I wanted to share some observations from last night’s Organizing for America rally for health care reform at the IBEW Hall in south St. Louis.

Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D), who had a hand in organizing the United Autoworkers Rally, spoke throughout the Sunday afternoon event, at times acting as a master of ceremonies, at other times using the pulpit to contribute his insights and educate those in attendance.

Our previous coverage:

Governor Jay Nixon (D) at the UAW “Save Our Jobs Rally” in Kansas City on February 8

UAW “Save Our Jobs Rally” in Kansas City

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver:…These are some difficult times. In times like these you always discover who your friends are. At times like these you find out who is in fact for you and who is neutral and neutrality is opposition.

And the good news about this coming together of working men and working women, the coming together of people who created the middle class for the United States of America, is that we have a leader, thank God, [applause] we have a leader [applause] in the state of Missouri who does not back away from, in fact he comes in to close proximity to, and sides with the working men and women of the State of Missouri. And there are states that cannot have such a rally with a governor. There are states where men and women must gather without the strong support of the top of their state government, but not Missouri…

…We in Missouri have been fortunate that we have placed in the governor’s mansion somebody who understands the pain and aches of everyday men and women. Somebody who comes to grips with the fact that this economy is bad but it will get better only if you get better. It will not get better if Wall Street gets better, it will get better if you get better. [voice: “Yeah!”] [applause] It will not get better if parties get better. [applause]…

…[auto workers] in the United States are making too much money? They need to make what they make in Germany or Japan? [applause] [cheers] It’s a working class thing. It’s a working class thing. [applause] It’s a working class thing. They don’t want to see people, every day people, earn enough money to take care of their families and retire. No, it’s not enough money. This is the United States of America and we ought not to be tryin’ to race backward to catch backward with people from Japan. [applause] [cheers] This is the United States of America. [cheers] [applause] And that’s why, that’s why you have all your elected official here….We come here because we know that on the 17th people will start trying to beat up on the [auto] industry again, so that we won’t make money available, so that recovery is possible.

In 1979 Chrysler went into intensive care. People began to write the eulogy for the Chrysler company. They organized a choir…[laughter] to sing “Amazing Grace” at the funeral service for Chrysler. The Chrysler people came before Congress and they said, “Give us a chance.”  And Congress said, “We will, but you got poor management.” They hired a man named Lee Iacoca who came in, turned Chrysler around. Congress gave a four billion dollar grant, stock warrants. Four billion dollars. Chrysler paid back four billion dollars and then paid eight hundred million dollars in interest. They turned it around. That’s what Americans can do. [voice: “Yeah.”]

And that’s why my friend Congressman Moore and I are in the committee. To make sure that when people come in to forget you, somebody’s gonna say something. I’m glad [cheers] [applause] …I’m gonna tell you something. I hope you, uh, don’t, don’t ever forget this as long as you live. Out of all the members of Congress elected in the entire State of Kansas there was only one person who voted for you. Only one member of Congress. Not senators, Not House of Representatives members. One person voted for you. I’m glad he’s my friend. Dennis Moore. {cheers] [applause]…

…Friends, there’s a man by the name of Lee Raymond. Lee Raymond. He retired from Exxon-Mobile. With four hundred million dollars. I didn’t make a mistake and say four hundred and then forty million. He had a retirement package of four hundred million dollars. Enough money for the retirement of everybody in this gymnasium. [voice: “Yeah.”] [cheers] [applause] And we cannot allow that. Look, my daddy is eighty seven years old. I thank God he’s eighty seven years old. He, and a lot of these men and women you see here retired? They built this country. [applause] [cheers] They deserve the opportunity [applause] [cheers] to live in their sunset years without worrying about whether or not they can buy groceries. [applause][cheers] Retirees in the United States of America deserve… [applause][cheers] Built this country. [applause][cheers]….

….And every time somebody loses a hou…a job, eventually, they’re going to lose a house.  And when they lose a house, the city loses revenue. Every time the city loses revenue, a neighborhood goes into decline. Every time a neighborhood goes into decline, the housing values drop. Every time the housing values drop, the economy falters. Everything is connected. we’re all connected in this country. we may not have come over here on the same, uh, ship, but we’re the same boat. [laughter] And so we need to understand that we must stick together. [applause] There are more of us than them. [cheers] There are way more of us than them. I’ll show you what I’m talkin’ about. Name all your millionaire friends. [laughter] Who, who hang out at your house. [laughter] Name them. You get the point? There are more of us than them.

This is our country as well. This is their country [pointing to retirees]. They worked to build this nation. They deserve to live their years of, non working years, in a way that’s comfortable. This is the United States. And we got to convince a lot of people in Washington, that’s why we’re here today. That we cannot save the nation without saving the automobile industry. It’s impossible. We can’t do it.

And I’m glad that you are here today because this sends a signal in case people were becoming lulled into believing that, uh, you know, everybody was accepting their fate and we were not, uh, going to do anything about it, This turns this around…

Crossposted to Daily Kos.

The sun shines down over the Arch onto the crowd of 100,000 watching Barack Obama’s speech in St. Louis today.

For me, the most amazing thing about Barack’s speech in Saint Louis wasn’t or anything he said in particular, although it was a fine speech. It was the amazing crowd that had assembled to hear him speak. I’ve never seen Saint Louisans celebrate together so joyously, except maybe after a Cardinals World Series victory.

Even then, there was a sense of purpose and a spirit of unity than no sporting event could provide. The event was focused on the people in the crowd, and we knew it. Congressman Lacy Clay, Mayor Francis Slay, gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Jay Nixon, and finally Senator McCaskill spoke before Barack, but didn’t introduce him. Instead, that honor went to one of us, a high school math teacher, who talked about what was going on for him, his family, and his students, and why that lead him to support Barack Obama. When Barack spoke of job cuts and the need to bring jobs back to Missouri, a woman near me muttered “Bush cut my job and I wanted it back.” When Barack told the story of his mother fighting cancer and the insurance company at the same time, another woman near me yelled “That’s me right now!”

As for the speech itself, it was fairly boilerplate as far as policy details go, but he did have some good personal stories, including one about pie. What I liked best about the speech was his knack for weaving a sense of optimism about the future throughout the speech. When he talked about making college affordable, he repeated John McCain’s attack on him for “caving in to an interest group.” “Our youth are not an interest group – they are the future of our country!” he cried. And Obama wrapped up his speech with a passionate evocation of why we should not despair, why we should not get too bogged down in what is to the neglect of what ought to be:

We can do this. Americans have done this before. Some of us had grandparents or parents who said maybe I can’t go to college but my child can; maybe I can’t have my own business but my child can. I may have to rent, but maybe my children will have a home they can call their own. I may not have a lot of money but maybe my child will run for Senate. I might not be able to vote now but maybe someday my grandson can be president of the United States of America.

More pics below the fold.

Crossposted to Daily Kos.

UPDATE: Barack talks about pie:

The sun shines down over the Arch onto the crowd of 100,000 watching Barack Obama’s speech in St. Louis today.

For me, the most amazing thing about Barack’s speech in Saint Louis wasn’t or anything he said in particular, although it was a fine speech. It was the amazing crowd that had assembled to hear him speak. I’ve never seen Saint Louisans celebrate together so joyously, except maybe after a Cardinals World Series victory.

Even then, there was a sense of purpose and a spirit of unity than no sporting event could provide. The event was focused on the people in the crowd, and we knew it. Congressman Lacy Clay, Mayor Francis Slay, gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Jay Nixon, and finally Senator McCaskill spoke before Barack, but didn’t introduce him. Instead, that honor went to one of us, a high school math teacher, who talked about what was going on for him, his family, and his students, and why that lead him to support Barack Obama. When Barack spoke of job cuts and the need to bring jobs back to Missouri, a woman near me muttered “Bush cut my job and I wanted it back.” When Barack told the story of his mother fighting cancer and the insurance company at the same time, another woman near me yelled “That’s me right now!”

As for the speech itself, it was fairly boilerplate as far as policy details go, but he did have some good personal stories, including one about pie. What I liked best about the speech was his knack for weaving a sense of optimism about the future throughout the speech. When he talked about making college affordable, he repeated John McCain’s attack on him for “caving in to an interest group.” “Our youth are not an interest group – they are the future of our country!” he cried. And Obama wrapped up his speech with a passionate evocation of why we should not despair, why we should not get too bogged down in what is to the neglect of what ought to be:

We can do this. Americans have done this before. Some of us had grandparents or parents who said maybe I can’t go to college but my child can; maybe I can’t have my own business but my child can. I may have to rent, but maybe my children will have a home they can call their own. I may not have a lot of money but maybe my child will run for Senate. I might not be able to vote now but maybe someday my grandson can be president of the United States of America.

More pics below the fold.

The crowd extended all the way back to the Old Courthouse, blocks from the riverfront.

On the way in, every Metrolink car was packed with people going to the speech from every part of Saint Louis, from wealthy suburbanites in the county to the working poor in North Saint Louis. The last time I saw it this packed was when Obama spoke at the Edward Jones Dome before the February 5th primary.

If you look really hard, you can see Barack Obama standing at the podium. Ok, that’s pretty hard.

Can you see him now?

The crowd was really cheering Barack on today. The woman in the bottom right corner yelled “That’s right!” on almost every point Barack made.

Although signs were discouraged, a few enterprising folks put something together. The Republican for Obama hid his face to protect his secret political identity from his family and coworkers. The good people at the Rooster Cafe blended their marketing savvy with their progressivism for a little advertisement. It worked, too – located several blocks from the riverfront, there was an hour wait to get a table after the speech.