Much to my horror, I learned yesterday that John McCain was in my neighborhood spewing half-baked angst. For a brief instant, the streets surrounding my home were teeming with cars sporting McCain paraphernalia and obnoxious Sarah Palin bumper stickers (e.g., one had an enormous "SARAH" juxtaposed with a tiny, tiny "McCain"; it spoke volumes about the GOP nominee).
These bitter enders--the exclusive 26% of the US population who still support George Bush--had invaded my backyard of Downingtown, PA.
Downingtown, mind you, is a picturesque Philly suburb where Obama had staked his claim many months ago during the primary. McCain had no business in these parts, which was demonstrated by how many of his rally attendees were from out of town. Don't get me wrong, John McCain is welcome to spend his money and time here, but it's an exercise in futility. As noted in this diary's title, we don't take to kindly to his type 'round here.
The speech he gave was standard McCain bollox, so I'm not going to waste precious server space on the details of his pogrom. Instead, across the fold are details of Obama's visit here (with Senator Casey) by whistle-stop tour. What follows illustrates why Downingtown and its environs are unequivocally Obama Country.
Here's the crowd two hours before the start. In all likelihood, it was several times larger at this point than McCain's Downingtown crowd yesterday was at its peak.
And below is the crowd 30 minutes before start. Take notes, George Allen and Sarah Palin; this is what real America looks like:
The following is the arrival of the Obama/Casey Express in a vintage railcar. Transportation was courtesy of Amtrak, a large employer in the region that the federal government has neglected for decades. Although lawmakers treat Amtrak like a redheaded step child, the locals hold the rail system in high esteem.
So it was no minor affair that the Obama campaign chose to take a whistle-stop tour from Philadelphia to Harrisburg via our railway system. Notably, this campaign trip was taken long before Biden, the strongest Amtrak proponent in the legislative branch, was tapped for VP. To the local residents, who are proud of the rail system, this reveals "who is Barack Obama." Barack Obama is a class act.
I wonder what method of transportation brought McCain to Downingtown?
Here's another view of the vintage rail car. Unfortunately, it's partially obscured by the Georgetown Cocktail crowd:
I think they're taking pictures of me. At the time, supporters like yours truly presented an oddity of sorts to the press. As reported extensively by the media and evidenced by the images in this diary, enthusiasm for Obama by "hard working Americans" like myself was hard to come by./snark
Here's Barack Obama and Senator Bob Casey approaching the crowd.
I barely knew Senator Casey before the primary, but now he's like a part of the family, G-d bless him. Here's Casey at bat for Obama, a role he played masterfully during the primaries:
Again, for Sarah Palin and George Allen's reference, here are more real Americans:
And the next President of the United States of America, Barack Obama:
cross-posted on MYDD