Obama rally draws 4,250

Bob Gibson / Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: October 29, 2007

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama drew more than 4,250 people to an outdoor rally and fundraiser Monday night at the Charlottesville Pavilion, surpassing a fundraiser that Hillary Clinton staged Sept. 23 several blocks away by more than 3,000 paid attendees.

Obama sounded his anti-war theme to loud ovations and criticized the policies of President Bush, naming him, and the record of chief rival Clinton without naming her.

Organizer James B. Murray Jr. said the gathering was the largest paid crowd that Obama has drawn anywhere as a presidential candidate and noted that the fundraiser out-raised Clinton's previous Charlottesville total of $200,000 by more than $100,000.

"Part of the reason people are coming out in record numbers," Obama said, "and part of the reason that you are here tonight is, let's face it, you are sick and tired of George W. Bush." The crowd roared its approval.

"You are tired of an administration that treats our Constitution as a nuisance to be avoided," Obama continued, prompting more applause.

"You are tired of administration policies that seem to widen the gulf between rich and poor, that seem to always favor the rich and the powerful while ordinary people are struggling," he said. "You are tired of lack of progress on critical issues like health care and energy and education."

"But most of all, you are tired of a war that should have never been authorized," Obama said to thunderous cheers. "You are tired of the war. You want to get our troops out."

Obama detailed his early opposition to the war before it was launched, in contrast to Clinton's vote to authorize it, and criticized those running for president "who say, 'Elect me because I know how to work the system.'"

"There are those who say, 'Elect me because I know how to play the game better,"' Obama added. "Understand, we don't need somebody who knows how to play the game better. We need somebody who's going to put an end to the game-playing."

"He's a great stump speaker," said former state Sen. Thomas J. Michie Jr., a Charlottesville Democrat who called Obama's message "a great speech."

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Richmond Democrat, introduced Obama to the crowd as "someone who will truly bring this nation together. Barack has a unique ability to do that and that's why he's going to be such a great president."

Tickets for the event ranged from $15 for students to $29 to $100 for general admission. A reception at a nearby restaurant beforehand drew $2,300 donors.

The crowd waited patiently outdoors on the chilly evening in the outdoor amphitheater as composer and trumpeter John D'earth and five fellow jazz musicians played for much of the preceding hour as lines of people waiting to get in stretched halfway down the Downtown Mall. A city spokesman said the event drew 4,250 people to the amphitheater, with a few hundred paying as it was about to start. A spokeswoman for Obama said more than 4,500 attended and the money raised will not be announced until today at the earliest.

"It was a great crowd, a great speech, well done," said James Heilman, a former Albemarle County voter registrar who works as an international election adviser. "It's nice to see a real presidential contender come to Charlottesville."

Tom Perriello, an Albemarle County Democrat running for Congress in Virginia's 5th District, said Obama inspires people like few candidates have in a generation.

Obama showed he has the ability to "expand our sense of what is possible at a time when America urgently needs to think big again," Perriello said. "Whichever Democrat wins the nomination is going to benefit from the masses he has brought into the political process for the first time with this message of hope."

Kaine was the second governor to endorse Obama and said he plans to campaign for him in Iowa in mid-November and the weekend before Christmas before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses. Recent polls in Iowa have Obama trailing Clinton by a small margin with John Edwards trailing both Democrats in third place.

Virginia's Democratic and Republican presidential primaries are set for Feb. 12, one week after a number of major states hold primaries.