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PrintCOLUMBIA — When Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, rolls into Columbia on Thursday night, he's likely to draw a large audience.
That's putting it lightly. Obama has attracted crowds ranging from 1,000 at a community college in south Florida to 100,000-plus packed into downtown Denver.
IF YOU GO
WHO: Sen. Barack Obama, Democratic nominee for president
WHEN: Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The rally begins at 9:30 p.m.
WHAT: The Change We Need Rally
WHERE: Mel Carnahan Quadrangle at MU located on Rollins Road
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS BARACK OBAMA?
Obama's campaign stops in the past few weeks and the size of the crowds:
Oct. 15
LONDONDERRY, N.H.: 1,000+
Oct. 17
ROANOKE, Va.: 8,000
Oct. 18
ST. LOUIS: 100,000
KANSAS CITY: 75,000
Oct. 19
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.: 50,000
Oct. 20
TAMPA, Fla.: 7,000
ORLANDO, Fla.: 35,000
Oct. 21
LAKE WORTH, Fla.: 1,700
MIAMI, Fla.: 30,000
Wednesday
RICHMOND, Va.: 20,000
Thursday
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.: 35,000
Saturday
RENO, Nev.: 11,000
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.: 45,000
Sunday
FORT COLLINS, Co.: 45-50,000
DENVER, Co.: 100,000+
Monday
CANTON, Ohio: 4,000
PITTSBURGH, Pa.: 15,000
- An estimated 40,000 people came to hear Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama speak at MU on Thursday. Obama's speech lasted for 33 minutes and went over a diverse array of topics including the economy, health care and Iraq.
The visit will be the second time this month that Obama has been in Missouri. On Oct. 18, he spoke to a crowd of more than 100,000 people in St. Louis, one of the the largest crowds of his campaign so far. And in Kansas City later that day, he addressed a gathering of about 75,000.
Thursday will be a full day of presidential campaigning across the state. Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin will stop in Cape Girardeau. Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, will speak in Arnold, though no details have been released.
Obama and Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who visited Columbia on Oct. 20, are running about even in Missouri, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV poll conducted Oct. 20 to 23. Obama was running at 48 percent and McCain at 47 percent, a difference within the poll's margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
The Obama rally on Thursday is free and open to the public. It is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m., but gates will open at 7:30 p.m at the Mel Carnahan Quadrangle at MU, located on Rollins Road. While tickets are not required, space is limited and the campaign is asking that people RSVP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Show Me the Errors 
Comments
America’s 44th President
The New York Times in its endorsement of Barack Obama said: “Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems.”
“In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.”
Senator John McCain is a respected 72 year old American warrior, but he is on a path whose slope, however gentle, is downward. On the contrary Senator Barack Obama is an intelligent, articulate, and insightful 47 year old American whose best years lie ahead of him; a man who graduated near the top of his class at Harvard Law School and was president of its Law Review; a man who understands and respects the American constitution because he was an instructor of constitutional law for 12 years at the University of Chicago Law School; a man familiar with the American legislative process because he served 3 terms as an Illinois State Senator and as a US Senator for the past 4 years; a man acquainted with Washington but one who also brings fresh ideas and a passion for bringing about important and necessary changes in Washington.
Be sure to dress very warn for that night as it is supposed to be pretty cold out. A low of 49* is in the forecast.
The rally point by the information I can gather:
http://web.missouri.edu/~umccfbotanicalg...