Beginning of the speech is below the fold. Oh and by the way, props to Philly -- the wireless I signed into was, while not free, public wifi. Hopefully the future is free wireless everywhere but this is a start.
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Update [2008-4-18 21:4:49 by Todd Beeton]:"Senator Clinton is a tenacious opponent. She is also a committed public servant." Boos. "Listen up, guys. But her message really comes down to this...'we can't really change the same old special interest culture in Washington so you might as well pick the candidate who knows how to play the game. You might as well elect me because we can't expect real change in Washington.' She's accepted more lobbyist money than anyone in this election, even John McCain, because she believes lobbyists represent real people."
"She has come at me with what she called the kitchen sink and her argument is that she's better at playing that game so you should vote for her. Well, I'm not running to play the same old Washington games...We need to declare our independence from the same old Washington politics." The crowd loved that.
Politics that exploits our differences...that feds on fake controversies and distractions where you keep track of how many points you score on your opponent but not how many problems of the American people you solve."
Update [2008-4-18 21:14:28 by Todd Beeton]:The upside of "bitter-gate" and last night's debate: Obama's central message of getting beyond the politics as usual has far more potency. They are essentially proving his point, providing evidence for the entire rationale for his candidacy.
"In four days time you get the chance to bring about the change you deserve. We can declare our independence from the politics that has shut us out...We need to declare our independence from the cynicism and the doubt that tells us real change can't happen."
I just got here to Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia with several thousand of my closest friends for a Barack Obama rally. It's a perfect spring night, it has the feel of a summer rock festival or something. As we arrived Ed Kowalcyk of Live took the stage. He sang Lightning Crashes and segued into a nice version of Imagine and then was joined on stage by Will.i.am.
I haven't seen Barack in a while so I look forward to seeing how his stump speech has changed. Tonight's rally looks to be the kick-off of his "On Track For Change" whistlestop tour through Pennsylvania, which will take him northwestward through the state through the weekend.
One of the more amusing sights here is a small inflated blimp embalzoned with "Boilermakers For Barack", (you can see a picture HERE),a reference, of course, to the drink that Hillary downed last week.
The sun has now set and we're being serenaded by Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground over the loudspeakers. The festivities should be getting under way any time now...
Update [2008-4-18 21:4:49 by Todd Beeton]:Barack took to the stage to Springsteen's "The Rising." This crowd is one of the most enthusiastic I've ever seen. Many "I love you Barack!"s.
He just thanked "two of his earliest supporters", Congressman Chaka Fattah and Congressman and war hero Patrick Murphy."
"We don't believe anyone in Washington is looking out for us or fighting for us. So this is our chance to declare our independence...Independence from a politics that's about tearing each other down instead of lifting the country up."
"Now, no matter who you're supporting in the primary campaign." The crowd was like "We're supporting you! Obama! Obama!" Obama: "Now now, I hope there are some Hillary supporters here, I want to change their mind." There was some booing, but Barack is like "now, let me finish" and he's talking about McCain. "John McCain offers more of the same, four more years of Bush policies." Bigger boo from the crowd.
"We can't afford another four years of Bush McCain policies without any economic progress, it's time to turn the page and write a new chapter of American history."
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