From The Road
May 18, 2008 7:38 PM

Obama Takes His Message To Record Crowd

By
Maria Gavrilovic
Topics
Barack Obama
(CBS)
From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

PORTLAND, ORE. -- With just two days left until the May 20 primaries, Barack Obama continued to campaign in Oregon today, drawing a massive crowd at an outdoor rally here, his largest crowd to date according to the campaign. They estimated that 75,000 people were in attendance, citing the Portland fire chief.

Noticeably absent from Obama's campaign schedule in the coming days are stops in Kentucky. When asked if he has given up on state's primary, where Hillary Clinton holds double-digit lead in the polls, Obama said he doesn't give up on anything.

"I don't give up on things, we've gotta make choices and we can't be everywhere at once," Obama told reporters after making a local stop for ice cream with his family.

Obama's top advisers have argued that May 20 will be a pivotal day for the campaign because they will have gained the majority of elected pledged delegates. Even though Obama said he will not declare victory on Tuesday, he said he will have a stronger case to present to superdelegates.

"We will have the majority of pledged delegates at that point and obviously are going to make the argument to any superdelegates remaining that we should be the nominee," Obama said.

Publicly the campaign has said they will not encourage Clinton to drop out of the race and will leave that decision up to her. However, Obama has altogether stopped criticizing her on the stump and has ratcheted up his rhetoric against John McCain.

"I just want everybody to understand, that Senator Clinton and I have had a terrific contest, she has been a formidable candidate, she has been smart and tough and determined and she has worked as hard as she can. And she has run an extraordinary campaign, it has been an extraordinary campaign," Obama said here today.

"And look, we have real differences on certain issues, but whatever differences exist between myself and Senator Clinton pale in comparison to the differences with the other side."

Add a Comment See all 79 Comments
by kansas1946 May 20, 2008 3:12 AM EDT
If Obama is elected POTUS, we will all wish Bush could have had another term.


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Posted by guysdigdirt at 08:40 PM : May 19, 2008
+ report abuse
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There is absolutely nothing that could make me wish that we could have Bush for another term. I am surprised that we have survived the two that he had.
Reply to this comment
by omaar-101 May 20, 2008 2:23 AM EDT
George Bush is a Great Excuse of a American ...Huh

Over 4000 Honr. Soldiers & 100,000 Innocent iraqi Citizens Killed, Dis-Membered or Forced Amputations, all under False Pretenses.

The Lowest rated Outgoing President in History.


The Devalued Dollar Bill, rated Lower than the Mexican Peso.


High Unemployment.

Highest Foreclosed rates in American History, since the Depression.

Oh Yeah, What a Great American


You A!! Hole

Obama in (08)
Reply to this comment
by ankouemo May 20, 2008 12:05 AM EDT
Who are we to JUDGE??????????????
Reply to this comment
by Hartru May 19, 2008 11:44 PM EDT
Obama is a sorry excuse for an American.

He voted against making English the official language of the United States.

He will not and does not honor or respect the American Flag or what it stands for.

His self-professed religious mentor is a hate monger, and Obama has followed him for over 20 years and dedicated his boooks to the man, had him officiate his marriage and follws his beliefs and teachings.

If Obama is elected POTUS, we will all wish Bush could have had another term.

Posted by guysdigdirt
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Wow! Who made you god, anyway...
Reply to this comment
by guysdigdirt May 19, 2008 11:40 PM EDT
Obama is a sorry excuse for an American.

He voted against making English the official language of the United States.

He will not and does not honor or respect the American Flag or what it stands for.

His self-professed religious mentor is a hate monger, and Obama has followed him for over 20 years and dedicated his boooks to the man, had him officiate his marriage and follws his beliefs and teachings.

If Obama is elected POTUS, we will all wish Bush could have had another term.
Reply to this comment
by guysdigdirt May 19, 2008 11:40 PM EDT
Obama is a sorry excuse for an American.

He voted against making English the official language of the United States.

He will not and does not honor or respect the American Flag or what it stands for.

His self-professed religious mentor is a hate monger, and Obama has followed him for over 20 years and dedicated his boooks to the man, had him officiate his marriage and follws his beliefs and teachings.

If Obama is elected POTUS, we will all wish Bush could have had another term.
Reply to this comment
by obamasgranny May 19, 2008 7:55 PM EDT
WOW!! Losers like to congregate!! It''s like flies on Shiite!!
Reply to this comment
by Hartru May 19, 2008 6:44 PM EDT
I couldn''t be happier to be a native Oregonian than I am today! We lead the nation in church non-attendance out here. I like that. We were among the first to see through the idiot son''s AND the religious right''s BS. And we have noticed that those bahble thumpers who can no longer stand the idiot son seem to be gravitating towards Hillary.
And we do the best we can to educate our kids in a school instead of indocrinating them in some church.
Reply to this comment
by parrot123-2009 May 19, 2008 5:59 PM EDT
75000 idiots standing in a crowd cheering for a man who''s so called ex pastor proclaimed in a house of god "GD America". Sad.....
Posted by sblake63


I could have sworn that you''d posted awhile back calling BO a muslim ..... .....
Going by your logic here - What would you call the thousands that had followed TED HAGGARD prior to the revelation ?? Or the many thousands that have been foloowing HAGEE ??? I wish some Repugs could be American and critise Individuals individually. Cheers!
Reply to this comment
by muadibe10 May 19, 2008 5:44 PM EDT
All the Clinton supporters claiming they will vote for McCain if Clinton doesn''t get the nomination are either racist morons or are simply lying in the hopes that this threat would force Superdelegates to choose Clinton. Either way, you don''t look good. But consider this. Clinton agrees that NO democrat can win the Whitehouse without the black vote. If you would get over your hysteria long enough to contemplate this you might come to the very reasonable conclusion that if Obama doesn''t win and it seems a shady undertaking - even Clinton supporters voting against him - blacks will NEVER vote for Clinton for ANYTHING. That, fenner, you should consider. At this rate she will NEVER be in the White house. Obama is obviously a better manager, leader, and inspiration to many. He has maintained a level of grace, dignity and poise which you''d expect to see more readily exhibited in the female candidate.

Obama gets 30-41% (ex WV) of the ''working class white'' vote. She gets only 8% of the black vote. While total numbers of blacks are no where near that of the other group, it is widely accepted that BOTH are required to win. So who has the biggest voter deficit problem? Clinton.

I know she wanted this really badly. In the end, she simply tried too hard.
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