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Whatever
...But the photographer and the editor do. Michelle Obama spoke in Madison, WI today, and if you read the Chicago Tribune, you might think that there were 1800 people there. And if you read the (Madison) Capital Times, their chosen photograph might support that impression.
Fortunately, Ann Althouse has an eagle-eye photographer for a commenter. Here's the real crowd Michelle managed:
1800? I'd be surprised if that was more than three hundred.
Meanwhile, McCain and Palin drew a crowd of 10,000 just down the road in Milwaukee last week, and Palin drew 60,000 (!) in Florida yesterday. Sample quote from attendee: "She's the sunrise, not the sunset. She makes me feel there's nothing we can't do." (Remember when XWL noted that Obama's logo can be taken as a sunset as readily as the intended sunrise?) All of which makes me think of Tina Fey, of whom I'm a big fan (and congratulations to her for the Emmy haul last night). To borrow one of her best lines: "Bitches Get Stuff Done!"
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Music anyone?
Maybe if they had had a concert prior to her speech they might have actually drawn a crowd. I would concur with the quote from the Palin attendee. Palin has been a breath of fresh air for the Republican Party.
A snap density count tells
A snap density count tells me maybe 500-600. Anyone inclined to do a real head count can have at, but it's certainly NOTHING like 1800.
Yeah, we've seen the puffed-up crowd claims and the tight shots before. Remember the Sheehan shots from Camp Casey? ;-)
I think it's kind of like
I think it's kind of like that rule where you take the number of partners a guy says he has had, and divide by three to get a good estimate of the real number - except this one is for the MSM and crowd counts. ;)
It reminds me of the March for Life. Estimates are in the 200,000 person range - which make sense, considering that the march stretched out for over two miles, and people had finished at the Supreme Court while others were waiting at the Mall. It was reported in the MSM (if at all) as "thousands." Of course, they wouldn't show the pictures, which were just wall-to-wall people stretched out over dozens of blocks.
OT, but...
When did you go to the March For Life? I think that's the only thing that'd get me anywhere near DC...
*Yes, really, Simon's wife. Envy or pity me. ;)
Every year, it's on 22
Every year, it's on 22 January (the anniversary of the day that Roe v. Wade was decided).
You get to go every yr? Oh
You get to go every yr? Oh yeah... you live nearby. I forgot.
*Yes, really, Simon's wife. Envy or pity me. ;)
ACK! I answered the second
ACK! I answered the second question only. I went last year (i.e. 2008, and only 2008). May go again in 2009, but there's no way my photography is going to improve.
I'm warning you, D.C. in January is freakin freezing.
conversion chart
I wasn't aware Michelle Obama was running.You're comparing her turnout to McCain and Palin's. Why exactly?
I generally expect inflation by a factor of 2 or 3, anyway. I could care less about the turnout for Obama's wife, and can't really imagine why anyone would go out of their way to attend unless they had way too much spare time or happened to wander by. Who wants to hear a spouse to talk about how wonderful their other is? That's about as interesting as showing up for an event where grandparents brag about their grandkids. Zzzzzzzzz.
But I can understand showing up for an appearance by a VP candidate if I was free and they came to my town. Possibly to heckle, granted, but still.
__________
I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy for those who think, and a tragedy for those who feel. -Horace Walpole
Yeah, I basically agree that in the long run, this is no big
deal, but it does become a bit of an embarassment when you have to inflate your numbers like that. It can leave you open to mockery.
"In the world you will find tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."
John 16:33