Obama Rally In St. Louis Draws 100,000 
Obama drew a crowd of 100,000 at a rally near the Gateway Arch in St. Louis on Saturday, the AP
reports. McCain spent the day campaigning in North Carolina.
More from the AP:
<blockquote>McCain, trailing in the polls, fired the first volley,
likening his rival to the socialist leaders of Europe and saying he
wanted to "convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing
massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in
Washington."
McCain added, "Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it's just another government giveaway."
Obama responded a few hours later in appearance before an enormous
crowd, saying his Republican rival "wants to cut taxes for the same
people who have already been making out like bandits, in some cases
literally."
McCainis so out of touch with the struggles you are facing that he must be
the first politician in history to call a tax cut for working people
'welfare,'" Obama said. </blockquote>
The
Wall Street Journal has
more details:
<blockquote>Barack Obama attracted 100,000 people at a Saturday rally here, his biggest crowd ever at a U.S. event.
The crowd assembled under the Gateway Arch on a sunny Saturday
afternoon to hear Obama speak about taxes and slam the Republicans on
economic issues.
Lt. Samuel Dotson of the St. Louis Police Department confirmed the
number of attendees piled into the grassy lawn by the Mississippi River.
To be sure, big crowds don't always signal a big turnout on Election
Day. But Obama's ability to draw his largest audience yet in a
typically red state that just weeks ago looked out of reach, could
signal a changing electoral map.
For months Missouri polls put Obama as much as ten percentage points
behind Republican John McCain. It was widely believed that McCain's
pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate would have won over
the state's conservatives and boosted his chances there. So far, that
hasn't happened.
A Rasmussen poll released on Friday shows Obama leading in Missouri 52% to 46% for McCain.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/18/obama-rally-in-st-louis-d_n_135826.html</blockquote> 
Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:23 am
