Seventeen thousand insignificant people crowded a Grand Forks, North Dakota arena to see the next President of the United States.
They were part of what Sen. Kent Conrad said, while introducing Obama, was the biggest political event “in my adult life.”
Alerus officials said more than 17,000 people joined, for a few hours, the North Dakota Democratic Party’s convention, cheering, stomping and yelling like a crowd at a rock concert when Obama took the stage, and throughout his 45-minute speech. Minutes before the speech started, a thousand or more still waiting in line were allowed to hurry in to stand on the floor after all the seats were full.
“Some people think the Democrats can’t win in North Dakota, so we shouldn’t put too much time in here,” Obama said. “I tell you what, we didn’t fly over North Dakota. We landed. We didn’t write off North Dakota.”
The crowd screamed approval and remained standing for several minutes, until Obama showed how he got his reputation for charming crowds.
“At least, feel free to have a seat, guys. That’s why you got chairs.” Most took him up on the offer, but several times during his 40-minute speech they rose again to their feet.
We have two Democratic senators from North Dakota that typically win reelection by wide margins. There is no reason to write off North Dakota. Barack Obama can win there. And even if he doesn’t, he just pumped up the local Democratic Party as Dick Cheney would say, “Big Time”.
