Sen. Barack Obama has billed his presidential campaign as a grass-roots movement for change. In speeches, he often cites the sell-out crowds he has drawn across the country as a clear sign of an American electorate starved for a new kind of politics.
Twenty-thousand in Atlanta; 15,000 in Austin, Texas; and 3,500 in Las Vegas earlier this year.
So it was all the more noticeable Friday when two of his Las Vegas campaign stops featured a considerable number of empty seats, especially when compared with similar local events Wednesday for Sen. Hillary Clinton, his chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Both met with Culinary Union members, who are in contract talks with MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment, and held separate public events in high school gymnasiums. (Clinton hosted a town hall, Obama a rally.)
In both instances, Clinton got the bigger crowds - and louder applause.
No comments:
Post a Comment