OH: Three Obama events draw thousands
9:33 PM
From the Cleveland Plain-Dealer
Barack Obama returned to Ohio Sunday to rally tens of thousands of people in the state's three largest cities, whose support is crucial to any Democratic victory in a state known for its evenly divided electorate.In Columbus, Politico blogger Ben Smith highlights a forward-thinking charter bus operator who's selling bus tickets to travel to January's presidential inauguration.
Obama, within reach of becoming the first black president in U.S. history, found rapturous crowds in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati that spilled out of parks and stadiums and into surrounding streets
In Cleveland, according to the city's safety director, Martin Flask, 80,000 people turned out to hear the 47 year-old U.S. Senator from Illinois, making it the largest single political event in Northeast Ohio since Democrat John F. Kennedy rallied more than 100,000 people at Euclid Beach Park during his 1960 presidential campaign.
Obama's Cleveland event, which included a warmup by musician Bruce Springsteen, came 50 hours before the voting ends in the Buckeye State and marked Obama's first visit to the city since the end of August and his second to Northeast Ohio in a week.
