I couldn't get in :-(

I coulda swore I heard them playing '99 problems'

Gregoire just endorsed Obama.

Obama/Sebelius 08.

i tried to go too.. the email obama sent me (personally of course!) said "doors open at 11:00"... turns out, doors CLOSED at 10:30, so many people had shown up by 9:00. major snafu by the obama camp in not booking a larger venue. a couple other observations/thoughts: there were a TON of young kids there (definitely not of voting age), and so heard a lot of disgruntled "older" people complaining and asking why they weren't in school! ha! also, note to the key arena staff manning the closed doors: if you are trying to announce something to the crowd over your stupid wimpy bullhorn, say, maybe ask them to move back from the doors because of the fire hazard, you should probably TURN DOWN the shitty Kool and the Gang blaring over your crappy outdoor sound system. k, thx!

You can watch the speech live on Channel 2 or catch it at www.king5.com!

Obama/Jim Webb '08

There might be 3,000 there now, but many other thousands have come and gone during the last few hours. I took the monorail back to downtown over an hour ago, and it was nearly full of couldn't-get-iners.

Um, having to turn people away at the door is not a "major snafu". It's brilliant marketing. Besides, WHAT larger venue? I don't think you can just book Qwest field at the last second (stadiums worry about things like their turf), and if you can, at what cost?

But having people turned away is good theater, and good news. It's not going to hurt his caucus numbers any, and tonight on the news the story is going to be "Thousands turned away from jam-packed Obama rally at Key" instead of "Obama speaks in front of half-full Qwest".

I know y'all are excited, but elections are won with votes, not rallies. Getting into the Key doesn't change anything; getting to your caucus tomorrow does.

fnarf @9: you are absolutely correct, the fact they had to turn away thousands is GREAT theater and will make for awesome headlines for the obama camp. BUT, as someone who has been riding the fence all year between clinton and obama, i really wanted to hear him speak in person, and experience the vibe for myself. i'm going to caucus tomorrow, and will probably choose barack obama... but still, it would have been nice, having made the effort to take time off work, to actually hear him speak.

I think at this point the big snafu was the Clinton supporter at her rally last night waving the "5000+ people here" figure in people's faces (lit-er-al-ly).

Chaos - cold - asshole security and cops, getting stressed over nothing - too many people, should have known better

this guy is a rock star, when will it all collapse?

tons of kids, non voters, don't have a clue about the politics, not registered

my bet is on Hillary, not so rock star but solid folks who will organize and vote

Somebody please get Adam smith, Gregoire and the mayor off the stage. Now. Somebody? Little help?

Can't help ya there, mate.

You'd need an elephant gun for that one.

oh hey, there goes nickels

oof. I was stuck outside from 11:15 to 12:30 and assumed that the event was almost over when I left. They must have been playing an old Obama speech on the loudspeakers when I arrived. Then the shut off the sound system until the crowd would back away from the doors. By the time they turned it back on, it was just "Celebration"; so I was guessing that things were wrapping up.

i am going to throw up. his moment of aiding the woman in the audience was too much. i want a politician not a preacher.

28,000. get it right. 27,000 in seats and a thousand on the floor.

There is no way in hell there were 28,000 people inside the Key Arena.

Yeah...I was there and didn't get in, but I'm SOOOO glad I hung out to hear his speech. To my delight, he surprised the outside crowd with a brief 2 minute speech and I was lucky enough to be only 20 feet away. Freezing for hours and driving 90 minutes through hellish Seattle traffic was well worth it when he graced us with his presence and his smile even if for just a moment or two! Everybody caucus for him tomorrow at 1PM!