Videos - Barack Obama Las Vegas rally September 30, 2012

and some still pictures from canvassing

The rally was at Desert Pines High School. The Obama campaign estimated the crowd at 11,000. I have no idea how many people were there. But there sure were a lot of people when I got there at 3 PM. My canvasser buddy was holding a spot in line for me, so I bypassed everybody that was there. He had gotten there by 1:30, and we still had at least a few hundred people ahead of us. There were some people who got special tickets to be right up front. I'm not 100% sure who got to sit in the riser behind the President, but I'm pretty sure they were chosen at random if you sent a text message to a number they put up on a Jumbotron.

I apologize for the quality of the videos, but it was very crowded, and I was holding my camcorder up in the air with my monopod. Also, at times I was looking at the President directly, so I could enjoy what was going on, and not just viewing the event on a tiny screen. It's also a shame that I did not get the whole national anthem by the singer, but I got most of it.

They did do the Pledge of Allegiance, but I missed it because I was checking to make sure I was recording video and audio properly.

One thing to note about this rally was that most of the crowd waited for 2 hours in 95 degree heat with little shade just to get in at 4 PM. After that, we were standing in the sun for about another 2 hours until the sun finally set behind a building.

Here are the clips, in the order in which they happened:

A dog with a sticker. This was at the staging area for the canvassing.

An anti Obama group.

Panning around from where I was standing

Showing where the TV people were. I was standing about 10 feet away from one edge of their platform.

Invocation.

Star Spangled Banner.

Somebody who worked at the high school.

I think this person was running for Congress.

Nevada state senator who represents Las Vegas

Mexican band Maná

The seal of the President is affixed to the podium.

The speech is set out and a scan of the crowd on the riser.

I tried to show the lighting for those of you into lighting.

Scanning the riser group while waiting for the President. It was a long and kind of boring wait.

The TV reporters began reporting as we waited. It was about 6:30 when the President spoke.

Introduction of the President

Obama Speech

The President leaves and the crowd is still milling around.

A few pictures from the canvassing staging area