Sarah Phelan reports from Saturday’s Obama lovefest in Oakland
Barack Obama has the cutest, toothy, crinkly-at-the-edges smile. Yeah, he’s the Democratic Presidential candidate with the dangerously high level of charisma and everyone knows it. (A recent poll, taken the same week as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill giving California an early Feb. 5 2008 presidential primary, placed him only a few points behind Sen. Hillary Clinton, with Sen. John Edwards trailing in third place.)
(pic by Khalil Abusaba)
That’s why folks during Obama’s St Patrick’s Day appearance in Oakland were wielding a “You’re Barackin’ Me Crazy” sign, and Double Funk Crunch, the band chosen to serenade this youthful presidential hopeful, warmed up the crowd by singing “Crazy.”
Not that the crowd needed any warming. Oakland crowds are hot. And the minute the youthful Senator from Illinois stepped onto the stage, things got even hotter.
“How’s it going, Oakland? I’m fired up! This is a good-looking crowd,” Obama told the 10,000 + people crammed into Oakland’s Frank H. Ogawa Plaza outside City Hall.
(pic by Khalil Abusaba)