Obama Draws 60,000 in Ohio

The Toledo Blade reports that an Obama rally today at the Columbus statehouse drew 60,000 people, who crowded onto the lawn and spilled into the streets. Obama called McCain’s Saturday Night Live appearance “funny,” but in the next breath used Cheney’s endorsement of McCain to link the Republican contender to the Bush administration. “Dick Cheney came out, and he hit the campaign trail. He said, and I quote, that he is ‘delighted’ to support John McCain. You’ve never seen Dick Cheney delighted before, but he is. That’s kind of hard to picture,” Obama said. “I would like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement, because he really earned it.” In response to the crowd’s reaction to his mention of Cheney, Obama said, “You don’t need to boo, you just need to vote.” Early polls near the site were only scheduled to be open until 5 p.m., but Ohio Governor Ted Strickland told the crowd that he wanted so many people to show up that “at midnight tonight and at 2 a.m., tomorrow morning people will still be in line registering their votes for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”