Obama Draws Record Crowd in St. Louis
(ST. LOUIS) Barack Obama's rally in St. Louis today drew a record crowd with the local police estimating 100,000 people in attendance.
Obama spoke on a small stage underneath the Gateway Arch at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in the middle of a sea of supporters who waved signs and cheered through out the 35-minute speech.
"I think the winds of change are blowing all across America," Obama told the crowd. "They're blowing here in Missouri, they're blowing in Michigan, they're blowing in Illinois, they're blowing in Virginia, and they are blowing in Ohio."
The last time Obama has seen a crowd this big was at Denver's Invesco Field on the night of his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention, when 80,000 attended. Last May, Obama drew a crowd of over 70,000 in Portland, Oregon.
Obama a blasted back at John McCain today for calling his tax policy "welfare," accusing him of being out of touch with the middle class.
"Let me repeat this - I'm not giving tax cuts to folks who don't work, I'm giving tax cuts to people who do work," Obama said.
"John McCain is so out of touch with the struggles you are facing that he must be the first politician in history to call a tax cut for working people "welfare."
He added, "Let's just be clear here George Bush and John McCain are out of ideas, they are out of touch, and if you stand with me in 17 days they'll be out of time."
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responded to Obama's charges by describing his plan as socialism. "Barack Obama would give tax cuts to Americans who don't pay any income taxes – it's a policy Democrats used to call welfare, what Barack Obama calls 'spreading the wealth around,' and what Joe the Plumber calls socialism."