Thousands of Wisconsinites from Madison and surrounding areas packed Martin Luther King Blvd. Monday morning as early as 5:30 a.m. when doors opened to the Obama and Springsteen rally.
But the large crowd is made up of mostly families, both young and old, with children ranging from infancy to high school seniors. There is a low turnout of University of Wisconsin-Madison students.
UW-Madison Pharmacy student Renee Liebe said she skipped class to come to the rally, because she missed Obama’s Oct. 4 rally on Bascom Hil.
“I didn’t expect a whole lot of people to show up because it was kind of short notice and he’s already been here,” Liebe said. “I expected to see a lot of students, but I see a lot of families and non-students.”
Christine Crayman of the New Glarus area brought her 16-year-old daughter to the rally, and said she is “excited” Obama came back to Madison.
“It shows how pivotal Wisconin is and how important it is to the candidate,” Crayman said. “[Obama] cares about Wisconsin. We like that.”
Melissa, who did not provide her last name, brought her two young daughters to the rally from Madison suburb Sun Prairie, because she “wanted them to have that memory.”
“We’ve never seen a president before in real life,” Melissa said. “So it’s huge for us.”
