Obamateurism of the Day

There’s nothing like the hometown to get a politician feeling on top of the world.  When Paul Ryan headed home as Mitt Romney’s running mate this weekend, a “massive” crowd greeted him like a homecoming hero, despite having only hours to coordinate it:

The largest crowd of the campaign so far for a Mitt Romney event welcomed home favorite son Rep. Paul Ryan at a massive rally here in the congressman’s district Sunday night, pushing the GOP’s vice presidential nominee to tears as he took the stage, setting off cheers with two simple words:

“Hi mom.” …

“I’m a Wisconsinite through and through,” Ryan said to cheers from a crowd which contained many members of Ryan’s extended family, and which the campaign estimated to be more than ten thousand strong, likely the largest turnout ever for a Romney event.

Some estimates had the crowd size as high as 13,000.  But you know who else had a homecoming?  The man at the top of the other ticket, Barack Obama.  He came to Chicago for a long-planned fundraiser only hours after Ryan generated the huge crowd in Wisconsin.  Tickets started at $51 a pop, celebrating the President’s birthday a week earlier.  The hometown crowds must really have been huge, considering the size of the city in comparison to Ryan’s less-populous district, right?  Er …

Just to clarify, tix *started* at $51. Obama campaign sez event was sold out, but room is about half full. Hmmm.

— jodikantor (@jodikantor) August 12, 2012

There may have been a reason for that:

The invitation to the president’s birthday fundraiser today in Chicago. twitpic.com/aiib1k

— jodikantor (@jodikantor) August 12, 2012

@jodikantor Did they really screwup CST/CDT?

— Kevin Meyers (@kevinmeyers) August 12, 2012

@kevinmeyers You’re the second person to say that.

— jodikantor (@jodikantor) August 12, 2012

Politico tried to scoff at Kantor’s first-person report:

But the crowd for the afternoon fundraiser at the Bridgeport Art Center totaled 1,000, an Obama campaign official said – more than the 850-person estimate the campaign offered earlier in the weekend. Tickets for the Gen44 fundraiser, targeted at younger supporters, started at $51, but many were more expensive.

And, to this reporter and several others in the White House press pool, the room seemed plenty full. There was empty space at the back of the large loft space during and immediately after the president’s remarks, but the crowd was densely packed to get close to the stage at the front of the room where Obama spoke.

Kantor wasn’t buying it:

@drudge_report Admission *began* at $51, to clarify. Obama campaign said event was sold out, though the room looked abt 1/2 full to me.

— jodikantor (@jodikantor) August 12, 2012

Too bad Obama comes from such a small hometown, or he might have done better than one-thirteenth of the crowd Ryan attracted.

It’s time once again to show our support for Day By Day and its artist-publisher, Chris Muir.  Chris holds an annual fundraiser to keep the adventures of Sam, Zed, Jan, and Damon coming.  Chris, whose artwork has enhanced the OOTD feature since its inception for Hot Air readers, uses the funds raised for only the continuance of DBD.  As always, the fundraiser has many fabulous gifts available at whatever level one chooses to donate.  If you’re thinking about donating at the Jan/Damon level or above, you’ll get a Last Supper Red vs Blue magnet, which has depictions of personalities from New Media — myself included.  Donating at the Anatoly Level will get you a 9×15 print of the artwork.  Dig deep and be part of supporting the one of the best New Media cartoonists in the biz!

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

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