I realize that Missouri is a "red state." Because of this some folks were surprised that Barack Obama pulled down his largest stateside lookie-loo turnout in my hometown Saturday, but in all fairness -- St. Louis is the New York City of Missouri. The Democratic Party has run the city for decades now under the threat of no one, nearly all the self-identified Liberals are from here and a solid majority of city dwellers are African American. Also good chunk of St. Louis County (namely North County) is African American. And it was St. Louis and Kansas City who helped Obama win Missouri during the Democratic primaries.
So, if Barack Obama was going to haul 100,000 supporters out of the middle of the country we were the place to be. That doesn't mean St. Louis is some black, Liberal Mecca. (God, no! If anything it's so horribly the opposite.) And it doesn't mean this feat isn't impressive, because it's obviously impressive. I'm just saying ...
Missouri is complicated.
That said ... stand in awe of the Gateway Arch, the Jefferson Expansion Memorial and more 100,000 people. (Photos by The Associated Press and AFP)
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