Empty Chairs: Lots of Them at McCain Rally

Crist blends in among thousands of open seats at lackluster McCain "rally" in North Florida

NEWS FROM THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY

For Immediate Release: September 15, 2008

JACKSONVILLE - With John McCain visiting Northeast Florida, one of the most Republican areas of Florida, you might think that the only empty chair in Jacksonville Memorial Arena would have been Empty Chair Charlie Crist.

However, Florida's Part-Time Governor turned out to be just one among thousands and thousands of empty chairs. Well over ten thousand, in fact.

Jacksonville, Florida's largest city with more than 800,000 people, voted for 58% for George W. Bush in 2004. When President Bush visited Jacksonville during the 2004 election, he had nearly 50,000 supporters fill Alltel Stadium. [Jacksonville Times-Union, October 24, 2004]

In contrast, John McCain only drew 3,000 at the most to see him this morning at Jacksonville Memorial Arena, which has a capacity of 16,000. The crowd cheered for Bush and Alaska's Sarah Palin louder than they cheered for McCain. Media should expect the McCain campaign to lie about the attendance at the event as they have done numerous times in recent weeks.

Pictures from today's McCain rally in Jacksonville:

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