Obama Draws Record Crowd to St. Louis Rally

Barack Obama drew the largest crowd of his presidential campaign, 100,000 people, on Saturday at a rally in St. Louis. (During an overseas trip this year, he addressed a Berlin crowd that was estimated by some authorities to exceed 200,000.) The Illinois senator had been behind in the presidential race in Missouri until very recently.

The Wall Street Journal’s “Washington Wire:

To be sure, big crowds don’t always signal a big turnout on Election Day. But Obama’s ability to draw his largest audience yet in a typically red state that just weeks ago looked out of reach, could signal a changing electoral map.

For months Missouri polls put Obama as much as ten percentage points behind Republican John McCain. It was widely believed that McCain’s pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate would have won over the state’s conservatives and boosted his chances there. So far, that hasn’t happened.

A Rasmussen poll released on Friday shows Obama leading in Missouri 52% to 46% for McCain.

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AP photo / Jeff Roberson

Sen. Barack Obama looks out over a sea of supporters as he prepares to speak under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis on Saturday.