Harris, Obama, Springsteen and more! Pictures and videos from the October 24 rally in Georgia

Last Sunday evening I received a political text message. I almost ignored it because I was in South Carolina at the time and was very busy. Then I saw what it said:

President Obama and Kamala Harris arrive in Atlanta for a rally on Thursday. Will we see you there?

Included was a link to secure a spot. I clicked on the link and my name was added to the many millions of people (okay, 23,000) who would be attending the rally. As the days passed, more text messages were sent, but none included the location of the event. I began to wonder if I was one of the chosen few who would actually be invited. On Wednesday, it was finally revealed that the location was James R. Hallford Stadium on the campus of Georgia State University Perimeter College, which is east of downtown Atlanta.

Meanwhile, other headliners arrived, including Bruce Springsteen, who I had never seen in concert before. Now he would sing for free!

For me it would take a drive of about 80 miles. If I chose the wrong route, I would be confused by the notorious traffic on Interstate 75 and the greater Atlanta area. I chose a route that took state highways from Macon to Conyers and city streets the rest of the way. I would approach the venue from the east while most of the traffic would come from the west. It was a good choice because on the “shortest” route the traffic was actually terrible.

The campaign's parking instructions indicated that we could park in one of several shopping centers. I found a spot from which I could easily head east after the event was over.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon, perfect weather for a Kamala Harris rally. I joined the people making their way to the entry point.

Instead of discussing everyone's speeches, I decided to focus on the meat of the event itself, the things that don't usually show up in the news. There are many experts who are happy to analyze the speeches for us.

Further up the road we were met by volunteers who told us that the line had doubled again. I had visions of it stretching for miles, but the line was moving very quickly. Soon we were zigzagging through a maze of metal fences. It didn't take long before we reached the stadium, where a long line of security check tables awaited. The lines at each table were only about five people long.

The first real bottleneck was in the stadium itself. People with color-coded armbands went to the right, where they could stay near the stage. The rest of us went left.

Crowd control kept directing us to different entrances as the stands quickly filled up. My seat wasn't in a prime location, but it gave me a good view of the entire area.

The next picture shows the view towards the stage. To the left of the stage is the media area.

Much of the musical entertainment took the form of audience participation. After the 132nd^_nd When asked to put my hands over my head, I felt like I was an extra in a bank robbery scene. I wasn't thrilled, but the organizers didn't want to please everyone.

I recorded this short video (19 seconds) showing the crowd gathered and the layout of the stadium.

As would be expected at a major campaign event, the media section was impressive.

Note in the image above that the east half of the stadium is now open to spectators. Due to the location of the afternoon sun, the western half was filled first. These people actually had better seats than me as the sun went down.

The food trucks were constantly busy!

There were security guards everywhere. Secret Service, TSA, local police. A drone observed the event.

Finally it was time for the speakers to take the stage. Samuel L. Jackson was first (22 second video). A helicopter circled the stadium once and flew away.

Several more speakers followed. Then it was time for Bruce Springsteen to captivate the audience.

I recorded a five minute video of Bruce singing Promised land. I also made video clips of other speakers. But I came to the conclusion that it is better to include the official campaign video at the end of this diary as it has much better sound and picture quality.

I'm going to add this 15 second video just because it's Obama!

And President Obama's handover to Vice President Harris is truly a special moment.

Below is the link to the official recording of the rally, courtesy of the Harris Campaign. Feel free to check out your favorite speakers and interpreters. You have to click on the link as embedding doesn't appear to be possible.

www.youtube.com/…

The video lasts more than two and a half hours. Here is an estimated schedule for the various speakers.
Beginning, Samuel L. Jackson
4:40 p.m., Spike Lee
2:15 p.m., Michael Thurmond, CEO of DeKalb County
7:30 p.m., Hank Jackson, Representative of Georgia's 4th Congressional District
26:00, Senator Jon Ossoff
33:30 to 54:40, break
54:40 Georgia State University Student Body President
58:10, Bruce Springsteen
1:19:10, Senator Raphael Warnock
1:29:00, Tyler Perry
1:43:45, President Obama
2:07:20, Vice President Harris

And if you want to go directly to Bruce Springsteen, try this link

www.youtube.com/…

Feel free to add your comments and pictures!