President Obama was in Upper Marlboro, Md. earlier tonight at a rally for Maryland gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown, and, believe it or not, it was his first campaign event of 2014.
Everything got off to good start, with what one would expect from a gathering of the Obama faithful, complete with upbeat tunes and the now obligatory selfies:
Backstage with @BrownforMD & @RepCummings before the event w/ @BarackObama. Early vote starts on Oct. 23. #MDVotes pic.twitter.com/B1NVZUrBgv
— Martin O'Malley (@MartinOMalley) October 19, 2014
Obama comes out to "City of Blinding Lights" … his old school campaign rally anthem
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 19, 2014
Martin O'Malley and Elijah Cummings taking a selfie with the Obama crowd in PG County pic.twitter.com/Mk39cier6K
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 19, 2014
The president hit on his usual themes, including Obamacare, the greatness of the economic rebound and reminding those gathered of the importance of turnout on election day:
"Thanks to Obamacare" – Obama
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 19, 2014
Obama to supporters of Anthony Brown, candidate for governor in Maryland. Get "cousin Pookie" to the polls pic.twitter.com/9xEEvg7PRm
— Toluse Olorunnipa (@ToluseO) October 19, 2014
Cousin “Pookie,” again? How many times is the president going to bring him up? Sheesh.
Immigration protesters were on hand, as well, chiding the president for his lack of action on their signature issue:
Obama to immigration protester: "Of course he should be protesting the folks who are blocking it, but that’s OK"
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 19, 2014
Sign says #NOT1more — an immigration protester at Obama's Maryland rally
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 19, 2014
Obama to immigration protester: "Of course he should be protesting the folks who are blocking it, but that’s OK"
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 19, 2014
Hey, the president said “bring your cousin,” not “su primo.”
But then a funny thing happened. The Obama faithful, who had waited in line “for hours” to get a chance to hear him speak, started leaving in the middle of his speech. Jeff Mason of Reuters reports:
Lots of people, at least up front near where journalists are sitting, appear to be leaving this rally now that Obama has started speaking.
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) October 19, 2014
Steady stream of people leaving Maryland rally continues as Obama speaks. It's noticeable and noisy. They would have waited hours to get in.
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) October 19, 2014
Maybe it was just Mason who noticed? Or, maybe not:
They got their iPhone photos, now they're streaming out: the 2014 Obama campaign rally story pic.twitter.com/gCbq6G7mjr
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 19, 2014
Pool: "by the time [Obama] was about 10 minutes in, there was a traffic jam next to the pool's tables as folks tried to exit the gym. "
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) October 19, 2014
And here comes the boom:
https://twitter.com/katiezez/status/523950342493728769
How embarrassing! More gut-splitting reaction from around Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Mrs__Met/status/523951782264053762
https://twitter.com/DCinAZ/status/523953684699697154
@jeffmason1 more surprised if they stayed.
— Eddie (@eddiecarl4468) October 19, 2014
https://twitter.com/Matthops82/status/523959447631052801
https://twitter.com/AAJAQUITS/status/523961118612787202
@ZekeJMiller For a person who is so full of himself that's got to hurt his huge ego. #Obama #Shenanigans #lies
— Francesca Farber?? (@FranMFarber) October 19, 2014
https://twitter.com/Tark31/status/523952788045189120
Oh, well. Not every rally can look like this:
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/492319623870963713
As for coverage of tonight’s embarassment in the MSM, however, don’t hold your breath:
Watching @NBCNightlyNews now in which @kwelkernbc reported on Obama's Maryland rally but no mention of mass exodus #journalism
— Rick (@StrokesofCandor) October 19, 2014
The president’s next stop tonight is a rally to support the re-elections of Gov. Pat Quinn in Illinois. Let’s see if he gets a better crowd than the one he had in Maryland.