Crowd estimates at Obama speech: off by at least one

Not quite sky-high for Obama -- but at least branch-high. The October 27 Rocky Mountain News features "Crowd Was Big, But Just How Big?," an amusing and timely piece about the difficulty of estimating the number of folks who actually watched Barack Obama deliver a speech at Civic Center yesterday,...

By Michael Roberts

October 27, 2008

Audio By Carbonatix

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Not quite sky-high for Obama -- but at least branch-high.

The October 27 Rocky Mountain News features "Crowd Was Big, But Just How Big?," an amusing and timely piece about the difficulty of estimating the number of folks who actually watched Barack Obama deliver a speech at Civic Center yesterday, not to mention the disinterest on the part of most city agencies to stand behind their guesses (or even admit that they made one). Still, I suspect that personnel from the police and fire departments, the Mayor's Office and pretty much anyone other than Westword copy editor Jane Le failed to notice the guy seen here, who blended in perfectly with the fall foliage. Revise those figures immediately. -- Michael Roberts

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

Contact: Michael Roberts

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