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Barack Obama Drawing Large Crowds
Obama is also routinely selling out his fundraising events. His Los Angeles rally was paired with a star-studded Hollywood fundraiser that had to be moved from a 400-seat restaurant to a hotel ballroom that fit 600 because of the demand for tickets that required a $2,300 donation. When the Obama campaign announced a $25-a-ticket fundraiser in Louisville, Ky., Sunday evening, 2,500 of the 3,000 tickets were sold in 12 hours.
His draw was also strong in the early nominating states on his announcement tour earlier this month. The campaign moved a free event at Iowa State University earlier this month from a recreation hall that could hold 1,500 to a coliseum where the more than 5,000 who showed up were able to fit comfortably, although some of the curious were from out-of-state and can't vote in the Iowa caucus. All 2,300 tickets for a free town hall meeting in Durham, N.H. _ the largest 2008 presidential campaign event yet in the state _ were snatched up within six hours of the event being announced, Burton said.
  Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., center, speaks during a town hall meeting, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (Charlie Neibergall - AP) 
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The same day, Obama tried an old-fashion campaign stroll down the street in Concord, N.H., but the crowds of well-wishers grew so thick that campaign volunteers walked alongside him, holding up yellow ropes to clear a path.
The crowds are reminiscent of those that turned out across the country to hear Howard Dean in the 2004 primary race on his "Sleepless Summer" tour across the United States. Dean had been in the race for months at that point, versus the few weeks that Obama has been running, but former Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi sees similarities in how both candidates were able to motivate supporters on the Internet with a message of change.
Obama needs to avoid Dean's pitfall of peaking too early, only to be brought down by his own gaffes and criticism from rivals.
"You can still make a mistake and take your own candidacy down or the other candidates can start attacking you," Trippi said. "There are all kinds of things that happen in politics that blunt this advantage."
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Associated Press writers Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles and Philip Elliott in Concord, N.H., contributed to this report.
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