Obama Oregon
Barack Obama embraced his daughters and his wife Sunday during a campaign event in Portland, Ore., which drew about 75,000 people. (Photo: Greg Wahl-Stephens/Associated Press)

An estimated 75,000 gathered on the banks of the Willamette River in Portland on Sunday to see Barack Obama.

“Wow! Wow! Wow!” were his first words, as he surveyed the multitude, which included people in kayaks and small pleasure craft on the river.


Obama Event
Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland on Sunday. (Photo: Chris Carlson/Associated Press)


It is “fair to say this is the most spectacular setting for the most spectacular crowd” of his campaign, he told the crowd.

Previously, the campaign’s biggest crowd was when the candidate spoke to 35,000 on Independence Mall in Philadelphia.


Obama in Oregon
Obama supporters in Portland on Sunday. (Photo: Chris Carlson/Associated Press)