Originally published at: About Those Crowd Sizes: Take A Look For Yourself - TPM – Talking Points Memo
When Kamala Harris officially entered the presidential race late last month, she hit the ground running. The Vice President has been traveling the country, drawing large, energized crowds. Her newfound popularity, and, specifically, the size of those crowds, has predictably become a thorn in the side of Donald Trump, who sees crowd size as the…
Shorter Kam…“Mine’s Bigger!”
Honestly, they look about equal. It’s going to be a close race.
Looks to me like ms Harris crowds are bigger and more often.
Size matters but so does staying power
I would rather be at the joyful, diverse, fun rally vs. one that is filled with doughy white angry folks with silly red hats.
Let’s keep up the energy where it matters, and get folks to VOTE
Great piece. It’s nice to see a curated, honest apples to apples comparison.
Thinking the same thing. Shit.
Welcome back adamc. Stick around.
Note that Trump’s Asheville rally is in a place that holds less than 2500, if memory serves. And I doubt the Bozeman facility is all that big either. And not included here is Trump’s SAD! luncheon speech to “hundreds” in Detroit. Trump’s crowds do seem to be getting smaller, but doing his shtick in smaller and smaller venues makes it less obvious.
Event planners (good ones anyway) are adept at choosing and designing the layout of a venue to make it appear at capacity. One question that I have again and again looking at these photos is: what is the seat spacing? An extra six inches between seats and a foot between rows really adds up quick. And obviously seated vs standing bears no comparison at all.
Actually, no. If you look closely, Trump is holding his rallies in much smaller places on average. He’s been in show business for a long time so he knows how to manipulate appearances.
It’s a lot easier to fill an auditorium that holds 2,500 than it is to fill a stadium that holds 10,000. However, if both are full, it will appear as though both have about the same number of people even though the smaller one has only one fourth as many.
Interesting to note…the image of TFGs rallies are not lit well on the top tiers, so you really can’t tell the crowd size.
This! The top tier in TFG stadiums often seem empty, and the lights are off to hide the fact? On the other hand, Harris’s crowds more often than not, extend all the way up with the lights on.
The idea that this has an awful lot of meaning is a little strained to me.
On the other hand , KAMALA IS WINNING THE CROWD SIZE CONTEST!
WOO HOO!!
Isn’t it also true that Harris is holding more rallies than Trump? So it’s not just a matter of per event crowds, but total numbers attracted to rallies.
The Trump Team seems to play with a lot of lighting tricks, to obscure empty or sparsely seated areas. Dark blue/black light, or just darkness, with light highlighting the lower levels that are more (but not always) full.
On the other hand, the Harris events are almost exclusively packed full to the very last row, often standing in walkway areas.
It has meaning because this is an enthusiasm election: one in which extra turnout, driven by optimistic voter energy, will decide the outcome. Harris has an obvious edge in enthusiasm, and plenty of room to grow. Trump has a hard ceiling at 45-47% according to the people who analyze these things, and his voters don’t seem to have the same moxie they did in past years.
Crowd size and crowd mood are important markers. They speak to enthusiasm.
Crowd size…one of the dozens of red herrings that keep people from focusing on the issues and the mental incompetence of the lying convicted felon. Perusing the close ups of the frightening make up of Trumps attendees indicates how awful our education system has become…critical thinking is not even a concept to these folks…
And it is kinda hard to really see, as the lights are down in the Trump rallies, so that the balconies are blacked out. Can’t see the empty seats.
That was certainly the case in Asheville, NC. Trump was in a small venue in an area that outside the Asheville Metro area is very red, and when Walz came he was in an outdoor venue that held more people and was filled to capacity with many left outside, not permitted inside the venue.