September 16, 2007

Huge Rally Greets Fred in Lawrenceburg

Lawrenceburg, TN - Driving from Nashville to Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, feels at times like driving backward in time as you leave behind the 21st century modernity of the state capital and find yourself in a town that in many ways looks unchanged in the last half century. But Saturday afternoon there was a distinct sense of the now and the future, too, as Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, who grew up in Lawrenceburg, returned for a huge campaign rally that packed the town square with an enthusiastic crowd estimated at above 10,000 people.

After his speech, Fred signed autographs for folks jammed up along the barrier between seating and stage, then stepped through the barrier and waded into the crowd where he was mobbed like a rock star (though I hope we never see him try to crowd-surf!), where he continued to sign autographs, greet people and pose for a long time.

I was supposed to interview Thompson during the short drive from the Lawrenceburg airport to his hotel before the rally, but while I arrived early, Thompson's plane arrived even earlier and I missed him. So, in lieu of an interview report, I've got photos.

See the whole set at Flickr. Also, Blake Wylie was there and also has a selection of photos up on his Flickr page.

Update The Fred Thompson campaign has its own Flickr page, with 64 photos from the Lawrenceburg rally.