Big Crowds at Both Frankie Z & Firehouse Grill for Kerry Speech

Lowdown from Chicago:

60-70 People gathered at Frankie Z's to watch John Kerry accept the nomination as Candidate for President of the United States. Veteran volunteers mixed with Campaign neophytes in both the front room and backroom of this distiguished Chicago location. TV's in the front and back -- including the huge screen in the back -- were all tuned to the proceedings in Boston. It was the perfect environment to watch the event.

Particularly popular with the crowd was the speech by Clark. It drew a lot of applause. Max Cleland's speech also received a warm reception.

Of course, the man of the moment, the person we all came to see, received the longest and most substained applause. A cameraman from ABC/7 was there to document the feelings of the crowd as Kerry began to speak. We leaped to our feet and did so several times as Kerry, through his words and delivery, made it clear why he's the right man for the job -- why he's going to be the next president of the United States.

Thursday night was truly a special volunteer occasion.

Lowdown from Evanston:

Slightly under one hundred excited Kerry volunteers gathered in the "upper room" at the Firehouse Grill including many new faces to hear the last night of the convention. What a barnburner it turned out to be!

Alex and Vanessa Kerry's speeches had people laughing and cheering. When "band of brothers" veteran Jim Wasser of Illinois was announced the crowd cheered loudly. Many of the 4JKB4IA volunteers worked with Jim in Davenport during the primary. (FYI, Jim might be visiting Chicago to help us with the Air and Water show.)

However, the biggest cheer and standing ovation of the night before the acceptance speech was reserved for former Sen. Max Cleland. Max represents the truth about this current administration simply put, there is no lie too big or insidious for this administration when they attempt to hide behind the flag and as they try to strip Americans who don’t agree of their patriotism.

And what can we say about Kerry's speech? He DELIVERED! What a fantastic speech! "I'm John Kerry, and I am reporting for duty" brought people to their feet from the start. He hammered home the message that Democrats are the optimists in this race. You go JK!

See Photo Gallery - Chicago / Photo Gallery - Evanston.