Honestly, I don't even know where to begin. I just got back from my third straight weekend in Madison and it was absolutely unbelievable. And when I say unbelievable, I mean UN-BELIEVABLE.
The first weekend I went, the crowd was estimated at around 100k. The second weekend, I was a little bummed because the crowd was smaller and I thought, "Well, here we go, it's dying out." Now, keep in mind, the crowd that weekend was estimated at 30,000-50,000...oh, boo hoo, only fifty thousand people? But still.
Anyway, I didn't know what to expect this weekend--but all I can say is WHOA. I don't care what the "estimates" say, because there had to be at least 150,000 people in the streets of Madison. The 2009 estimated POPULATION of Madison is 235,626. Pretty amazing. I'll share a ton of pics + video + thoughts + my now-permanent connection to Mad-town below the fold. I also got to hang for a bit with Kossack Goldfish which was cool too.
I do believe a sleeping beast has been awakened.
I know it's a lot of content, but I wanted to document what I saw. I really hope you enjoy it. I worked pretty hard on this diary and I hope you like it--if you do, please leave a comment, share with your labor friends and/or your local, whatever! I think it's important for others to see the actual faces of "the mob." --thank you! Now let's go!
LUNCH BREAK UPDATE: Rec list, thank you so much! Trying to do my little part to bring some Madtown to those who couldn't be there, and to those who were but just want to re-live it a little. It's really something else. Now, I hate to do it but I figure it's better to put it out there than not--I have really loved going up there the last three weeks, and as long as stuff is actively going on, I'm happy to continue to do so and to report back. Thing is [insert blatantly shameless solicitation] I'm kind of a poor fixed-income student here in Chicago on an internship. Each trip costs between $80-$160 depending on if I have to stay in a room somewhere or if I can find a place, and how cheap I can eat. I usually Megabus it. If you wanted to help contribute anything for me to go up there to help offset the costs and to continue to do this each weekend, please send me a message--if you want to see some WI other than Madison, for example to take a more rural trip to recall offices, or who knows what, let me know and I'd be happy to give it my best shot too. If not no worries. [/blatant shameless solicitation]. THANK YOU!