Remember when? Obama visits San Marcos, Texas State

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VIDEO: See Barack Obama’s speech at the San Marcos River in February 2008. Bigger screen here.

From the Mercury archives: ‘That is hope, Texas State’

STAFF REPORT

Remember hope and change? San Marcos caught primary fever four and half years ago as then-candidate Barack Obama visited San Marcos and spoke to a crowd estimated at more than 10,000 people — some breathless news reports said 20,000 — on the banks of the San Marcos River in Sewell Park.

Then-Sen. Barack Obama visited San Marcos in February 2008 during his grueling Democratic Party primary campaign against Hillary Clinton. This week, he flew over the city but didn't stop en route to Austin from San Antonio. None of the Republican candidates have made public appearances in Hays County, either, this year. MERCURY FILE PHOTO

“U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is the closest thing to a Beatle that America has seen since, well, the Beatles,” correspondent Kelly Merks wrote at the time.

A week after Obama’s appearance, Chelsea Clinton campaigned at Texas State and the Old Hays County Courthouse on behalf of her mom. On Election Day, former President Bill Clinton greeted delighted — and surprised — students during an unscheduled visit to the LBJ Student Center.

In Hays County, Obama trounced Clinton, 11,268 votes to 8,695 in the primary that spring but McCain won the county narrowly in the November general election, 29,638 votes to Obama’s 28,431.

Watch more

» C.J. MORGAN, now an on-air DJ at 93.7 KLBJ, was a Texas State student when Obama campaigned here in early 2008. Morgan filed this video report for Newstreamz, the Mercury’s predecessor. Watch here.

RELATED IN THE MERCURY:

• Bill Clinton stops in San Marcos during last-minute campaign swing | 03/04/2008
• Obama to attend San Marcos rally this week | 02/25/2008
• Video: Obama rallies San Marcos with riverside speech during campaign swing | 02/29/2008
• Bill Clinton stops in San Marcos during last-minute campaign swing | 03/04/2008
• The Democrats debate | 02/21/2008

Posted by The Mercury Staff on 07/17/2012. Filed under Election 2012, Featured, News, Texas, The Corridor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.