President Obama came to Hynes Convention Center on Saturday to support incumbent governor Deval Patrick and his running mate Tim Murray as they face a tough challenge from Republican Charlie Baker.
Blast Magazine was there to capture the day in words and pictures.

Charlie Volkstorf is a Cambridge resident whose willingness to show up early has enabled him to see a long list of presidents and other politicians. This time he arrived at four in the morning and was first in line. He avoided food and beverages so that a restroom run wouldn’t to cost him his spot at the front. In case that wasn’t good enough, he said ‘If Mother Nature calls, I have this.’

North Shore resident Eric Kamba arrived at 5 a.m. and took the queue’s second spot. Originally from Congo, he supports Obama but was hoping to confront the president on matters of foreign policy towards Africa. ‘Why hasn’t he said anything about the killing in Congo?’ he asked, ‘Will the aggressors be brought to justice?’

Advertising political events is a balancing act, and much is done through private channels such as email. As a result, while those inside fluttered with anticipation for the president’s arrival, many folks in the Back Bay – seen here through a window of Hynes Convention Center – we’re unaware that the president was on his way.

Large numbers of Boston Police, including the motorcycle cops shown here on the right, were present to handle traffic, perform crowd control, and provide an additional layer of security on top of the Secret Service. Noticing how many Boston cops were outside, one attendee commented ‘it looks like half the force is here.’

New England Comic Con taking place at the same venue created the alarming security complication of having masked cosplayers and toy weapons just rooms away away from the President. It also added a strangely-appropriate touch of the surreal. Captain America at a political rally makes weird sense, and Batman nemesis Poison Ivy is sometimes portrayed as an eco-terrorist.

There years ago this month, Senator Barack Obama appeared on Boston Common to rally for Deval Patrick and, of course, drum up support for his presidential bid. Then, his primary focus was tantalizing us with dreams of a better future. Now he mainly warns about re-empowering the political party that created the recession.

Addressing a pragmatic concern, Obama promised the crowd ‘We don’t want to give tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas. We want to give tax breaks to companies that are creating jobs right here in Massachusetts.’ Later in the afternoon, some paid more than $30,000 a ticket to meet the president at a privately-hosted fundraiser in Newton.
(Photos by John Stephen Dwyer for Blast Magazine)
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