Did Obama Benefit From Decemberist Uprising?

Ever hear of the Decemberists? No, not the soldiers who rose up against the Czar in Russia back in 1825. I'm talking about the folksy, indie rock band from Portland, darlings of the music press, recipients of the prestigious Colbert-bump and Barack Obama's opening act at a very well attended rally in that city this past Sunday. 75,000 attended the event, which news organizations universally hailed as "big" or "huge".

Media Research Center's Robert Knight (not the basketball coach) wants it known, the Decemberists contributed to the size of that crowd. In an article for NewsBusters Knight wrote, "Unmentioned in national reporting was the fact that Obama was preceded by a rare, 45-minute free concert by actual rock stars The Decemberists. The Portland-based band has drawn rave reviews from Rolling Stone magazine, which gave their 2005 album Picaresque four and a half stars (out of five), and another four and a half stars for 2007's The Crane Wife."

So how much of that tidal wave of humanity was there to see Barack Obama, and how much was there to see the Decemberists? Before you answer, you must also hear testimony about the pristine weather, and you simply must hear the genius of Decemberists' principle songwriter Colin Meloy...
Knight implies that the crowd was further enlarged by the awesome weather. Knight cites The Oregonian, "Obama was the biggest star at Sunday's gathering -- though a popular Portland band, The Decemberists, provided the warmup act. With blue skies and temperatures in the 80s, many in the crowd said Waterfront Park was simply the place to be."

See, it was the weather, and the indie music that brought those people in. They just decided, since it was a nice day, to hang around and listen to Obama and chant "Yes We Can" and cheer wildly throughout the speech. Then they went home and voted for him overwhelmingly because Colin Meloy of the mighty Decemberists told them to.

Blogger Ana Marie Cox out-sarcasms me in her response to Knight. She writes, "Obama didn't draw that huge crowd, indie darling gothic twee rockers The Decemberists did. Of course! Why, that band has filled concert venues with as many as 3000 seats on a regular basis and has sold literally thousands of albums! And that's why, of course, Obama is vetting [Lead singer] Colin Meloy for veep. This Obama kid? Ha. What's a quarter of billion dollars in donations next to 3 and a half stars in Pitchfork?"

Here's a video from the Decemberists from their record label's YouTube page called "O Valencia".