www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a1J0tfV3XJYs
Now officials say they can't substantiate the figures McCain's aides are claiming. Fairfax City Fire Marshal Andrew Wilson said his office did not supply that number to the campaign and could not confirm it. Wilson, in an interview, said the fire department does not monitor attendance at outdoor events. In recent days, journalists attending the rallies have been raising questions about the crowd estimates with the campaign.
Town Hall Meetings Until Palin, 44, joined him on the campaign trail, McCain, 72, had limited his political events to smaller town hall meetings and rallies of a few hundred people.
Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, routinely draws thousands of people to his speeches, a phenomenon McCain has tried to use to his advantage by labeling Obama, 47, a celebrity. The McCain campaign said 10,000 people showed up at the Consol Energy Arena in Washington, Pennsylvania, home of the Washington Wild Things baseball team. The campaign attributed that estimate, and several that followed, to US Secret Service figures, based on the number of people who passed through magnetometers.
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