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GREENSBORO - The line to see Barack Obama zigzagged from South Davie Street up February One Place and along Elm Street, across from the Woolworth's where four black men sat at a whites-only lunch counter more than 48 years ago.

Rachel Davis found significance in the link between the sit-ins and Obama's visit to downtown Greensboro on Saturday.

"They were both some of the first to do what they're doing," said Davis, 21, a High Point University student at the rally for Obama and his Democratic running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, on Saturday at the J. Douglas Galyon Depot on East Washington Street.

Obama, a first-term U.S. senator from Illinois, is not the first black person to run for president. Nor were the Greensboro sit-ins the first ever.

But both represent watershed moments in American history.

Of the roughly 18,000 people who Greensboro police said walked, drove or biked downtown for the rally, many said they looked to the Democratic ticket for change.

"I want to see a change in the energy policy," said Jerry Nelson, 62, who left his home in Monroe at 7:45 a.m. to wait in line and hear Obama speak at 12:15 p.m. "I want to hear that he's going to follow through on tax cuts, and I want to see him increase jobs in the country."

Once Obama took the stage, he pushed several issues, including bringing jobs to North Carolina and investing in technology that supports renewable energy. He hit on the financial crisis and denounced bailouts for greedy CEOs.

Obama criticized his opponent, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, for not mentioning the plight of the middle class in Friday's debate.

"We talked about the economy for 40 minutes, and not once did Sen. McCain talk about the struggles that middle-class families are facing every day right here in North Carolina and around the country," Obama said.

Some two dozen McCain supporters gathered at Elm and Washington streets as a counterweight.

"Everybody is saying it's a Democratic year," said Chad Hinton of Nashville, N.C., who held a sign for McCain and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. "But this is a conservative state."

True, North Carolina hasn't voted for a Democratic president in more than 30 years. But Democrats believe they have a shot at winning North Carolina this year.

"It's a rather large crowd," Hinton, 27, said of the group for Obama. "If we get McCain and Palin to come, we'll have equal numbers."

While thousands of people filed past Hinton, vendors hawked $5 T-shirts and Obama buttons.

A teenage boy sold hot biscuits wrapped in foil to people as they waited to pass a security checkpoint for the rally.

The line filled the sidewalk along Elm Street, over to East Lindsay Street and down Church Street.

At least 100 extra Greensboro police officers staffed parking decks, roadblocks and rooftops.

A few EMTs were on hand for emergencies. Two people passed out in the humid air during Obama's talk, but that was the extent of the medical calls, according to emergency personnel.

After calling EMTs to tend to a sick bystander, Obama strayed from his prepared speech.

"When you come to a rally, you've got to have your water, take a little bite to eat," he told the crowd.

And he gave North Carolinians a little something to chew on when he proposed filling old tobacco fields and textile mills with businesses to create renewable energy.

"We are going to put people back to work," Obama said.

Larry Graves, 52, standing in the crowd a few hundred feet from Obama, thought about his vote for president.

"The American public needs to unite under leadership, not fear," the Obama supporter said about terrorism, war and the economy.

Then he proposed a new way to handle job cuts, capturing the frustration of laid-off Americans when CEOs receive large severance packages.

"They need to start at the top instead," Graves said. "Don't start at the bottom, at the workers."

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com