The Observer, March 2, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 19
Senator Barack Obama delivers message of change to Cleveland
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Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) knows that winning the state of Ohio is crucial to winning presidential elections. Obama stopped in Northeast Ohio just 16 days after he officially announced his candidacy for president. On Monday Feb. 26. Thousands of people packed into a gym on the Cuyahoga Community College East Campus to hear the presidential hopeful speak. Attendance at the rally was overwhelming to the extent that hundreds of people were denied entrance and sent to nearby locations to watch the speech via satellite. Chants of "O-bama! O-bama!" filled the gym as people waited for the senator to speak. The Shaw High School band was one of many groups that performed before the event got underway. "The acts leading up to Obama's speech were way too long but once he got out there, he was so good that I completely forgot about the wait," said junior Stephen Johnson.
The crowd roared as Obama appeared – he shook hands with those close enough to reach him and even responded "I love you back" to a person in the audience. The senator opened the rally with a vignette describing how his family was traveling to rallies in Iowa and his oldest daughter asked, "Daddy, why are we here?" Obama responded to the crowd, "we are here because our country is in a crossroads…" He went on to state, "we are here because for too many years, we have known the challenges and problems we face, but we haven't faced them squarely, and we haven't faced them honestly, and we haven't worked to deal with them." Health care, education, jobs and wages, energy and alternative fuels, and the war in Iraq were among the topics Obama discussed in his 40 minute speech. In 2002, Obama said that the war was a "bad idea." Currently, he is sponsoring a bill that would begin a phased withdrawal of troops in Iraq by May 1, 2007. The bill calls for all combat troops to be out of Iraq by March 31, 2008.
Throughout the rally, he emphasized that this campaign was not just about him, but about everyone's hopes and dreams for which he is an "imperfect vessel." He shared a story about an African-American woman born in 1899 whohe met while campaigning for the U.S. Senate. Obama recalled all of the events and times this woman lived through, such as the Jim Crow era in the South. He admitted that sometimes he gets tired of the way things are, but figured that he should not be tired if she did not get tired. "We are in a moment in which if we make some good decisions that we can do what previous generations have done in creating a more unified, more prosperous, more equal and more just America." Obama said. "I'm here to tell you – people of Ohio – I can't do it alone." Obama made it clear that the change that everyone wants to see would happen only through the efforts of many. He said he would rather collect $5 from 100,000 people than collect $100,000 from 5 people. A plea was made to the audience to donate $5 to the campaign.
The audience represented a mixture of people both young and old, from different backgrounds and different races. Case was well – represented in the crowd of Obama supporters. Case Democrats officers Elis Ribeiro and Stephen Hill organized over 100 students to attend and/or volunteer. Hill spent his day volunteering because he believes Obama "is able to transcend the old lines of debate and bring in a new way of governing into the White House." Freshman Pyone Thi was able to attend the rally because of the hard work of the Case Democrats. "Since his first Cleveland visit would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see history in action, I am very thankful for being able to go," Thi said. Freshman Megan Carl went to the rally not only to hear Obama's views on issues that will be important in the election, but because she enjoys following politics, and she loves the energy at rallies.
Whatever their reasons, those who were lucky enough to hear Obama speak on Monday left feeling touched by the presidential hopeful's energy and drive for change. How Obama will fare in the upcoming presidential election is still very difficult to predict, but his inspirational attitude promises he will be an important person in our country's history for years to come.
