Obama Rocks the House in San Francisco
BeyondChron | September 10, 2007
By Ben Malley
There were quite a few opening acts. Three hip-hop artists performed, a number of female campaign organizers told stories about their candidate from the South Side of Chicago, and Stanford Dean of Freshman Julie Lythcott-Haims worked the crowd into an absolute frenzy. But this proved no match for the noise that greeted Barack Obama when he finally stepped onto the stage.
It's not news to anyone that Obama has a way of energizing people, especially youth. The former community organizer and law professor has successfully cultivated the image of a fresh candidate who doesn't come from the political establishment. Many people on the balcony at his speech on September 7th in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium were under 25; as a 21-year-old myself it was unlike anything I've seen before. Stephanie Chan, a Berkeley junior who was on stage to introduce the Illinois senator, served as the symbol of the excitement among students that Obama's campaign has generated. "To be honest I never even thought about politics a year ago," she told the crowd. Today she is actively involved in Obama's campaign.
Obama spoke to over 2,000 people in an event sponsored by California Women for Obama, a group co-chaired by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. On the ground level were the mostly women who had donated the big bucks to the campaign. They received a boxed lunch for their troubles. The people on the balcony got in for considerably less and consisted mainly of youth and Obama campaign volunteers.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's latest verbal back-and-forth has been around the "experience factor." Clinton says she has it, Obama says he doesn't need it. In a speech last week, Clinton told the crowd that only someone experienced in the ways of Washington could successfully make change. Obama never mentioned Clinton by name last Friday, but spent much of his speech addressing concerns over his lack of experience.
"I didn't realize when people in Washington talk about experience, they mean 'Washington experience'," he said. "I've been a community organizer, a professor, a state senator, and now a U.S. senator. I may not go to the right Washington dinner parties and talk the Washington talk, but I have the experience America need now."
He cited former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney as examples of people with years of Washington experience who "have given us the biggest foreign policy blunder of this generation." "Time served does not guarantee good judgment," he said. "A good resumé says nothing about your character."
While local news outlets framed Obama's speech around a supposed "jab" at Hillary Clinton's failure to reform the country's healthcare system during her husband's presidency, what stood out to the number of people seated around me was Obama's challenge to the audience and the American people in general to retake their government and be active participants in their democracy.
Obama, who has said he isn't taking Washington lobbyist money for his campaign, challenged the crowd at one point not to follow the status quo and to increase political involvement. "I know you have been burned by politicians so many times it's easy to just walk away from all of it," he said. "But we can't make changes that way."
He only mentioned the Iraq War once, to remind audiences that he has been against it from the start and that bringing the troops home would be one of the first things he does upon taking office. The audience obviously greeted this with tremendous applause. This comes as General David Petraeus prepares to tell Congress today that America should maintain its current "surge" strategy in Iraq.
But the loudest applause came when Obama said that he can't wait for the day he can stand before the UN General Assembly and announce to the rest of the world that "America's back." With the energy that his speech gave to young people in the room, there's a strong appetite to bring America back.
Read the full article at BeyondChron.
