Obama tours downtown Rapid City after speaking to 3,000 supporters
The Rapid City Weekly News | June 01, 2008
By Tom Lawrence
Shaking hands, posing for photos and always flashing his big smile, Sen. Barack Obama took Rapid City by storm Saturday.
The Democratic presidential frontrunner held a town hall meeting at the Central States Fairground, did interviews with local reporters and then headed downtown, where he toured Prairie Edge and The Firehouse before departing.
Obama said some people have asked why he is running for president so early in his political career and at a relatively young age; he turns 47 on Aug. 4.
He quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, saying he couldn't walk away from "the fiery urgency of now.
"There's such a thing as being too late,” Obama said. "That hour of change is upon us.”
Change has been the mantra of his campaign and he called for a new course on a variety of issues in his speech, which he delivered with passion and precision after 15 months on the campaign trail. Obama joked that babies have been born and learned to walk and talk since he declared for the White House.
He called for putting pressure on oil companies to lower fuel prices, to replace the jobs that have been lost through fierce competition and overseas transfers and to ensure the 47 million Americans without health care get medical care and insurance.
There is also a dire need to improve education, alter No Child Left Behind and pay teachers more, Obama said.
