Election Eve: Obama Runs in Red States
The New York Times | November 04, 2008
By JEFF ZELENY
Senator Barack Obama closed with a classic.
At the final campaign rally of his presidential bid, Mr. Obama dusted off a chant here Monday night that sustained the first year of his candidacy, a tale born last year in South Carolina that has since been told around the nation.
It is the story of "Fired Up, Ready To Go," a spontaneous call and response from a woman named Edith Childs, which Mr. Obama turned into the spoken anthem of his campaign. It originated in the early stages of the primary, when Mr. Obama was miles away from being the front-running candidate in the field of Democrats.
So when he visited the town of Greenwood, he met Ms. Childs, who lit up one of his docile campaign meetings with her signature chant. She yells, "Fired up," the rest of the crowd responds, "Ready to Go." The point of the story, as retold again and again by Mr. Obama, is that one voice can change a room. And, by extension, can change the world.
