Democratic presidential hopeful delivers message of hope to Colorado
To tumultuous chants of “Obama, Obama, Obama” and “Yes. We. Can,” Sen. Barack Obama entered the Magness Arena at DU.
Over 10,000 people braved the cold and long lines snaking around the Ritchie Center Wednesday morning to catch a glimpse of the presidential hopeful, now one of two remaining democratic nominees in the presidential primaries. Among those in the crowd were high ranking Colorado politicians and celebrities including tate Senate President Peter Groff, Broncos wide receiver Rod Smith, U.S. Congressman Ed Perlmutter, former Sen. Gary Hart, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Colorado’s First Lady Jeannie Ritter.
Because many Obama supporters and interested Coloradoans were unable to gain entrance to the packed Magness Arena, Obama made a speech to those stranded outside before continuing on to the main event.
Sen. Obama was introduced to the main stage by former Denver mayor and Obama’s National Campaign Co-chair Federico Pena.
“I want a president who can reunite America,” Pena said. “I want a president who believes in hope.”
The rally also included surprise guest Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, who endorsed Obama earlier this week.
“I’m here because this is a really special time,” Kennedy said. “It is rare to find a leader who inspires us.”
The arena was abuzz with excitement as Obama took the stage amidst cheers and chants led by state Sen. Groff and others.
“Is this where the democratic convention is at?” Obama said jokingly as he entered the arena to immense applause.
On the morning of Edwards’ withdrawal from the presidential race, Obama began by expressing gratitude toward his opponent and his campaign to “transform America.”
“(Edwards) has consistently made us focus on who matters,” Obama said. “I am grateful to John Edwards for his service to this country.”
Obama went on to explain the necessity of unity among the leaders of America. He described a coalition of “not just Democrats, but independents and Republicans.”
“We need a candidate that will unite this country, not unite the other party against us,” Obama said.
Obama continued with a dig at other presidential candidates.
“If you choose change, you won’t just have a candidate that tells the American public what they want to hear,” Obama said. “You’ll have a candidate that tells you what you need to hear. The time for change has come. One thing we have learned is that we can be a party that tries to beat the other side by using divisive politics or we can put an end to it.”
However, Obama qualified his criticisms of his competition.
“Whatever happens, George W. Bush will be out of power,” Obama said. “Each candidate on the Democratic side wants to bring an end to the policies of the Bush administration.”
Throughout the speech, Obama touched on most of the major issues, from the importance of communication and negotiation with all foreign nations and global warming to tolerance and the political responsibilities of the American people.
“Ordinary people can do extraordinary things,” Obama said. “Seven months from now the democratic party will gather here in Denver to nominate the candidate for president of the United States of America.”
Sarah Abelson, a senior classics major, is a student organizer for Obama’s campaign. Abelson said she supports Obama because he is inspirational.
“I think he stands for something other politicians don’t,” Abelson said.
As a student member of his campaign, Abelson said she spends her time calling people to make sure they know which precinct and caucus they will attend. Though she was not as part of the organizing team for the event at Magness Arena, she said she was pleased with the turnout.
“I thought it turned out extremely well,” she said. “The number of people here says something about how excited everyone is.”
After the speech, on the light rail back to Auraria campus, CU-Denver freshmen Chris Osborn, 19, a theatre major, Harrison Garcia, 18, a recording arts major and Corbin Dickson, 19, an anthropology major, discussed Obama’s speech.
“I thought Obama’s speech was fantastic,” Osborn said. “I thought it was very clearly defined. He used a lot of very interesting imagery coupled with his specifics for action, which is what I really appreciated. Obama embodies the change he envisions, I think he is the one candidate who can actually achieve these things and rally people enough to the point at which people would be interested in that change.”
Osborn, who was not an Obama supporter until recently, was particularly struck by what Obama had to say about college tuition.
“The tuition discount (for students) if you give back or volunteer is really a double-pronged approach that I think will hopefully be a something a lot of people will do,” he said.
Osborn and Garcia agreed that as John Edwards has dropped out of the presidential race, he would make an appropriate vice presidential candidate for the Obama ticket.
Garcia also noted the connection between Obama and President Kennedy, whose daughter gave one of the opening speeches.
“I think people have drawn a comparison between 2008 and 1968, Obama and Kennedy,” Garcia said. “It certainly makes sense that the Kennedys are endorsing him.”
All three skipped class to be at the rally.
Contact Campus Press Assistant News Editor Kate Spencer at katherine.a.spencer@colorado.edu.
Contact Campus Press News Editor Brandon Springer at brandon.springer@colorado.edu.
