JagBytes

Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: College News

Media Credit: Jessica Bowman Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama led a Q&A session Friday afternoon at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind.

Media Credit: Jessica Bowman Sen. Barack Obama speaks at one of several campaign stops in Indiana last week.

Media Credit: Jessica Bowman Sen. Barack Obama talks to his supporters during Friday afternoon during a town hall meeting in Columbus, Ind.

Hundreds of students, young voters and residents gathered in the Columbus East High School gymnasium to be a part of Senator Barack Obama's "Road to Change" town hall meeting April 11. The audience greeted the Democratic presidential candidate with a standing ovation set to the sound of whistles, the stomping of feet on bleachers, shouting and clapping.

Early estimates said 2,500 people had gathered to hear the senator speak. One Obama campaign staffer, who chose to speak on the condition of anonymity, said there had been students who had camped out near the gymnasium door since the night before to guarantee choice seats when the doors opened at 9:30 a.m. Several other Obama supporters had started gathering around 3 a.m., with folding chairs and blankets.

Outside, the hours leading up to the town hall meeting were filled with an excited chatter and the calls of vendors selling t-shirts and buttons.

Ira Williams, a vendor who had followed the Obama campaign from Dallas, said he had become a part of the fanfare and a supporter because he believes in Obama's message and wants to inspire others to take part in this historic election.

"We need a fresh, new start and new ideas," Williams said. "Too many have thought that their vote doesn't matter; [I want to] encourage people to vote. If you go along with the flow, you are going to be a puppet."

Columbus East High School student Adam Rediker, 17, said he showed up to be a part of history. "Not much happens in Columbus," he said. "If he gets the presidency, it [will] be cool to say I'd seen him."

The Rev. Clement T. Davis of the Saint Bartholomew Catholic Church led the crowd in prayer before the senator made his entrance. Following Davis' prayer, the Illinois senator was introduced by resident Paula Jarrett and Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.).

Obama spoke from a podium with a sign that said, "Change we can believe in." The senator addressed issues relating to the economy, foreign policy, healthcare and education. Following his prepared speech, he answered questions from the audience.

The senator said there have been several people in the past 15 months who have asked him why he decided to run for the presidency at such a young age, and so early in his career.

"I had to explain I was running because of what Dr. King called 'the fierce urgency of now,'" Obama said. "Because I believe there is such a thing as being too late - and that hour is almost upon us."

Addressing the young people in the crowd, Obama spoke of the difference individuals can make. "There are moments in the life of every generation where we've got to stand up and be counted," he said. "And I think this is one of those moments."

Obama spoke about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying America needed to be involved in the war in Afghanistan, but the war in Iraq "should have never been authorized and should have never been waged."

The senator stressed that America can't endure Bush's economic policies any longer. "After 7 and a half years of George Bush's economic policies, we now realize that pain trickles up," Obama said.

The senator said politics is what always divides the American people. "[It] divides us around race, and around region, and around religion," he said. "Change happens when ordinary people come together. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they're given a chance. But they've got to be unified. They can't be divided."

Several people who attended the town hall meeting had attended the rally for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton the previous week at Fire Station 2, across from the campus of IUPUC, where former President Bill Clinton spoke.

"I went to hear [former President] Clinton last week," Joe Crane, 19, of Hope, Ind., said. "I thought it was good the way Obama spoke - the energy was really cool. Everyone seemed to take it to heart."

Marilyn Bulthuis, 21, of Columbus, said she was amazed at Obama's speech. Her brother is in the Air Force and is serving another tour of duty in Iraq. "[He] was against the war from the beginning," Bulthuis said. "He believes that money can be used elsewhere and that we should bring our troops home."

After attending the town hall meeting, 22-year-old Devin Kendall said his mind was made up and he would be voting for Obama in the May 6 primary. "I agreed with pretty much everything he said," Kendall said. "Though I would have liked to have heard what he had to say with regard to the issue of waterboarding and the world's perception of us [because of that issue]."

Pat Wilson, a local volunteer for the Obama campaign, said the whole election process this time around is extremely exciting.

"It's especially exciting for the Democratic Party to have two wonderful candidates," Wilson said.

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