The Gazette - Obama Touts Diverse Support

News Article

The Gazette - Obama Touts Diverse Support

By Kristina Andino

llinois Sen. Barack Obama told a crowd of more than 600 at Linn-Mar's Excelsior Middle School in Marion on Sunday that his crowds are large and diverse. People who come to hear him speak are young and old, of different races and religions, Democrats and independents.

"Yes, you even have some Republicans," Obama said.

They "whisper to me afterward," the Democratic presidential hopeful said. He added, "People are tired of George W. Bush."

Obama's campaign is touting a November SurveyUSA poll of 546 registered Iowa voters. The results show that Obama would win against individual Republican candidates by a larger margin than Hillary Clinton. Other Democratic contenders were not included in the survey.

Carole Meyer of rural Marion, a registered Republican, is not the whispering-in-the-ear type of Republican.

"He's dynamic," Meyer said.

Obama had told the crowd he would "not just tell the American people what they want to hear, (but also) tell them what they need to hear."

He has already, he said, telling a crowd of Detroit autoworkers that they are "the best workers in the world, but making bad decisions about the cars you're making" when it comes to supporting fuel-efficiency and the like.

Meyer questioned how far "tough truths" would get. "He says he'll tell people what they don't want to hear. That's happened before and people have reacted badly."

Meyer's husband, Dan Meyer, said he also "leans toward the Republican stated philosophy of small government. I vote for the best candidate," though, he said.

A "big plus" for Dan Meyer is that Obama says he will "bring people to work together" from all parties, he said. Obama had told the crowd, "I know how to bring the American people together."

Their daughter, Susan Meyer, 17, of Linn-Mar High School, had been invited to the event and said she, too, was undecided. She plans to cast her first vote in the presidential elections. She and other area high school students spoke with Obama before his speech. Obama's staff told students that Obama "just paid off his loans two years ago" from college — something that struck Meyer, because she will be starting college next year and is "scared" by the debt that may await her.

At an earlier news conference, Obama thanked members of United Auto Workers Region 4 for their support of his presidential campaign in a straw poll last week.

The Excelsior crowd gave Obama a standing ovation before he even said a word, and another at the end. The last one followed this comment from Obama: "I will wake up every single day in that White House thinking about, 'How can I make your lives better?'"

Source