Washington Post - Ebullient Obama Rallies in Madison

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Washington Post - Ebullient Obama Rallies in Madison

Tonight, an ebullient Obama rallied an ecstatic crowd of more than 16,000 in Madison, Wisc., which will hold one the two Feb. 19 primaries. The other is Hawaii.

"Today, the change we seek swept through the Chesapeake and over the Potomac," Obama crowed. "We won the state of Maryland. We won the Commonwealth of Virginia, and though we won in Washington, D.C., this movement won't stop until there is change in Washington, D.C., and tonight we're on our way. At this moment, the cynics can no longer say our hope is false. We have won east and west and north and south and across the heartland of this country."

"This is the new American majority," Obama went on. "This is what change looks like when it comes from the bottom up."

Obama election night speech was pithier and faster-paced than his typical effort. With an eye toward attracting working class voters and countering Clinton's strength among voters worried about economic issues, he also foreshadowed themes that will be larger parts of his stump speech in advance of the potentially pivotal March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas.

He spoke of Americans unable to afford college, health insurance or a comfortable retirement. He also invoked Wisconsin's past as a cauldron of the Progressive moment, which he said was "rooted in the principal that the voices of the people can speak louder than special interests."

On Wednesday, Obama intends to start his Wisconsin day at the Janesville General Motors Assembly Plant, where his campaign said he will "lay out his comprehensive agenda" on the economy and jobs.

"He'll be talking about the economy a lot this weekend and in the coming weeks," said senior Obama strategist David Axelrod.

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