Obama rallies (foot) soldiers
Posted: Thursday, June 07, 2007 5:11 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Democrats
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Carly Zakin
First Read listened in on an over-the-phone pep rally of sorts that Obama gave to about 400 volunteers. They will be going door-to-door for the senator this Saturday in what his campaign is calling, “Walk for Change.” The campaign says more than 10,000 have signed up for the walk, and Obama says it’s the largest grassroots canvassing effort in history.
“As tempting as it might be to think otherwise, this doesn’t just have to do with me,” said Obama, who noted that he too was once a community organizer on the south side of Chicago. “Change always comes from the bottom up not the top down. It starts with people like you who are foot soldiers for a better world.”
The largest number of volunteers will be in Iowa. About 2,400 will be going door to door in the Hawkeye state – 800 of those volunteers are from Chicago. There will be about 450 walking in South Carolina, 300 in New Hampshire, 500 in the Bay Area in California and 200 in Atlanta, according to the campaign.
Obama briefly hit on healthcare, education and energy before taking four questions from volunteers – two on community organizing, one on why Democrats don’t believe the South can be won, and one on waning US influence in Latin America.
Here are some Obama selects from the call:
-“You’re walking, and I’m running for president because we know there is something better.”
-There is an “enormous hunger in America for something different, something new.” Constituents are “tired of a Washington where we keep score of who’s up and who’s down…where politics is more of a business than a mission.”
-Obama urged supporters: “Kick off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes.”
***By request***, here are Obama's answers to the questions:
1. On how to be a good community organizer:
"Listen, don’t just talk," Obama said. "If someone says we’re not voting for Obama, ask them why. The biggest mistake people make is they go out there and start lecturing. Hopefully one of the pleasures is to be curious and to have a conversation with people. You’ll get some stories that could wind up being very powerful and that I might wind up talking about on the stump."
2. On why the Democratic party believes Southern states can’t be won?
"We’re going to change that this election," Obama said. "Republicans have had an advantage in the south in recent elections, but there’s nothing inherent about what’s going on in the south that doesn’t line up with the Democratic party. They have values we share with them. If we’re building a strong network in each of these states, then when the general election rolls around, we actually have a presence there."
3. On why people are participating in the walk:
"I think people just want to see something new," Obama said, "the way I arrived on the national scene and the way our language tries to unify instead of divide people like they’re used to hearing here in Washington. Young people have enormous pent up energy. I think that’s really important that we’re inviting them - not just in a superficial way to fetch coffee, make copies and lick envelopes. We’re welcoming their ideas."
4. On the U.S.'s waning influence in Latin America and what he would do to reverse the trend:
"How do we restore our connection with the world," Obama said. He cited JFK and his approach to Communism. "Yes there were military operation, but most important was the Alliance for Progress. If we’re seen simply as bullies, imposing our will regardless of what people in the rest of the world think, then there will be pushback.
"We have not had an active Latin American policy in 15 years. We haven’t spent time listening to what’s happening in Brazil. Human Rights, economic development. China has made inroads in Latin America and Africa and when you travel there you hear very little about what the United States is doing.
"We should not be spending as much time obsessing with Hugo Chavez and getting into wars of words with him, but showing other countries we are interested in them."
