Obama decries 'petty, trivial nonsense'
Posted: Saturday, April 19, 2008 6:32 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
Wth a grin that stretched as wide as the Cheshire Cat's, Obama grabbed hold of the Georgia 300's horn and pulled twice. Two loud, blaring "Whooo whooos" rang out and the candidate laughed and said, "I'm having too much fun."
It was a fitting start to a sunny, four-city whistle stop tour that will wind through the Pennsylvania's suburbs on the way from Philly to Harrisburg. The Georgia 300, a refurbished, velvet-blue caboose carried Obama, Sen. Bob Casey and Casey's daughters and wife.
First stop: Wynwood. Greeting a crowd of supporters that flooded both sides of the platforms, holding Obama signs, Obama's train rolled into the station as the strands of "Summertime" filled the air. With Casey at his side, Obama addressed the crowd in a blue-and-white-checkered shirt sans tie.
The speech, largely a repetition of last night's closing argument, presented in Philadelphia, was heavy on populism and a call for new politics. Referring to the current back and forth in the Democratic primary as "petty, trivial nonsense," Obama criticized not only his opponent but also the coverage of the campaign.
"It's a politics that feeds on fake controversy and distractions," he said, claiming that the only thing that was important in this process was "keeping track of how many points you can score on your political opponents."
He described the current style of campaigning as "good television," but that it didn't make for "good government."
"I'm not interested in having debates about flag pins,” he said. “I'm interested in having a debate about how I'm going to put people back to work," he shouted out to loud cheers.
Obama's second official stop of the day is in Paoli, but between the two, he will “slow roll” through three other stations, waving at them from the back balcony of the blue caboose.
