Presidential candidate Barack Obama greeted an overflow crowd of 4,000 in Madison today — with a sports joke:
"Never before have this many Packers fans cheered for a Bears fan," the U.S. senator from Illinois told the throng of college students and others.
He quickly shifted gears, and appealed for help in his campaign for the Democratic Party nomination.
"I want to bring about a better America, and I need you to make that happen Madison," the Democrat said.
Organizers are calling the campaign event the largest student-driven event the Obama campaign has held.
More than 300 people were lined up to see Obama at the Monona Terrace Convention Center before the doors opened this morning at 9:30 a.m. and by 11 a.m. more than 1,000 were waiting for admittance to an overflow area.
Audience members said they were impressed by the charisma Obama sustained throughout the 48-minute speech.
He won applause with jabs at President Bush, the Iraq War and special interest groups. He also stirred the audience with promises of health care for all Americans and better pay for educators.
He mixed in examples and stories from his life that underscored his message of millions of individuals uniting to effect change.
"I will open up the doors of government and ask you to participate in our democracy," Obama said. "I'm not just asking you to trust in my ability to lead this country. I'm also asking you to trust in yourselves."
Obama urged the youthful crowd to get involved in the campaign as he ended leading chants of "Fire it up!" and "Ready to go!"
State Republicans said they weren't impressed.
"With members of his own party questioning his experience and vision to lead, at some point Senator Obama will have to bring more to the debate than magazine covers," Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Mark Jefferson said in a statement. "At best he has provided conflicting views on the war on terror and he offers an extremely liberal tax and spend agenda here at home."
That wasn't the prevailing opinion in Monona Terrace.
Amber Duerwaechter, a senior at Neenah High School, drove two hours with a group of classmates to attend the event. She said she felt jealous that she didn't live during the politically charged 1960s when John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War motivated young people to be more involved.
"Young people need to believe in a cause," Duerwaechter said. "Our generation is failing to take ownership for what's going on."
Jeanne VonHuene, visiting her son Karl from Oakland, Calif., where she saw Obama speak earlier this year to 15,000 people, said Obama's message also appealed to seniors struggling to pay medical bills.
"For old people there's a lot of hopelessness," VonHuene said. "But we still are going out there and rallying for peace."
Temo Figueroa, Obama's national field director, said UW-Madison's student group easily ranks in the top five in membership among the 700 Obama student organizations across the country.
About 3,000 tickets had been sold before the event began, driven largely by a UW-Madison student campaign push. The event was taking place at Monona Terrace to provide more room for the crowd. It was originally booked at the Orpheum Theatre, which holds 1,500 people.
Tickets were $15 for students, $30 for general admission.
At about 11 a.m., Bryon Eagon, a UW-Madison sophomore and organizer of Students for Barack Obama, announced to the crowd that more than 2,000 students were in attendance, with about 1,000 still lined up to get into an overflow area of the event.
"For many of us, this is the first time that we've found a candidate we can really care about," Eagon said. "But more importantly, we've found a candidate who really cares about us."
Madison City Council Ald. Zach Brandon, 7th District, said local Obama supporters asked the campaign to visit Madison to recruit students that might help knock on doors in Iowa before the January Democratic caucus. Wisconsin's primary won't take place until February, when the nomination may already be secured.
"Their goal wasn't to build political support, but to build energy to transfer to Iowa," Brandon said.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle's son Gus introduced Obama calling him "a true champion of humanity."
"Times like this do not come every day," Gus Doyle said. "That's why it's critical that each and every one of us in this room take this energy and excitement back to your communities, back to your dorms, back to your respective neighborhoods.
"Recruit 10 other individuals to the polls. That's what it's going to take."
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=251195&ntpid=1
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