Policymakers, citizens ready for 'change', Senator Obama

MICHIGAN (NNPA) - On the evening of June 16 in Downtown Detroit, a cheering crowd of 20,000 people - likened to those that greeted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. here in the 1960s - once again greeted Sen. Barack Obama, this time not just as a mere candidate, but as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the first for an African American. Coming to a city that is the largest African-American conclave in the nation and the historical significance of such candidacy resonated among Detroiters who cheered and danced at the rally as if it was a Stevie Wonder concert at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Adding to that jubilation with Obama being trusted as a political wunderkind was the appearance of former vice president Al Gore who has moved from active politics to become our environmental prophet with his message of "inconvenient truth" disseminated around the world to fight global warming.

Gore's endorsement of Obama was not only important for uniting the Democrats for the Illinois senator in November, but also provided a platform for the man who many, including Congressman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), believe won the 2000 presidential election to re-launch himself into the 2008 debate for occupancy of 1600 Pennylvania Avenue.

"After eight years of incompetence, neglect and failure, we need to change," Gore said to a roaring crowd at the home of the Red Wings. "After eight years of our Constitution being dishonored and disrespected, we need changes."

Gore said in an earlier release on his Web site announcing the endorsement of Obama that, "Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges, including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy and solving the climate crisis."

Juxtaposing Obama with former president John F. Kennedy, whose brother, Robert F. Kennedy, predicted in a 1961 article in the Washington Post that in 40 years America could elect an African-American president, Gore said age is not a necessary ingredient for running for president, but sound judgment is.

He said Republicans criticized President Kennedy for being too young to become president, but noted that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington created watershed moments in the nation's history in their mid 40s.

From the bitter 2000 presidential election, Gore said he knows there is a strong will in the country among voters to change leadership in Washington.

"I feel your determination after two terms of the Bush-Cheney administration to change the direction of our country," he said. "This election matters more than ever because America needs change more than ever."

Taking the stage amidst cheering and dangling of "Yes We Can" banners, Obama said he decided to run for president because of what King identified as "the fierce urgency of now."

"We are at a defining moment in our history," Obama said. "We are involved in two wars war that cost us billions of dollars."

Faulting the Bush administration in a state hardest hit by a depressed economy, Obama said, "Michigan knows something about the Bush economic policies."

His rival in the election, Republican nominee John McCain, according to Obama, wants to give oil giant Exxon Mobil a $1.2 billion tax break at a time when gas prices have skyrocketed to $4 or more per gallon across the country.

"We can't afford John McCain because he's running Bush's third term," Obama stated, a claim that McCain has denied on the campaign trail, insisting on knowing why his opponent keeps hammering that message at rallies.

Obama made it clear that it is because McCain has supported policies of the Bush administration, including the Iraq war, which has cost so many lives, devastated families and cost billions of dollars.

Reiterating his change message and being independent of lobbyist money, the Democratic nominee promised to revamp the energy policy of the country and said that Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney, "met with oil and gas companies 40 times," but only once with energy watchdog groups that monitor the environment.

"Washington has been dominated by the powerful," Obama pointed out, adding that the voices of the ordinary people are falling on the deaf ears of the Washington bureaucrats.

Because of the bureaucratic red tape in Washington, many have become "cynical," Obama asserted. "You've allowed Washington to divide us along racial lines, divide us along religious lines," he said.

Regarding education, Obama, whose campaign has successfully courted young people through social sites on the Internet, on college campuses and elsewhere, wants to give each student $4,000 annually for college credit in exchange for community service.

One of those supporters was Southfield resident Niya Sims, an accountant executive at a local radio station. "This is history and I feel like I'm part of it," Sims said. "I am so ready for change."

Another supporter, Amy Conrad of Redford, who described herself as "a stay-at-home mom," said it is incredible that Obama's candidacy is possible and she expressed a willingness to work to ensure the senator's win. "To know that it's a true possibility makes me want to cry," Redford said.