Senate majority whip says Obama has it right on war, other issues
By Melissa Moody
melissa.moody@newsandtribune.com
The Democratic Party primary campaign for president is narrowing down to the final, tense moments in what has been a heated and controversial election. No matter which side you choose — Clinton or Obama — there are politicians, businessman and regular residents in cities across the country willing to tell you why you should choose the other.
And for the first time since the 1968 presidential election, Indiana voters will have a true stake in the race when they cast their votes May 6.
“I compare Indiana to Moses,” said Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind. “He was in the wild for 40 years — Indiana has been in the wilderness since 1968.”
But the state’s voters now have a big role to play, and that’s a good thing for Hoosiers, he said.
Hill still is undecided between endorsing either Democratic candidate. He said he told both senators that if they asked him to “tag along” he’d be happy to come, and that he is still speaking with constituents to see on which side he’ll cast his vote.
He was on hand in Jeffersonville on Friday to introduce Illinois Senior Sen. Dick Durbin, who visited the city to speak on behalf of Democratic hopeful Sen. Barack Obama. Durbin is in the midst of a statewide tour to rally voters for Obama. He visited New Albany following his speech at the Ken Ellis Center.
Durbin was elected to the United States Senate in 1996, and has served as majority whip since 2006. He has worked with Obama since he was first elected to the Illinois Senate 2001, and has served as a friend and occasionally as a mentor to the presidential hopeful during his years in the Springfield, Ill., state house.
“I’ve known him longer than most,” Durbin said. “That man can stand up in any place in America — red state or blue — and draw crowds of people the likes that no other politician has seen. He can get people out of their easy chairs and out from behind their computers.”
When Obama threw his hat in the ring in Springfield on Feb. 10, it was 12 degrees outside and his wife, Michelle, nervously asked Durbin if he thought anyone would come, he said. And 18,000 people showed up.
“People want to believe; they think this country can be so much better,” Durbin said. “At the end of the day, when the dust has settled and the votes have been counted, Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for president.”
Durbin, following others who have criticized ABC-TV moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos for turning the Wednesday Democratic presidential candidate debate into a “gotcha game,” said people want answers to real questions such as job security, health care, gas costs and most importantly the war in Iraq. Obama is prepared to not only answer those questions, but work toward solutions, he said.
Obama was one of 23 U.S. Senators, out of 100, to vote against the war in October 2002.
“At that time, to come out and speak against this war was not an easy thing or a popular thing — Barack Obama did,” Durbin said. “He knew it’s a lot easier to get into war, than get out.”
About 40 residents gathered in Jeffersonville to hear Durbin speak on behalf of Obama, including local government and civic leaders, and some attended to speak on behalf of Obama themselves.
“All of us have a story,” said Bobby Campbell. “I could say I’m the son of a Baptist preacher; I could say I worked for Bell South for 31 years; I could say I’m an Army veteran; I could say I’m a deacon at my church; I could say I was even president of the board of directors for the Louisville Ballet; I could say I’m a lifetime leader of the NAACP; I have to say my wife is Theresa, and I have been married to her for 30 years, I definitely have to say that.
“Only in America can a black man from the projects have so many opportunities,” Campbell said. “And only God can take a young, black man whose last name is Obama, raised by a single parent, and now be in a position to be president of the United States.”
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