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Obama Draws Small Crowd in Florida
Spirits were high but attendance surprisingly low at a fund-raising appearance by Sen. Barack Obama in the key battleground state of Florida on Sunday, suggesting the Illinois Democrat may struggle to meet the high expectations generated by his own meteoric political rise.
While crowds jammed a boat show held across the street from Obama's venue in West Palm Beach, Fla., an audience estimated to be fewer than 700 persons showed up to cheer Obama.
Rep. Bob Wexler, D-Fla., introduced Obama, hailing him as "a transformational figure in American politics" and comparing him to late president John F. Kennedy.
Ironically, Obama began his remarks by recounting that only about six weeks ago he drew a huge crowd estimated by some to be 17,000 to hear him announce his candidacy in Springfield, Ill.
"We took that energy and took it to Iowa," Obama said. "We went to Cedar Rapids and Iowa Falls and Waterloo and Ames. Everywhere we've gone, we're seeing some enormous crowds."
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West Palm Beach was apparently the exception, but that didn't appear to affect the Illinois Democrat's enthusiasm. He received rousing applause as he stood in front of a huge U.S. flag and ticked off his key campaign issues.
Health Care "We've got a health-care system that's broke. It's bankrupting families and bankrupting our government," Obama said. He added there is "no reason" the nation cannot have universal health care by the end of his first term in office.
Global Warming: "We're melting the polar ice caps, potentially threatening the climate of the entire planet," Obama warned. He advocated a "cap and trade" system to minimize carbon emissions, and said government should encourage the U.S. automotive industry to produce cars that get 40 to 60 miles per gallon.
Energy: "We have the absence of an energy policy," he said. "We send $800 million a day to some of the most hostile nations on earth, to Iran and Venezuela, to help them build up their military because of their oil wealth."
Education: The nation's education system is broken because it is no longer preparing children to compete in the global economy, he said.
The Economy: "We've got an economy that's doing very well for some. But there are a whole lot of people who haven't seen an increase in their wages or salaries in a decade," said the senator. Solving these problems, Obama said, would only be possible if "we bring this war in Iraq to a close." "The war hasn't made us more safe," he said to strong applause. "It's made us less safe. It hasn't increased our capacity to deal with rogue states like Iran, it's decreased our capacity to disarm them. It hasn't increased our standing in the world. Our standing in the world has diminished." Obama also said the nation is ready for "fundamental changes." "As a country we have to recognize that if we don't make some fundamental changes right now, we could be the first generation that leaves an America behind that is a little poorer, and a little meaner, than the one we inherited from our parents," he said. "And that's unacceptable. That's un-American." Americans' biggest problem is their own cynicism toward government, Obama said. "But if a million voices come together to say we don't want the small, slash-and-burn politics of the past, we want a politics based on common sense and pragmatism, a non-ideological politics that is based on our common dreams and our common values as Americans, if all of you decide that's what we need, then that's what we're going to get," he said. Obama's staffers, in response to media about the size of the turnout, said all 900 tickets available for the event were sold, at a minimum contribution of $100 per ticket. The ballroom where Obama's event was held was less than half full, however.
Editor's note:
© NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved. Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: Inside Cover Stories
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