Obama's Moment
Updated 12:45 a.m.
By Shailagh Murray
DES MOINES -- Obama walked on stage with his wife Michelle and two daughters to roaring cheers. He was a triumphant, if hoarse, giant slayer. He waved to the crowd and declared his victory "a defining moment in history."
"They said this day would never come," he said. "They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided -- too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose." He continued, "We are one nation. We are one people. And our time for change has come." One day, he said, the American people will look back on the 2008 Iowa caucuses and say, "this is the moment when it all began."
But Obama asked Iowa for more, even as supporters filed into the downtown arena to celebrate victory. They were handed slips of paper reading "great work in Iowa," then announcing that three Obama offices around the state would remain open through Feb, 5, for volunteers to work phone banks for primaries in other states.
Earlier, a local marching band rocked the crowd at the Obama rally, while Clinton spoke on the screen in the background, her words drowned out by the roll of drums. Obama's campaign also reached out to supporters before he spoke, sending an e-mail that read:
We just won Iowa, and I'm about to head down to talk to everyone.
Democrats turned out in record numbers tonight, and independents and even some Republicans joined our party to stand together for change.Thank you for everything you've done to make this possible.
Barack
Posted at 11:30 PM ET on Jan 3, 2008
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Posted by: dogmandg | January 4, 2008 9:17 AM
I never got so involved as to even become a precinct captain, a volunteer coordinator, a canvasser-on-a-cane, a sometimes 20-hrs/wk phonebanker. Until Barack Obama. It took a lot for me to dare hope - I used to work blocks from the WTC in the 70s. NY, the Bronx especially, is my hometown. I was traumatized by the near loss of people I knew, the actual losses of so many more, the threatening skies and skyscrapers. Our rights became political playthings, habeas corpus died, the Magna Carta just became private property. I'd given up, felt we were being sucked into a whirlpool of decay, until Obama. Even as I worked so hard, as the gloves came off at the end, I worried, worked harder, worried still.
I'm off to prepare for more canvasses, more volunteers - they're flooding my inbox now! - and to win California for Obama on Feb. 5th. Thank you Iowa, let's go New Hampshire! Oh, and a trip to Reno to help bring in Nevada before South Carolina and our own California sounds just right.
There's no other song for me tonight but Sam Cooke's, you know the one. It's been a long, a long time comin' ...
Posted by: VCubed | January 4, 2008 4:13 AM
Finally. Real voters have spoken. The Washington machine and press corps missed it. They talk to themselves, they see only the past, they believe and write what the spin doctors tell them. Get out there and listen to what's happening on the streets. The stubborn Bush, the timid congress, the 'whipped' press corps have all failed and the American people are really pissed off. Those politicians that acquiesced to the criminal mismanagement of American foreign policy and politicization of domestic policy are going to have some 'splaining to do. Good job Iowa!
Posted by: thebobbob | January 4, 2008 1:46 AM
I made a prediction about 1 year ago that this gentleman is Presidential material -- Read here: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard/Article/Obama-is-coming--clear-the-way-/5458
I have no faith in Clinton anymore, especially after she started 'slipping' race-tainted messages by proxy, to 'scare' white voters.
Obama is first, a good human being and is the only attractive Democratic prospect for the ultimate prize in politics.
We might be witnessing history in the making.
Now, my brother Obama -- could you please holler to those nin-compoops(Mwai Kibaki & Mt. Kenya Mafia) in our ancestral land (Kenya) -- to stop clinging to power, even after the electorate has rejected them!
Posted by: Fimbo | January 4, 2008 1:42 AM
This is truly an historic moment. Iowa has shown Obama to be a viable candidate, capable of taking the White house! Go Obama!
Posted by: m_mtheman | January 4, 2008 1:22 AM
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I think Obama has the best chance of winning the general election against the Republicans. I know too many people that would vote against Hillary, no matter who the other candidate is. Severe electability issue with Clinton.