President Obama: ‘We need you to stay fired up’
President Barack Obama made a major campaign stop at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Tuesday afternoon to rally students to vote in the 2010 midterm elections this November amid widespread doubt Democrats have enough support to stay in power. The president and members of Congress who spoke discounted the naysayers, but emphasized voting’s importance.
Obama lauded Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for being “a great mayor, someone who is fighting for working families.” Obama also said despite Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., doesn’t always agree with him, Feingold is always looking out for members of his state, and he called Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., “one of the most courageous members of Congress.”
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Extended cut: Obama peaces out
The audience at the University of Wisconsin, which has been buzzing over the pending arrival of the President of the United States, erupted into applause as President Barack Obama took the stage Tuesday night.
With the general election for the senate, assembly and governor weeks away, Obama’s message was loud and clear: Get out and vote come November.
Republicans are counting on the passionate enthusiasm amongst young people in the 2008 election to die out in 2010, Obama said.
“We need you to stay fired up,” he said.
Obama spoke of the Bush administration years with remorse. Adding the current administration has brought the country back from the brink of a devastating recession. He cited his administration’s laundry list of achievements, including improving the economy, which he likened to a dented car in a muddy ditch.
The Republicans, Obama said, have driven the “car” into a “ditch.” Now the Democrats are trying and succeeding at pulling it out.
“[The Republicans are] just standing there, sipping on a Slurpee. We say ‘Come on down and help,’ and they say ‘No, no, no, no. But you should push harder’,” Obama said.
Now that the “car” is out of the “ditch,” the Republicans want the “keys” back, Obama said.
Investing in green technology in the U.S., reforming mortgage lenders and student loans, making sure health care plans do not drop patients for illnesses, removing combat troops from Iraq, along with tax cuts for the middle class were also in Obama’s resume of accomplishment he listed for the crowd.
The list of successes might be long, Obama said, but the country is not where it needs to be. The next two years, he said, will allow the president and Democrats alike to finish their agendas.
Before his speech, the president primed the crowd by acknowledging some of his own fond Madison experiences.
“Every once in a while, I had some friends who were going to school here and I would drive up to Madison. I had some fun times up here. I can’t give you all the details,” Obama said.
Obama’s pre-speech festivities included presentations from Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, current Milwaukee mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. They all spoke to the crowd, imploring students to vote, lest Republicans take power and undo the Democrats’ work.
Baldwin was the first to speak of the “enthusiasm gap” she said Republican constituents and leaders think they have over Democrats.
“They say there is an enthusiasm gap – the Tea Party is highly motivated and the Dems are down in the dumps. Well that perception ends right here and right now,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin went on to highlight some issues Barrett, Feingold and Obama would echo in their speeches: abortion rights, tax cuts for the middle class, higher education, gay marriage and Social Security.
“This election is about stark choices, and we cannot let anybody get complacent,” she said. “We need you to get out the vote on November 2nd. This is our democracy, and in a democracy we allow what is possible.”
She led the crowd in a chant of “Who decides? We decide!”
Feingold spoke as well, nodding to the Republican lead in the polls but said they are dancing in the end zone too early.
Feingold, running against wealthy businessman and Republican candidate Ron Johnson, said his seat could not be bought.
Barrett took the stage as well, using his time at the podium to energize students to get out the vote.
Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker, who will be facing Barrett in November, hosted a press conference the morning of the rally to denounce Obama, the high-speed rail and “Obama’s candidate,” Barrett said.
“Walker noted that after six visits by President Obama, Wisconsinites still cannot afford the train boondoggle, or the policies of Tom Barrett – Obama’s choice to succeed Governor Doyle,” according to a statement from Walker’s office.
The crowd waited patiently to hear the president speak, but were entertained by Mama Digdown’s Brass Band’s funky grooves, The National’s smooth tunes and Ben Harper’s steel-guitar twangs.
In an interview with The Badger Herald, Harper said he wanted the sincerity in his music to reach the audience, and leave his own political agenda out of his performance.
“I am not sure this rally is [an opportunity] to take the microphone for these issues. I am very proud and excited to be here and bring a heightened level of enthusiasm,” Harper said.
Obama is the first sitting president to speak on campus since 1950.
