Fire it Up! Ready to Go!

This morning, as reported earlier, Brett and I headed off to Santa Barbara City College to join several thousand others in a Grass Roots Rally for Barack Obama. Tonight he'll be appearing at a big Oprah hosted fund raiser with Stevie Wonder among others in attendance. That event costs $2300, but ours was free!

We sat on a grassy knoll, probably a 100 yards or more away from where he appeared. We got the pep talks from the local leadership and then a few minutes before noon, Barack appeared on the stage and began to speak. Of course he complemented the beautiful SBCC campus and then began his presentation -- without notes. He spoke of hope, of change, of restoring our stature in the world. In a crowd that was clearly anti-war he spoke of his continued opposition from day one and his desire to end our direct involvement as quickly as possible. He spoke of providing universal health care and jobs that pay living wages. Of course these are promises that won't be easily kept, but they're what needs to be promised.

Obama in person -- even from a distance -- is charismatic and compelling. He's gracious and engaging. He responds to the crowd and fires them up. When someone near the front of the crowd apparently fainted or something like that, he stopped his speech, gave directions for help, called in the paramedics. This in the middle of a presentation on Iraq -- which he would pick up as the situation cleared up.

The crowd was a mixture of ages and races, but there were lots of younger people in the crowd, especially up where I was at. I think he has a persona and message that resonates with the young.

He dealt with the issue of experience -- suggesting that critics suggest his hopefulness is a bad thing and a sign of inexperience-- but he reminded us, as if we needed any reminding, of the lengthy resume of Rumsfeld and Cheney.

This is my take, and the reason why I like Obama: we have two choices -- a vision of hope and one of fear.

The GOP's message is one of fear. We're in a big bad world and we must hunker down and use force to protect ourselves. It is a message of unilateralism and pessimism. It is the reason Rudy leads in the polls.

Obama's message is one of hope. America's best days are ahead, if we'll only learn to engage the world -- including those who are adversaries. It is a message of encouraging the American people to see themselves as part of the solution as we deal with big issues.

At the end he told a story of a visit to Greenville, SC, a town off by itself and a rally that required an early morning start in the rain after a late night flight into Columbia, SC. When he arrived the tired, dispirited Obama, faced a sleepy crowd not all that interested in meeting the candidate, but there. Then from behind him he heard a startling Cry: "FIRE IT UP!" "FIRE IT UP!" This shout came from a small woman, a former city council woman, known for her chant. Pretty soon everyone was getting into it -- "Fire Up!" "Ready to Go" -- a chant that breathed life in to his own self.

And so we closed in a call and response of FIRE IT UP and READY TO GO! Are you fired up and ready to go?

All I can say, is watch out America -- this thing has yet to begin!

For more photos from today click here.