O'bama Does Oakland
by Josh Gerstein
Sun, 18 Mar 2007 at 2:27 AM
updated Sun, 18 Mar 2007 at 2:39 AM
Green "O'bama" T-shirts and buttons were everywhere as Senator Obama of Illinois made a St. Patrick's Day visit to Oakland yesterday afternoon. It was an impressive turnout for a presidential campaign rally almost a year before the primaries. Crowd counting is an inexact science, but AP is estimating it at about 10,000, which was also my guess on the scene. Some of those arriving late to Oakland's city hall plaza clambered on top of television trucks and bus shelters to get a glimpse of the '08 Democratic phenom.
Oakland is still one of the hubs of black America, so African Americans were well represented at the rally, but by no means were a majority. The event was a short subway ride away from both San Francisco and Berkeley, so large contingents of activists and students from both those liberal bastions turned out, too.
There were a decent number of interracial couples in the audience, too, perhaps drawn in part by Mr. Obama's biracial heritage.
For 30 minutes, Mr. Obama gave what sounded to me like his regular stump speech, which the crowd listened to with rapt attention. The most applause went to the parts about his early opposition to the war, with the loudest response coming as he spoke about America's obligation to take care of injured veterans returning from Iraq. He made some clear references to the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed hospital in Washington. "It's time for our young men and women to come home," Mr. Obama said. He also threw in this line of caution: "I'm somebody who believes that we have to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in." That didn't get much reaction from the crowd, even though he seemed to be talking more about the safety of the withdrawing troops than whether Iraq would implode as America withdraws.
Mr. Obama's speech, as usual, was a bit thin on specifics when compared to the remarks of other candidates. "We know what to do," was his refrain on universal health care and education, suggesting that there's some consensus on how to tackle those issues, when there really isn't, even among Democrats. His talk of saving money through preventative care, chronic illness services, and deploying new technology was fair enough, but perhaps a bit less candid than John Edwards's concession that establishing universal coverage will cost $90 billion to $120 billion a year.
Those who turned out to see Mr. Obama were duly impressed. "I'm really inspired by him," a San Francisco State University senior who waited more than three hours for the Illinois senator to take the stage, Katharine Crozier, said. Asked if she found Mr. Obama lacking in specifics, she said the war is the most important issue to her and he gave "specific dates" for beginning a withdrawal from Iraq (May 2007) and completing the withdrawal (March 2008). Ms. Crozier said she likes Hillary Clinton but doesn't feel the same connection to her that she feels with Mr. Obama. "I think he has a charisma. ... I just don't get that from her," the student said.
An Air Force veteran in the crowd, A.D. Paige, 55, said he, too, plans to vote for Mr. Obama. "I like him. I know he's the best person," Mr. Paige said. He said his key issue is also opposition to the war and he could only support a candidate who opposed the Iraq war from the outset. "It's a slam dunk," Mr. Paige said. He said he was distrustful of Mrs. Clinton's position on the issue. "She can't even say, ‘Well, I made a mistake,'" in voting to authorize the war, he said.
Some recent polling shows Mr. Obama's strongest following may be in the West, which may have something to do with various demographic factors in the western populace. Mr. Obama's personality and background seems to have locked up a decent number of voters, while his stance on the war is drawing in another chunk. As, and if, he stakes out positions on other issues, it will be interesting to see whether he can add to his numbers, or whether more specifics will sour voters who may already be smitten.
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