By E. Mosely
(Special from The HOUSTON DEFENDER)
A long line wrapped around the Toyota Center and down Bell Street, but it wasn’t the Rockets, a pop star or just any traveling show that drew the large crowds.
People flocked to see presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) at a Feb. 19 rally to catch Obama fever.
The passion to see and hear Obama came from some unlikely places.
“I don’t know it’s just something different this election,” Gregory Pippin said.
“I’m just more interested in what he has to say than the same ole politics as usual.”
If the Democratic primary draws on the remaining days only 1/3 of the people it did on the first day of early voting, then it will still be on track to break the voter turnout record in the 2004 Democratic primary.
A change in policy and politics is also what drew Houstonian Tammy Dawson to the rally.
“I think this is just history in the making,” Dawson said. “I’m a strong supporter of Barack Obama and I would like to say, not just because he’s Black, just everything that he stands for. I think he familiarizes himself with the common people and I think that’s what we so need at this time and this hour of our lives.”
The historical impact of Obama was evident in Harris County as he encouraged the audience to vote early. On the first day, the Democratic primary drew 9,243 people who voted in person compared to 2,916 people who voted in person in the Republican primary. If the Democratic primary draws on the remaining days only 1/3 of the people it did on the first day of early voting, then it will still be on track to break the voter turnout record in the 2004 Democratic primary. That year 17,211 people voted early.
Dawson and other Obama supporters like Mona Simmons agreed that Obama drew more people to the polls who had not voted in the past. Simmons and her husband Kevin relocated to Houston after Hurricane Katrina.
“I’ve got people back at home in Louisiana who’ve never voted and they went out to the Louisiana primary,” Simmons said. “He’s bringing out a whole new crowd.”
Simmons said she agreed with “pretty much” all of Obama’s policies and like that he has done well despite being raised by a single mother. She said attending the rally is the “equivalent of hearing Dr. Martin Luther King speak.” Her husband Kevin agreed.
“I think it’s historical in the fact that we finally have a chance to put someone in office who’s really going to make a change,” Kevin Simmons said. “We’ve been for eight years now, in my opinion, under very horrible government. I think we had a president that was disconnected. We needs somebody that they have seen both sides of life and they know what’s needed out there.”
Jennifer Pammit of Missouri City said Obama is a candidate that connects with younger people, which is why his presence has created so much excitement.
“Houstonians have been ready for a change but when you have the people in power not listening or providing our basic needs, our generation stops listening and has no motivation to participate in making a change and just conforms,” 28-year-old Pammit said. “It takes the right candidate to get our generation motivated again and as senator he’s been a force..If you take a look at the thousands of Houstonians that came to support, you feel that excitement, you feel that change is definitely about to happen and with Barack Obama..it will.”
Obama told supporters that if elected president he would: reform health care by providing a universal plan that ensures everyone has the opportunity to have health insurance at least as good as he has as a member of Congress; provide college students with a $4,000 tuition credit and in return students must do community service; end the Iraq war by 2009; reform education, give more money to build schools and higher wages for teachers; roll back tax cuts President George Bush signed into law; abolish taxes for elderly people who earn below $50,000 a year; create better jobs and reward companies that do not outsource labor to other countries; and demand that automakers make more fuel efficient cars.
De’Awn Barkers, a recent college graduate from Emory University, said she supports Obama because he seems more interested in improving the everyday lives of “normal” people and not just spewing political rhetoric.
“I think Obama has presented a great platform and has plans to improve many facets of the American economy,” Barkers said. “He has a forward-looking approach, with an emphasis on correcting unsuccessful plans and past problems sooner than later - sort of a "Why wait?" thought process.”
But even if Obama is elected, Barkers said he will see more scrutiny.
“What if his “promises” for better education, healthcare, wages, etc. are left unkept, or if problems he proposes to fix are not resolved as fast as people desire? If elected as President and his plan of action fails, people may lose trust in his leadership and lose faith in his "change" strategy,” she said.
In the interim, as Election Day approaches, Barkers said she does have concerns of how his message of hope will reach America’s more affluent voters.
“He will have made more appearances, but I’m not sure if trying to affect families/individual’s personal situations will gain traction with those who are not considered “underprivileged” or “under-represented,” she said.
Still, the historical significance of that night wasn’t lost on Matthew Vallie. While he supports Obama’s policies as well, he admitted that he enjoyed seeing an African American man have a chance of becoming the next president.
“I just turned 60 years old two months ago, this may be my only chance to see a Black man in the presidency,” Vallie said. “I was just telling my daughter, when you go to the classroom you’ve got two classes of people; you’ve got the smart group and then you have the rest of the class. We’re in the smart class because all the smart people are voting for Barack.”
After his speech, Obama departed leaving his crowd of adoring supporters to pack up and go home. But, for a moment, the sea of faces — Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, young and old — all joined to watch history as it unfold.
“In our generation we learn about (history) in textbooks and we see it on TV, but to actually be here,” Pammit said. “I can’t really describe it. I can look back and say, ‘Wow, I was a part of history.’”