Though Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., might not make a "perfect president," he will spend every day of his presidency thinking about the problems of average Americans, the candidate told a thundering crowd of thousands at the Rhode Island College Recreation Center Saturday afternoon.
Obama was in Providence to campaign before the state's primary on Tuesday, following the visit of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who attended a rally at the same venue last Sunday. About 5,000 people were allowed inside the recreational center, and several thousand attended the rally outside the center. Before entering the building, Obama briefly addressed those who couldn't enter but had waited all morning despite the cold and rainy weather.
Responding to some critics' assertions that he is running for president because of a long-held ambition, Obama said he is running because of "the fierce urgency of now" - a phrase he borrowed from Dr. Martin Luther King. "I believe in such a thing as being too late," he said of his decision to run in this presidency rather than wait until he is older.
While the crowd chanted his campaign's popular refrain, "Yes, we can," Obama emphasized that real change comes from the grassroots - not from the highest level of administration. Real change, he said, requires that divisions of race, region and religion be forgotten.
The senator delineated his position on several foreign and domestic issues. Ending the war in Iraq, fighting global warming and reforming health care and education demand immediate action, he said.
Obama criticized Clinton for voting in favor of the war and lauded former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75 for opposing it despite being a Republican. Chafee, who is currently a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies, left the Republican Party this summer and endorsed Obama in early February.
Obama said he would not just end the Iraq war but would like to end the "mind-set" that led the country to war in the first place.
He explained his health care plan, saying it will provide every American with care and subsidize it for those who cannot afford it.
All people under the age of 25 will be covered under their parents' health care plans, he added.
Obama also promised to take tax breaks away from companies that ship jobs overseas and give them to middle-class and working-class Americans instead.
"If you work in this country, you should not be poor," he said.
As president, Obama said he would make college more affordable by providing a $4,000-per-year tuition credit for most American students.
But he said students would have to "give something back in return" by doing community service, such as by joining the Peace Corps.
"We invest in you, you invest in America, and together we'll take the country forward," he said.
Obama said Clinton often attacks him for being "a hope-monger."
"It's true that I talk about hope a lot," he said. "I was born to and raised by a single mom and my grandparents. They didn't have money ... fame or fortune. They gave me love, and they gave me an education and they gave me hope."
About 60 Brown students volunteered at Saturday's rally, said Max Chaiken '09, chapter coordinator for Brown's Students forBarack Obama and Herald opinions columnist.
Chaiken said he was surprised but encouraged to see that thousands came out to support the Illinois senator.
"It's exciting that Barack came to Rhode Island," he said. "He's really starting to build a national name for himself that wasn't anticipated a few months ago."
A Feb. 23 poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports, a private public opinion company, showed that 15 percent more prospective voters say they will vote for Clinton than Obama in the Rhode Island primary.
But Chaiken said polls have been wrong in the past and that the rally's huge turnout shows that Clinton's lead could come from Rhode Island's large population of seniors who tend to support her.
"It's going to be close in Rhode Island," he said.
Ann Thacher '70, a supporter at the rally, said she believes Obama is the candidate who most likely would beat Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the November election.
"He's young and different and doesn't carry as much baggage with him," she said.
Thacher said the diverse group of people at the rally served to "regenerate her energy."
Carl Farmer, another supporter, said he was inspired by Obama's "brilliant mind" and his "bottom-up" approach to bringing about change.
Farmer said the "dumbest argument (he has) ever heard" is that Obama does not have enough experience to lead the country.
"Do I have to be polite?" he said. "Our Vice President (Dick) Cheney has the most experience of anyone in the government and if anyone thinks that that has made him a good vice president, they're smoking something weird."
