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"Run, Barack, Run!"

By Onyekachi Ogba
Black College Wire

Some were extremely tired from staying up all night to make it to the early rally.

Bobby Belton/Claflin University Mass Communications Department Sen. Barack Obama used an appearance before 2,000 at Claflin University to address skepticism about his candidacy.

Others were uncomfortable in the morning cold waiting for admittance — but their real chills might havecome from thoughts of what could happen in November 2008.

Arms ached from holding up support signs. Throats were sore from the compulsive chanting of "Run, Barack, run!"

Welcome to Claflin University, Orangeburg, S.C., Feb. 17, 2007, and the visit of Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Speaking before an audience of more than 2,000 at the Jonas T. Kennedy Center, Obama acknowledged and addressed skepticism from several quarters "not over whether I should win but whether I can win.

"At every juncture in our history, there has always been someone who said we can't do this or we can't do that. But with your support, ideas and commitment, I'm here to tell you ‘Yes, we can!"

In a question-and-answer session, members of the audience raised concerns over several issues, including health care; minimum wage; education; the Iraq war; the genocide in Darfur, Sudan; and infrastructure development. To resolve those issues, Obama advocated "common sense and practical solutions to move forward.

"We are going to fix it," the U.S. senator from Illinois assured his audience. "It is a matter of us having faith and believing in the future, having a sense of hope and working together as one people.

"At the end of my first term, health care will be affordable and accessible." According to Obama, the administration has already spent $1.9 trillion on health care without putting enough into preventive health care.

He suggested developing the efficiency of medical technology to significantly cut costs and provide emergency health care to individual patients as well as to small businesses that are at a disadvantage compared with larger firms.

To meet the challenges in the education system, Obama proposed extensive early childhood education to prepare students for global academic competition.

Acknowledging that the quality of teachers greatly affects the education system, the senator suggested more decent salaries for teachers as well as greater flexibility and input in shaping the curriculum.

He also explained that since the state is responsible for funding and distributing resources, expectations for higher standards and accountability would be accompanied by proper funding of school districts.

"This will mean that the teachers, the parents and the state will have to be increasingly accountable. The community as a whole needs to get over the trend of anti-intellectualism and focus on instilling proper attitudes toward education," he said.

Addressing concerns over high expulsion rates, HIV/AIDS and the drug culture, Obama explained that providing sufficient resources, basic health care and educational infrastructure are critical to influencing young people to have higher expectations of themselves.

While Obama did not disagree that troops should be honored for their patriotism and devotion, he said the troops should be sent on a mission where they will succeed or not be sent at all. "We have lost $4 billion and over 3,000 lives in a war that should never have been authorized," he said.

Obama also suggested a support system for the returning troops to counter the high level of unemployment, homelessness and trauma disorder among war veterans.

Obama said the minimum federal wage has not been raised in nine years and suggested an expansion of the income tax system for minimum wage workers. "Workers need an opportunity to have a living wage. If you work full-time, you should be able to support a family."

He addressed the genocide in Darfur as an opportunity for the country to strengthen its diplomatic initiatives and rebuild international institutions and alliances. "Our success in defeating terrorism depends on exporting our ideals and our values and moving to higher standards."

Finally, the senator described the country's dependence on foreign energy sources as "funding both sides of the war on terror," and addressed the need for development of jobs and infrastructure in rural areas to connect rural economies with the global economy. As examples, he mentioned broadband Internet access and plants for alternative fuels.

This would not only increase the country's economic independence but also address environmental issues such as global warming, he said.

"It doesn't make any sense to depend on oil from the Middle East when we can grow our own fuel — but we are under leadership that says this is not a high priority. This requires leadership that we haven't seen yet."

Having billed himself as the leader who will bring a new generational attitude to the nation's challenges, Obama confidently asserted that, "at a time when the country is at a crossroads both domestically and internationally, people are hungry for a new kind of politics."

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., certainly seemed to agree, describing Obama as a "hope and inspiration for a new generation of politics.

"I don't know if they want a black president," Clyburn said. "But nobody gets elected who does not run. Run, Barack, run!"

Onyekachi Ogba, a student at Claflin University, writes for the Panther. To comment, e-mail [email protected].

Posted Feb. 22, 2007