Road Blog: Ohio
August 31, 2008
Today, Barack Obama and Joe Biden traveled to the western edge of Lake Erie in Ohio and held a discussion on the economy on the roof of the Lucas County Public Library in Toledo.
Attending the meeting was a small, diverse crowd of guests, all of whom were intent on hearing about new solutions.
The folks here in Toledo are hurting. Their jobs have been shipped overseas, and they want to know why.
Joe Biden had this to say:
Why is a company going stay in Toledo if the roads aren’t as good, access to the ports aren’t as good, the airports aren’t as good, or why in Delaware, why in New York or why anywhere? Why are they going to do that when you can invest in a country, where you can get your goods out — not just labor cheaper — but you get your goods out cheaper?
One of the ways to keep America’s corporations here, and Barack has been talking about it for three years, and I’ve been talking about it as well — the way is to invest in the infrastructure.
And, by the way, if we invest just twenty billion dollars a year or ten billion dollars a year in the United States of America, in infrastructure towards airports, roads, sewer systems, guess what? You are creating jobs where the average pay, even for laborers, is fifty thousand dollars a year. There’s two ways of dealing with it – you’ll cover both ends.
Barack discussed another idea on how an Obama-Biden administration would offer more jobs to Americans and improve the quality of their lives:
Start building highspeed rail. I mean there’s no reason why not — especially these days. You want to take a flight, you know, you gotta drive there, take off your shoes, you get delayed for an hour…. you don’t even get peanuts on the plane, you know? Then they lose your bags at the other end!
Why not build high speed light rail like every other advanced nation? That would save us on energy costs, save people time and put people back to work. That makes sense.
Later, Barack was asked what he and his administration would do to improve our cities. Here is what he had to say:
Peter Rubi
August 31th, 2008
Hamilton, Indiana
Weekend of Action: Colorado
August 31, 2008
Today is the third of a four day Weekend of Action, in which grassroots volunteers across the country will be canvassing and registering voters in one of our largest coordinated field efforts yet.
In Colorado the Weekend of Action started early. Jenn Prosser was at Mile High on Thursday, where volunteers were phonebanking on-site in the hours before Barack’s speech . . .
In the hours leading up to Barack’s acceptance speech, people took the energy of Mile High and turned it into action. Throughout the stadium, people were registering to vote, signing up to volunteer and even making phone calls to make sure that people across Colorado tuned in to watch Barack’s speech.
Cheryl, a volunteer who traveled from Washington state to help out in Colorado, talked to us about the amount of excitement that is flooding Mile High.
She said:
We’re calling voters in Colorado and telling them to watch Senator Obama speak tonight… It’s packed, we have 100 phones here and I’m looking for phones all the time. They love it and they’re so enthusiastic about making calls for Barack.
No matter where you are, you take part in this Weekend of Action by finding an event near you.
Weekend of Action: Maine
August 31, 2008
On Thursday Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president in front of a crowd of over 80,000 people at Mile High, while a television audience of millions watched from house parties and homes across the country. But as Campaign Manager David Plouffe explained, "we have to do more."
Today is the third of a four day Weekend of Action, in which grassroots volunteers across the country will be canvassing and registering voters in one of our largest coordinated field efforts yet. Liz is on the ground in Maine, where the weekend got started early . . .
Volunteers in Camden showed their support at Windjammer Weekend: registering voters between the schooners, shops, and pine trees.
Happy supporters get ready for Windjammer Weekend
Visitors to Windjammer were pleased to find not just nautical fun, but the opportunity to register so they can head to the polls this November.
A fashionable volunteer explains how to register
This small supporter has a few years to go
There are still plenty of opportunities for you to get involved during Maine’s Weekend of Action. Join your neighbors in Camden (or across the state) and help the Campaign for Change.
No matter where you are, you take part in this Weekend of Action by finding an event near you.
Hurricane Gustav: How You Can Help
August 31, 2008
As Hurricane Gustav approaches and Gulf Coast residents evacuate their communities, our thoughts and prayers go out to those who are affected by this situation.
Mayor Ray Nagin has announced a mandatory evacuation for the City of New Orleans today, Sunday, August 31st. If you are in the New Orleans area, please contact the state emergency hotline at 1-866-288-2484 if you need more information or go to the State of Louisiana site for an updated list of evacuations by parish.
If you are a Mississippi resident, please click here for information.
State and local government officials are working hard to ensure the safety and well-being of the people of the region, and many of you have asked how you can help too.
Please find out how you can help by visiting the American Red Cross or Save The Children today.
If disaster strikes, your support will be vital to those organizations that work to help our communities get back to their feet.
Stay tuned for updates and more information on how you can help.
LIVE: Barack and Joe in Toledo, Ohio
August 31, 2008
Barack and Joe are currently in Toledo, Ohio holding a discussion on the economy at the Toledo-Lucas Public Library. Watch the event live below…
UPDATE: This event has ended. You can read and watch more coverage of Barack on the campaign trail on the Obama Road Blog.
Joe Biden: "Scranton"
August 31, 2008
In his first campaign ad since joining Barack on the Democratic presidential ticket, Senator Joe Biden talks about growing up in Scranton and the lessons he learned in his Green Ridge neighborhood.
Learn more about Joe Biden . . .
Morning News
August 31, 2008
From the Columbus Dispatch:
Seeking to continue momentum from the Democratic convention in Denver last week, the party’s newly nominated ticket made its Ohio debut last night before a crowd estimated at up to 19,000 that jammed Dublin Coffman High School stadium.
… "The American people are anxious; the American people are worried because they recognize that over the last eight years, this country has gone tragically off course," Obama told the crowd, part of which had waited for hours under a hot sun.
Obama cautioned that although Democrats are riding high after his historic nomination for president, the fall campaign will be difficult. He urged his supporters to put in the work he said will be needed to defeat Republican John McCain.
… The rally in Dublin is part of a two-day campaign swing through Ohio for Obama and Biden, including a forum on the economy today in Toledo. The candidates also are making stops in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan.
Biden, a six-term senator from Delaware, took the opportunity of his first appearance in the Buckeye State since becoming the vice-presidential pick to introduce himself.
"When your mother’s maiden name is Finnegan and you’re going to Dublin, and you’re appearing at the home of the Shamrocks, it kind of feels right," he said.
Biden noted he had run against Obama in the Democratic primaries — and even criticized the Illinois senator’s experience at the time — but said he saw why Obama connected with party voters.
"I watched a guy tap into, just by his very being and his ideas, tap into the age-old American belief that many have forgotten," Biden said. "And that is, you don’t have to accept a situation you cannot bear; you can change it."
From the Chicago Tribune:
Obama plans to continue the road trip through Rust Belt electoral battlegrounds throughout the Republican convention this week, stressing the competing presidential candidates’ divergent responses to the nation’s economic troubles.
Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, joined Obama and his wife, Michelle, for the opening days of the campaign swing, the first time the two couples have hit the road together since Obama announced his choice of running mate last weekend.
… Biden gave a full-throated call to arms as he introduced Obama from town to town. "Folks, I’ve never seen in all my time in Washington where so many people have been knocked down and our government has done so little to help them get back up," Biden said at an outdoor rally Saturday evening in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.
"I could walk from here to Cleveland and I wouldn’t run into a single person … who told me they felt the economy was strong, unless I ran into John McCain," he added.
McCain, Biden charged, "doesn’t see the economy the same way Barack and I do."
From the Washington Post:
Presidential candidates rarely linger anywhere. But Sen. Barack Obama spent nearly four hours Saturday inside a Cleveland church, attending a memorial service for Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D).He had impressive company. Former president Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife, Jill; and Michelle Obama also paid their respects to the late Democratic congresswoman, who died Aug. 20. Tubbs Jones was one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent African American supporters, an outspoken loyalist until the senator from New York dropped out of the race, when she switched to Obama.
Obama paid homage to the bond between Clinton and Tubbs Jones. "During this most recent contest, Stephanie and I started off on different sides. We would see each other, and she would say to me, ‘This is what it means to be a friend’ — and all I could say is, ‘I understand’ — and that is a testimony to her and the kind of person she was," Obama said.
… The senator from Illinois sat between Clinton and Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson, with Bill Clinton on his wife’s other side. The Democratic primary candidates drew big standing ovations, with both Clintons rising to cheer Obama. After Hillary Clinton spoke, Obama rose to pat her on the back, shake her hand and kiss her on the cheek.
Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), who endorsed Clinton in the primaries, spoke of Tubbs Jones’s actions in her final days to heal the Clinton-Obama rift, including flying back early from a vacation to meet with Obama in Cleveland. "Two leaders came together, and they talked, and she felt good about the conversation," Meek said.
… As the crowd roared, Hillary Clinton and Obama both smiled and leaned toward each other, apparently exchanging a few friendly words.
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