January 31, 2008
Obama Applauds Edwards In South Central LA Today
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Forget Camelot. The latest mantle that Barack Obama is looking to inherit is that of former Sen. John Edwards. Edwards left the race yesterday after imploring the two remaining Dem candidates to make poverty a central issue in their campaigns.
Obama, sounding positively Edwards-esque today in a town hall at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, told the crowd that the system wasn't "designed for us."
"Too many people today feel like the system is not designed for people like us. They feel like the education system isn't designed for people like us, and the job market isn't designed for people like us," Obama said, apparently identifying himself with the predominantly Latino and African American crowd.
He added: "Well let me tell you something, this is our country. America should be designed for people like us. That's why I'm running for president of the United States, for all people – black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight -- all people."
Obama's statements on race and class were unusual for him. Even in South Carolina and Nevada, where blacks and Hispanics were critical constituencies, Obama rarely dwelled too much on the idea of institutional racial disparities -- or identified himself with a minority crowd in such a distinctive way.
But if anyone was unclear about the intention of his message, Obama spoke today directly about Edwards.
"This is our country, that's why we have to address the issue of poverty," he said. "I congratulate John Edwards for his outstanding race and the way in which he identified the forgotten America."
(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)
More:
"That forgotten American I worked in as a community organizer, that forgotten America I represented as a civil rights attorney, that forgotten America I fought for as a state legislature," he said.
Approximately 1,600 people came to see Obama at the town hall, and the candidate spoke for more than an hour. Congressman Xavier Becerra and Maria Elena Durazo two of a number of Latino politicians and labor leaders who introduced Obama today. Becerra told the crowd that this was the first time in "forty years since Robert F. Kennedy" that their vote really mattered in a presidential election.
Posted at 05:20 PM
Comments
"Even in South Carolina and Nevada, where blacks and Hispanics were critical constituencies, Obama rarely dwelled too much on the idea of institutional racial disparities -- or identified himself with a minority crowd in such a distinctive way."
That's because, for the most part, they were only ONE-minority crowds. And he honestly doesn't identify with or try to appeal to only one part of the electorate.
But today's LA crowd seemed a lot different, from your report and others. It was quite reflective of California's diversity, and so Obama could feel a lot more comfortable identifiying with them all.
"black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight": I bet the crowd looked EXACTLY like that.
along | 01.31.08 06:30 PM
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"Even in South Carolina and Nevada, where blacks and Hispanics were critical constituencies, Obama rarely dwelled too much on the idea of institutional racial disparities -- or identified himself with a minority crowd in such a distinctive way."
That's because, for the most part, they were only ONE-minority crowds. And he honestly doesn't identify with or try to appeal to only one or two parts of the electorate.
But today's LA crowd seemed a lot different, from your report and others. It was quite reflective of California's diversity, and so Obama could feel a lot more comfortable identifying with them all.
"black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight": I bet, with more here, fewer there, the crowd looked EXACTLY like that.
along | 01.31.08 06:33 PM
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