Presidential hopeful Barack Obama played the rock star and whipped up a Seattle crowd Friday night, shouting promises of universal heath care and an end to the war in Iraq to a crowd much younger than those at most political rallies.
“We are not just going to win an election in 2007, we are going to transform this country of ours!” Obama yelled to the crowd’s delight.
That was his theme: American politics have become a cynical and often corrupt mutation of what should be government’s role of people banding together to help the most vulnerable.
About 3,500 people came to hear the Democratic freshman senator from Illinois at the WaMu Theater in the Qwest Field Event Center.
This was Obama’s first Washington state campaign event since declaring that he’s running for president in 2008.
“I think he’s very intelligent and has inspiring ideas,” said 29-year-old Karthik Balakrishnan of Seattle after the rally.
Still, Balakrishnan said, he wanted to hear more specifics on how Obama would make these great things happen. But the high-energy populist rally was about stirring up emotion and not about detailed policy proposals.
Obama supporters seemed to be taking the “rock star” hype surrounding their candidate seriously.
The billboard at the WaMu Theater listing upcoming events read: “Barack Obama, Deftones, Daft Punk.” Vendors hawked Obama T-shirts and buttons.
He even had opening acts: a pair of African dance groups, a young singer who sounded kind of like Lou Reed, former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice and U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma.
“He brings people in, makes you believe in a future for this country in a way I haven’t seen in a long time,” Smith said.
The biggest cheers for Obama’s 32-minute speech came when he blasted the Iraq war. Obama was always against authorizing the president to go to war, unlike fellow Democratic front-runners Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, both of whom now oppose it.
“I am proud that I was against this war from the beginning,” Obama said, describing it as a war that has diminished America’s standing in the world and made people fearful at home.
He said universal health care is possible by the end of his first term if Congress were to roll back tax cuts for the wealthy and “take that savings and combine it with a more equitable tax system.”
Obama has said he would pay for his plan by allowing President Bush’s tax cuts for Americans who make over $250,000 a year to expire.
His proposal also calls for employers to provide coverage to their employees or pay a tax penalty for the government to provide it.
Washington State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser sent out a statement before the speech criticizing the proposal. Esser said it would hurt small businesses.
“It’s nothing but the same old tax-and-spend-politics we’ve seen from liberal presidential candidates for decades,” Esser said.
Obama said politics have become a business instead of a mission. Lobbyists and special interests have filled the void, he said, with insurance companies writing health care laws and oil companies writing the energy agenda.
Obama also said the United States has to start working with the world on issues such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, violence in Darfur, and the AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa.
Supporters paid between $25 and $100 to hear Obama speak. Later Friday night, Obama attended a $2,300-per-person fundraiser at the Seattle Westin hotel.
His campaign billed it as his “Seattle kickoff.”
Pierce County Democratic Party Chairman Nathe Lawver said he asked the campaign whether Obama might come to Pierce County.
Lawver said he told the Obama people that King County is nice for raising money but visiting Seattle is “kind of like preaching to the choir.”
Lawver said the campaign’s response was that Obama’s wife might visit Pierce County later this year, if not the candidate himself.
Sean Cockerham: 253-597-8603
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