Obama gets warm welcome at town hall meeting in Republican stronghold
Tuesday, February 1, 2005
Printable FormatBy Charles Keeshan Daily Herald Staff Writer
Venturing into what his party not long ago viewed as enemy territory, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama received a star's welcome to McHenry County from a standing-room-only crowd Monday at the Woodstock Opera House.
The Chicago Democrat laid out his views on issues ranging from health care to immigration to the war in Iraq during a town-hall-style meeting, the sixth he's held since taking his Senate seat last month. Events like it, he later said, are his favorite part of his new job.
"(The voters) tend to have a clearer view of the problems we face than the experts in Washington do because they're living them," the former state senator said.
Obama's appearance at the opera house brought the kind of excited atmosphere to the Woodstock square not seen since the filming of the movie "Groundhog Day."
Ushers began turning people back about 30 minutes before the senator's arrival, but many remained crowded in the lobby for a chance to listen in on the event. More than a hundred adoring fans were turned away at the door.
Others waited outside the building's back entrance nearly two hours to shake hands, get an autograph or just catch a glimpse of the rising political star before he left.
That Obama received that kind of reception in what is still a predominantly Republican region is testament to the freshman senator's broad popularity across party lines.
While the crowd leaned Democratic, local Republican leaders like state Sen. Pamela Althoff, county board Chairman Ken Koehler and State's Attorney Louis Bianchi were on hand to greet the senator.
Obama said he hopes people see the significance of him including a traditionally Republican area like McHenry County on his town hall schedule.
"It's important for me to send a message that I'm the senator for everybody in the state of Illinois, not just a particular region," he said.
While addressing the crowd, Obama played down the national media coverage he has received the past six months and asked voters not to expect too much too soon from him.
"In terms of seniority, I am 99th out of 100 senators," he said. "I will not be able to accomplish everything in my first year and maybe not my first term. What I can guarantee you is that I will get up every morning thinking about what I can do for you."
The senator answered more than a dozen questions from the public on issues ranging from abortion to health care and the environment to the war in Iraq. He defended his vote last week to confirm Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and pledged to vote against the nomination of Alberto Gonzales as U.S. attorney general.
He struck moderate tones on several issues, particularly immigration and education. He praised parts of the No Child Left Behind legislation, but criticized its lack of funding and components that punish struggling schools.
"Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference," he said.
Obama criticized President Bush's plan to privatize parts of Social Security, calling it an unnecessary risk.
"What we can't do is borrow $2 trillion from the trust fund and hope to make such a killing in the stock market that it will meet the shortfall," he said. "That is just not an honest, mature way of dealing with the problem."