An overflowing crowd of UW-Madison students and community members filled the Kohl Center and the attached Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion Tuesday to rally for presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
“This is our moment, this is our time,” Obama said in front of the energized crowd of more than 17,000.
“And where better to affirm our ideals than here in Wisconsin, where a century ago the Progressive movement was born. It was rooted in the principle that the voices of the people can speak louder than special interests.”
Obama did not mention his competitor for the Democratic presidential bid, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in his speech. However, he vocally opposed the policies of the “likely Republican nominee” U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Obama said McCain’s recent remarks about troops spending 100 years in Iraq was “reason enough not to give him four years in the White House.”
The senator said the money spent on the Iraq War should have funded schools, hospitals, roads and bridges.
“In this election, your voice will be heard,” Obama said. “It is time to turn the page and write a new chapter in American history—our time for change has come.”
As Gov. Jim Doyle took the stage to introduce Obama, he announced the senator’s projected win in the Maryland primary, which brings Obama’s victories to eight consecutive states.
“Next Tuesday, here in Wisconsin, we are going to make it nine straight,” Doyle said.
The 8 p.m. start time coincided with the closings of the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia primaries.
“Fired up and ready to go” attendees displayed UW-Madison’s traditional “waves” around the Kohl Center, like in Camp Randall football games, as many waited more than two hours to hear Obama.
“I’ve been waiting a long time … for us to have someone step forward as the leader of this country, who isn’t trying to divide us by race, prestige and geographic location or party, but a leader who’s bringing us together,” Doyle said.
Doyle said he does a lot of great things as Wisconsin’s governor, but introducing “the next president of the United States” was one of the best things he has ever done.
