Barack Obama Rally in Tiny Boone, Iowa, Draws Hundreds Just Days Before the Iowa Caucus

It's New Year's Eve and bitterly cold here in Iowa, which you would think would give Iowans plenty of excuses not to show up at yet another political rally. But just days before the Iowa caucuses, people from the tiny town of Boone showed up to hear what Barack Obama had to say. And he had plenty to say.

He started by thanking the Boone County leadership and precinct captains. While most might have glossed over this, he spent several minutes thanking specific people for their different roles. He especially thanked the local Organizer, and even invited him onstage to receive a round of applause.

Of course, being a politician, he didn't miss a chance to sell himself during this time. He spoke about how he used to be an Organizer back in Chicago. He used to work, for three years, with steel workers who had been laid off setting up job training programs, after-school youth programs and working with churches to stabilize the local economy. He said, "It's the best education I ever had, because it taught me that ordinary people can do great things when they're brought together."

He went on to recall why he chose to run for president. He said it had nothing to do with any long-held desires to run for president. He said it was not because he thought it was somehow owed to him. He said, "I chose to run because of what Dr. King called 'the fierce urgency of now' because I believe we are at a defining moment in our history." He cited war, the peril of the planet, healthcare and the economy as the urgent issues of the day.

He went on to say that these problems have been unfixable because the politics portion of our government is broken. He said that to fix it we need to concentrate on common ideals and values and not what divides us. His opinion is that, as a people, we are not truly as divided as our politics would have us believe. And that deep inside we are, "...decent and generous and are willing to work hard and sacrifice for future generations." Thus summing up that he ran not just because we need change and are hungry for change, but that he recognizes all of us as being capable of bringing about change. "That's what I was betting on, that's what I was counting on, when I decided to run for president of the United States."

While thanking Iowans for being so interested, challenging and energetic about this particular election, he admitted that there might be another reason besides the candidates. More specifically, he said, "Now I have to admit that part of the reason that people have been so interested in this election, why we've been seeing such huge crowds and so much interest, is you know that next year you will be going into the polling place to select the next president of the United States, and you know that the name George W. Bush will not be on the ballot." Huge cheers and applause went up after this statement.

On this positive note he turned the tide a bit, and said he knew that being against something wasn't the only reason people had been coming out to political events in such numbers. But that wanting to be for something was just as important. To come together to do big things and, "... I think you share that sense of urgency - that fierce urgency of now." Items for the future he wants to achieve because of his "conversation" over the last 10 months with Iowa include tax credits for college for "young people who serve our country" and a reduction of healthcare premiums by $2500 per year per family.

He began to wrap up by saying, "we can't afford the same old kind of politics that we've been putting up with for years now... we can't afford the partisan food-fight in Washington. We can't afford a politics that's all about tearing your opponents down instead of lifting the country up."

His final subject had to with how long he has been in Washington. Quoting others as saying, "He hasn't been in Washington long enough. He hasn't been stewing long enough. We need to boil all of the hope out of him, so he sounds like all the other politicians. Then he'll be ready!" Which was a very clever way of refuting that argument without getting truly argumentative.

His truly definitive answer was that you can't get the same old folks doing the same old things and hope to get any different results. And then he went on to quote his own slogan, we need "a change we can believe in." And then asked the audience to ask themselves, "who is best equipped to deliver change?" It is a question that each person needs to ask themselves.

Even though there were many undecideds and challengers in the room, the response to his address was overwhelmingly positive, with not just extended applause, but cheering. The people are definitely ready for change and seem to see this possibility in Barack Obama.