LETS GET BACK TO OUR TICKET...Obama, Biden start wooing Ohio

[Thrill]

Seeking to continue momentum from the Democratic convention in Denver last week, the party's newly nominated ticket made its Ohio debut last night before a crowd estimated at up to 19,000 that jammed Dublin Coffman High School stadium.

Barack Obama and running mate Joe Biden chose central Ohio for only the second rally since accepting their nominations, and they echoed many of the same lines and themes from the convention in making the case for change.

"The American people are anxious; the American people are worried because they recognize that over the last eight years, this country has gone tragically off course," Obama told the crowd, part of which had waited for hours under a hot sun.

Biden noted he had run against Obama in the Democratic primaries -- and even criticized the Illinois senator's experience at the time -- but said he saw why Obama connected with party voters.

"I watched a guy tap into, just by his very being and his ideas, tap into the age-old American belief that many have forgotten," Biden said. "And that is, you don't have to accept a situation you cannot bear; you can change it."\

David Wilhelm of Bexley, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee who managed Biden's 1988 presidential campaign in Iowa, said last week that Biden should help Obama in Ohio by appealing to Catholics and suburban voters.

Lynn Fraze, 55, of Columbus, attended the rally and said she was excited that Obama picked Biden because of the foreign-policy experience he brings to the ticket.

Fraze said she has never voted for a Democrat for president but read Obama's Audacity of Hope book two years ago and decided, even before he announced, that she would support him for president.

"I've waited a long time to have a president who is smarter than I am," said Fraze, who works in media production.

An emotional Shelley Forte, a 19-year-old dance and drama student from Kenyon College who is volunteering for the campaign, hugged Obama and told him, "You're an inspiration to me."

Forte, from Carney, Neb., said her mother is white and her father is black, like Obama's parents.

"I'm so blessed to meet this man," Forte said, wiping away tears.

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/08/31/copy/obama31.ART_ART_08-31-08_A1_RPB6H1F.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

[1corona4u]

1. My sister just got back from a seminar there...

and she said that every day, during every break, the people there with her would pull up their laptops to see what the latest news of the day was for Obama/Biden....she was there for a week too.

[elocs]

2. What's with this get back to our ticket crap?

Isn't the most important issue whether Palin's baby is really hers? :sarcasm:

[Blue-Jay]

3. If you're familiar with Dublin OH,

You know that a crowd of 19,000 is an amazing feat for a Democrat. It's a very Country-Clubbish suburb.

[azmouse]

4. kick

[Coexist]

5. kick!