Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama spoke to a packed football field of over 6,000 people last Saturday, just 12 hours after the vice presidential debates. He stressed the importance of investing in early-childhood and higher education through his plan in strengthening the economy.
“If you want to better the economy and create jobs, you better have a president that focuses on education,” Obama said after quoting Sen. John McCain as being “not focused” on the subject. “It was just reported this morning that America has experienced its ninth straight month of job loss. Since January, we have lost more than 750,000 jobs, 7,000 in Pennsylvania alone.”
The democratic nominee said that the Bush administration let the “no child left behind act lose funding.” He talked about his plans to invest in early childhood education and higher education saying that he would provide college students with a fully refundable tax credit that would allow the first $4,000 of a college education to be free. “There is nothing more fundamental than putting your child through college.”
Sen. Bob Casey and Pa. Governor Ed Rendell were also attending the rally. Rendell commented on Obama possibly becoming a Phillies fan. “The Phillies had a grand-slam win last night and so did Joe Biden.” Obama said in response while referring to the vice presidential debate between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin.
The Illinois senator continued to speak about the current bailout package that passed in the U.S. Congress last week. “This is not simply about bailing out Wall Street; this is about making sure your jobs are protected. It is about making sure that you can get a student loan.”
The candidate continued in saying it is important that the bill had something that protected the tax payers because they would ultimately be the ones funding the bailout.
“To democrats and republicans that are still on the fence, do not make the same mistake twice. This is a plan that will solve the immediate crisis and give us better footing.”
The Gallup Poll has shown 50 percent of voters would vote for Obama over John McCain with 43 percent of the votes. With that in mind the Obama campaign stationed volunteers outside of the football field and throughout the parking lot with voters registration forms. With the registration deadline on Oct. 4, the Obama campaign has pushed registration both on the Internet and through volunteers with clip boards. “Here in this country, the United States of America, history is not written for us, it’s written by us. The future is ours to save.”
Obama rallied supporters with waving “Obama/Biden” signs before leaving the stage saying, “What this crisis has taught us is that in the end there is no real separation between Main Street and Wall Street, there is only the road we are traveling on as Americans. This country and the dream it represents is being tested in a way we have not seen in over a century. Future generations will judge us on how we respond to this test.”
