Obama: Democratic identity crisis is over

Presidential contender Barack Obama urged Virginia Democrats to have hope and believe in the power of their party to lead the nation at the annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner held Saturday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

“It’s our time to lead; our identity crisis is over,” Obama said.

Gov. Timothy Kaine took the opportunity to express support for the Illinois senator in the coming presidential campaign.

“He’s someone that will make us proud,” Kaine said. “Americans in 2008 will desire excellence, and that is what Sen. Obama brings to us tonight.”

Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, Sen. Jim Webb, Rep. Bobby Scott and Rep. Jim Moran also attended the formal event.

According to the governor, this year’s fundraising event gathered more than 3,000 people, setting a record-breaking turnout.

In his speech, Obama focused on problems the country is facing, and said the Democratic Party has the capacity to redirect America and its leadership. Obama said in the past several years, with Republicans holding major political positions, Americans have lost hope in their government.

“We have the audacity to hope, the belief in something different,” Obama said. “And now more than ever that (change) is what we need.”

The Illinois senator said the war on terror should never have been authorized and has become an unnecessary outlet for funding. Obama said he believed the war was a mistake from the beginning, because he didn’t “see evidence of immediate threat coming from weapons of mass destruction.”

Americans are funding both sides of the war, Obama said.

“We have to recognize it’s time to bring an end to the war,” Obama said. “We know it’s time to bring our troops home.”

Obama said the United States is a country with powerful ideals projected around the world and the war in Iraq “is not projecting the best of America.”

According to the presidential hopeful, education is a major challenge in political leadership with young students having to compete on an international level. At the same time, Obama said, students in American schools are uninspired, and teachers are underpaid. The senator said the problem is the leadership.

“What’s lacking is the audacity to believe that we can do things differently, and we’ve done them before,” he said. “Ordinary Americans (should be) willing to set aside the main differences and the trivialization of politics and move forward boldly to deal with the task ahead.”

Criticizing the No Child Left Behind Act, Obama said the plan “left the money behind.”

Obama compared the current Bush administration to past situations of slavery and women’s lack of right to vote, saying in those cases ordinary people stepped forward and worked for changing the inequalities. Obama said Americans should closely follow their leadership and react to the actions of the government.

“When the American people pay attention, then I promise you, Democrats, those in Washington are in trouble,” he said, meeting loud applause from the audience. “Then the path of politics that we’ve seen operating out of this White House will be coming to an end.”

Kaine, who spoke before Obama, also brought up the need for a change in the political scene. Kaine referred to Virginia as a state where, in the 1990s, Democratic presidential candidates “didn’t bother to spend much time,” and Republican candidates didn’t need to, either, as they were confident in their victory.

Today, the governor said, people, including his Republican father-in-law, former Gov. Linwood Holton, are turning to the blue party for leadership. Kaine said the Democratic presidential candidates have what it takes to lead the country to solve its problems.

“As Democrats, we can feel proud of the quality of the candidates that we have on the field,” Kaine said. “(We can feel proud of) the skills that they bring, the passion they bring and the change they’ll make.”

Former Gov. Mark Warner said the Republican Party mismanaged Virginia, and Democratic leaders brought the state back from that state of disparity. Warner said people are looking forward to a change not only on a state level, but on a national level, as well.

“(People) want our country to be once again respected around the world,” he said. “They want our country to once again lead. In many ways, I think that’s what we’re (Democrats) able to do right here in Virginia.”

Moran expressed his support for the Democratic Party and criticized the current Republican presidency.

“Furious and intenseness of hope are alive in this country today,” Moran said. “That leads us to believe that we can take back America . after six painful years gathering the most unconfident and uncaring presidency in American history, and the Republican congress cheering on the sidelines as every defining principle of a free and noble people has been eroded and rejected.”