Obama speaks at Coliseum

A near-capacity crowd of about 13,000 spectators filled the Richmond Coliseum at a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. He also greeted an overflow crowd of 7,000 people waiting outside in nearby Festival Park.

Robert Fleskes, the director of marketing and booking for the Richmond Coliseum, said the staff was prepared for the turnout.

“With the intention that people would overflow the Coliseum, we prepared additional space,” Fleskes said. “(Obama) did a brief two to three minute speech thanking everyone in Festival Park for coming prior to giving his speech inside.”

The doors did not open until 10 a.m., but some supporters turned out early for the event, showing up around 5 a.m.

“People began trickling in during the wee hours of the morning,” Fleskes said.

Several students were among those who arrived before dawn.

“We got here around 5:45 a.m. because we wanted to make sure we’d get a good place in line,” said public health graduate student Erica Smith. “We wanted to make sure we’d get to see Obama and Mark Warner.”

Obama started with a message of change early in his speech, which drew intermittent cheers from the crowd and chants of “Yes we can,” “O-ba-ma” and “U-S-A.”

“In just 13 days, we’ll finally bring the change we need to Washington,” Obama said. “We’re gonna have to fight every single one of those 13 days to move this country in a new direction.”

Because of the economic crisis of the past month, Obama said changes he wants to bring to the White House – such as tax cuts for the middle class, building modern infrastructure and bringing jobs centered around renewable energy to the country – are even more necessary.

“The question isn’t just whether you’re better off than you were four years ago,” Obama said. “The question is, are you better off than you were four weeks ago? These folks who can’t pay their mortgages, or their medical bills or send their kids to college, they can’t afford to go to the back of the line behind CEOs and Wall Street banks.”

While both Obama and Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain both are proposing tax cuts, Obama said his are aimed at the middle class whose interests, he says, are not being represented by the Bush administration.

“For the last eight years, we’ve tried it John McCain’s way. We’ve tried it Bush’s way,” Obama said. “We gave tax cuts to the very wealthy and that somehow prosperity trickles down to everybody else . It didn’t work. It’s time to try something new.”

Obama also said as president, he will work to make sure people can afford to go to college in exchange for service to the country through the military or programs, such as the Peace Corps. The idea received cheers from young audience members.

Mass communications major Alicia Seay attended the rally and said the youth is important in this election.

“Young people have the chance to make history,” Seay said. “With Virginia being a swing state, this election counts more than ever.”

Jon Eckert, a political science major, said it was worth arriving at 6:50 a.m. to hear Obama speak and said there has been a lot of student participation this election.

“I think the youth vote is pretty much the deciding factor this year, especially in Richmond and northern Virginia,” Eckert said.

Business and marketing alumnus Ronnie Beale said it’s time for people in his generation to get active.

“The rally was great,” Beale said. “It was really inspiring to see this many people come together patiently waiting for Mr. Obama to come out and it just uplifted me and I felt really happy I was in attendance. I watch him on CNN every day and now I’m looking at him.”

Sociology graduate student Summer Wisdom agreed.

“This is a memory I will always have; something I can tell my children about,” Wisdom said. “It’s inspiring to be a part of democracy.”