A 2008 Election Campaign Reminiscence: Battling for Presidential Candidate Barack Obama in Small Town Pennsylvania (8)

by R. Lee Cook

“What we did here, everybody who volunteered, even if they worked one day, got a postcard. We sent them an invitation to the Main Event restaurant here and we had a buffet. We had a large screen TV and they all came. It was a wonderful event.”

“I will tell you what moved me to tears a couple of times because it is a watershed moment. When I saw Obama and his wife get out of the car and walk, tears were rolling down my cheeks. This happens to me occasionally even now when I see him with his daughters because- now this is a white man speaking- I think too often the black family is marginalized. It can’t ever happen again. This was so important. That can’t happen again because these beautiful little children- they don’t know it yet- but they are going to have an impact on this country beyond anybody’s imagination. That brings me to tears but they are tears of joy.”

“Then I have some anger moments when I feel that he is getting pummeled by people who shouldn’t be doing that. One other very emotional moment that I had was when Barack Obama was in Europe speaking to hundreds of thousands of  people. The pride I felt and I know the pride the people in this country felt. That was remarkable.

Finally, I asked Bill what he thought would be the lasting impact of the 2008 campaign in this environment and what were his hopes for our nation’s future.

“First of all, the impact here, I think initially, once Obama got in office, after the parties and everything, I think there was a letdown. Rightly so, you need to decompress a little bit because you could not have expected that emotional level to continue. What we have done , our list of volunteers has expanded. The people feel that they have made a difference and I think that is going to help us going forward.”

“Plus, you know they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I’m an old dog; but I learned a lot of new tricks. These young people taught me many things. We will be better locally because of what happened.”

“On the whole, I think President Obama is doing a wonderful job. The area that I am proud of the most right now, people talk about the economy and people talk about the healthcare, but I am so proud of what he has done on the international scene with our reputation. My wife and I, our hobby is travel. We have been fortunate to go many, many places. We have been received personally well everywhere we have gone. However, our government has not been. Now, we are received as we are the light again.”

 “I can sort of sum this part up with an anecdote that happened to me in Paris where our guide, who was a college professor and did this on the side, she was wonderful. She came up and knew my feelings of course and had been with me a couple of days. She took both my hands and said, you have to work hard and you have to make sure Barack Obama wins.”

“I waited for her to continue the rest of her statement and she said, “The world needs the United States back.  The world needs America because over the last eight years, you abandoned the world”. I never thought of it like that. When you really start thinking about the last eight years, it was our way or the highway. Barack Obama has turned that around in six months and that reminds me of a thing that Bill Clinton said.”

“Someone asked him a question at a meeting I was at when he visited us here. They asked how long it would take Hillary or Barack Obama to right our reputation in the world.   He said, I really don’t think it would take too long and I will tell you why. People like us and hate us for different reasons. The things that they like us for will be expanded and we will reduce the things they hate us for. That is what Barack Obama is about. He treats them with respect. That is my big, big emotional plus for him. Now, I think that the economy will come around. I am confident of that. I would like to think that he would be able to reign in the Blue Dog Democrats and get a healthcare system that is going to be the envy of the world.”

“Like I told you earlier, he is my horse and he is what I am riding because he is the one who is going to take the people on the margin and bring them across. Another reason I think he is going to be able to do that, the times they are changing. I really believe that with the different dynamic with the Hispanic population growing and the way the Republicans are dissing the new Supreme Court Justice, that does nothing but help us. So, my hope for the future is very strong.”

The End