Our Town: Obama's IA Message Challenge
No two events exposed the chasm that Barack Obama’s message needs to cross in Iowa than his speeches at Independence and Decorah on Thursday.
While the crowds weren’t quite Main St. versus Wall St, they did expose the two distinct, if not competing sects of the Democratic party, from blue collar, Reagan era Democrats against illegal immigration in Independence to the globally-oriented mindset of Luther College students in Decorah.
In Independence, under a creaky pavilion on country fairgrounds, voters asked Obama about a strike at the local Cargill plant, his stance on illegal immigration, foreign trade, and health care. While Obama was well received, his answers were at times greeted with silence when he said that he doesn't believe in sending 12 million illegal immigrants back to their home countries.
In Decorah, Obama stepped out on a platform amidst a sea of shiny young faces, waving red, white and blue “Os” against the night sky. The senator was introduced by a man that railed against America foreign policy and its role on the world stage, and Obama’s remarks to the crowd of 3,000 people underscored much of his foreign policy message in the past few weeks – greater involvement in the world with a strong focus on diplomacy and humanitarian outreach.
In Independence Obama urged the crowd to look to him to help dismantle the special interests in Washington; in Decorah, Obama urged the crowd to help him create a new role for the United States in the world. He said to the assembled students that if they joined him they could “put their shoulders to the wheel and move history.”
Obama appears to have the 22 and under crowd safely in hand, but it was at Independence where his message of change and hope found it harder to break through. At one point to underscore his similarities with the crowd, Obama said that it was only selling his books that had allowed him and his wife Michelle to not worry about paying the bills and saving for college for their two daughters. [ASWINI ANBURAJAN]
