The New York Times ran a blog post in The Caucus, describing Obama making a surprise visit to rev up the campaign volunteers in Columbus, Ohio today.
Apparently, Obama made a surprise stop at a all-day training session attended by 750 Obama volunteers. According to the Times, "the room erupted into pandemonium when he walked in". The post describes Obama telling the campaign volunteers that "Now’s the time to really make this thing work."
Read the post to get a feel of him 'revving' the volunteers up. But he did far more than that. Follow me under the fold to see Obama demonstrate that he is not out of touch.
After the description of Obama's glad-handing and cheerleading, the Times ran the following:
But he warned the crowd, most of whom appeared to be in their early to mid-20’s, that their youthful exuberance might not be welcome everywhere.
"You’ve got to know that there are a lot of people, not just here in Ohio, but all across the country, who have been disappointed by politics," Mr. Obama said. "And they get cynical. And so when you come in, and you’re all, you know, rosy-cheeked, and all excited, you’ve got your little ‘Hope’ button, there are a lot of people in the last 20 years who have seen jobs lost, and plants closing, and losing their health care, and losing their pension, and communities shrinking."
He added: "And so it’s understandable that they’re skeptical. And it’s understandable that they’re angry, and they’re frustrated, and sometimes they’re going to take it out on you. Because you represent a lot of promises, and they’ve heard promises before, and a lot of times, they haven’t been fulfilled."
This is not just a politician, this man gets it. It is stories like these that remind me that Obama does understand the American cynicism over politics, and is struggling to connect in spite of it. This, I think, is what he was trying to allude to when he made his infamous "bitter" comment.
Then, touching on another of Obama's facets, the short blog piece ends with a very sensible Obama quote given in response to a reporter's question about the handling of the financial crisis. This is also worth a read.
Is this not The Man?