Obama Rallies Midterm Support at USC

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Author: Riley Kimball

President Obama appeared at USC last Friday in front of a crowd of 37,500 people to express his support for Democratic candidates in the upcoming California midterm elections. The rally was the fifth in a series of “Moving America Forward Rallies” designed to gain the democratic vote prior to the Nov. 2 elections.

The president spoke at USC’s Alumni Park to help senatorial candidate Barbara Boxer and gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown in their election bids. Each candidate is in a tight race. Boxer faces former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Brown is up against former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.

Obama, Boxer and Brown, in addition to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Speaker of the California Assembly John Perez, made calls for continued support of the Democratic party. Obama also criticized the Republican Party, saying that Republicans drove a car into a ditch and then asked for the keys back. He emphasized the Democrats’ role in trying to boost the car out of the ditch despite Republican criticism that they are not trying hard enough.

Obama’s speech was preceded by two hours of entertainment and other speeches by various celebrities and local music groups, such as the Los Angeles band Ozomatli.

Comedian and actor Jamie Foxx served as an emcee for the event. Actor and activist Kal Penn also appealed to the crowd and Stevie Ray played at a separate Boxer event in support of her candidacy.

This message seemed to be directed toward the college-age people in the crowd, and focused especially on young voters, since, as speakers said, the GOP was counting on low turnout of the youth vote.

Occidental student Maurae Baker (first-year) attended the rally and commented on Obama’s appeal to the young people in attendance. “I think Obama was more than successful in gaining enthusiasm from the crowd because of his charismatic way of speaking to people. I felt as if Obama was speaking directly to me.”

Attendees waited in long lines to see the President speak.

“My friend and I waited in line since 5:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to see him,” Baker said.”We were some of the lucky ones because we were actually nine rows in front of President Obama which made the long wait entirely worth it.”

Obama’s series of West Coast rallies was filled with a similar message: keep the faith and stand behind Democrats to encourage progress and support the efforts of all that has been already accomplished. His speeches, across Washington, Oregon, Nevada and California, find the president making appeals in once unquestionably blue states where Democratic candidates now find themselves in tight races.

The Senate race in California, along with similar elections across the nation, stand to make or break Obama’s legacy. With his approval rating falling lower by the month, opponents of the administration maintain that little has been accomplished since Obama’s inauguration. Even some former supporters are disillusioned by his “politics as usual.”

Occidental student Aja Sanneh (sophomore) attended the event. “[The Obama Administration] realized that they lost a big base from people who voted in 2008, so they are trying to get those people back,” Sanneh said.

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