This morning Indianapolis Star reporter Matthew Tully wrote about Barack's appearance at Tully's childhood home of Gary Indiana, one of the most economically depressed cities in the country.
If ever a city needed the kind of hope and rebirth presidential candidates love to talk about, here it is. This Northwest Indiana city, with its massive steel mill and equally massive problems, welcomed Sen. Barack Obama, our latest messenger of hope, to a high school with a 41 percent graduation rate Thursday morning. "I'm running because of what Dr. King called the fierce urgency of now," the Democrat from Illinois told a crowd of about 2,500. "Because I believe there's such a thing as being too late, and that hour is almost upon us." He was talking about the United States. He could have been talking about Gary. Obama's visit came less than a month before the May 6 primary, and roughly 40 years after this once-thriving steel town began its sad and relentless slide into one of America's most depressed and crime-ridden cities. … If you spend much time in Gary, you might find yourself wondering if anything can save the city. Still, there's something about Gary that tugs at me. I guess that's how it is with cities you lived in as a child. Twenty-eight years after my family moved out, when I was 10 years old, it's still home. And it's sad to see your home in disrepair. That's why Obama's message registers strongly here. "Every child is our child," he said, sending the crowd into a Beatles-like frenzy. "Every child is our obligation. Every child deserves a better future." … Obama talked of a program to help both at-risk students and the "at-risk parents" who are raising them. He talked about his plan to invest in much-needed infrastructure improvements across the nation, something he said would create jobs that can't be sent overseas. Talking about the lagging economy, he said, "I don't have to tell you about that here in Gary, Indiana." Indeed, he didn't. If you want to understand the economy here, drive north on Broadway, past the empty shells that once housed great businesses. Eventually, you'll bump into U.S. Steel Gary Works. It once provided good-paying jobs for just about anyone who wanted one. It hasn't been that way for years. For decades, decent jobs have been hard to come by here. It's one reason so many people are so willing to listen to a message of hope.Read the full article
If ever a city needed the kind of hope and rebirth presidential candidates love to talk about, here it is. This Northwest Indiana city, with its massive steel mill and equally massive problems, welcomed Sen. Barack Obama, our latest messenger of hope, to a high school with a 41 percent graduation rate Thursday morning. "I'm running because of what Dr. King called the fierce urgency of now," the Democrat from Illinois told a crowd of about 2,500. "Because I believe there's such a thing as being too late, and that hour is almost upon us." He was talking about the United States. He could have been talking about Gary. Obama's visit came less than a month before the May 6 primary, and roughly 40 years after this once-thriving steel town began its sad and relentless slide into one of America's most depressed and crime-ridden cities. … If you spend much time in Gary, you might find yourself wondering if anything can save the city. Still, there's something about Gary that tugs at me. I guess that's how it is with cities you lived in as a child. Twenty-eight years after my family moved out, when I was 10 years old, it's still home. And it's sad to see your home in disrepair. That's why Obama's message registers strongly here. "Every child is our child," he said, sending the crowd into a Beatles-like frenzy. "Every child is our obligation. Every child deserves a better future." … Obama talked of a program to help both at-risk students and the "at-risk parents" who are raising them. He talked about his plan to invest in much-needed infrastructure improvements across the nation, something he said would create jobs that can't be sent overseas. Talking about the lagging economy, he said, "I don't have to tell you about that here in Gary, Indiana." Indeed, he didn't. If you want to understand the economy here, drive north on Broadway, past the empty shells that once housed great businesses. Eventually, you'll bump into U.S. Steel Gary Works. It once provided good-paying jobs for just about anyone who wanted one. It hasn't been that way for years. For decades, decent jobs have been hard to come by here. It's one reason so many people are so willing to listen to a message of hope.
Read the full article
You can watch highlights from Barack's speech in Gary, and you can read Barack's plan to strengthen the economy in cities and towns across America.
And if you live in Indiana, you can cast your vote for change today. Early voting is underway now, and all registered voters are eligible to participate in the Democratic primary. Find your early vote location now.
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