Obama energizes 13,000 supporters in downtown Richmond

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama told a crowd of 13,000 people Wednesday at the Richmond Coliseum not to be "hoodwinked" by the economic policies of John McCain, whose proposals he said would be a continuation of the Bush administration.

"The question isn't, 'Are you better off now than you were four years ago?'" Obama said. "The question is, 'Are you better off now than you were four weeks ago?'"

Obama, who was introduced by Democratic Gov. Timothy Kaine and former Democratic Gov. Mark Warner, painted a bleak picture of the state of the U.S. economy. America has lost 750,000 jobs in the past year and frozen credit markets were making it harder for businesses to expand, Obama said.

Obama said that the he wanted to fundamentally change America's approach to economic policy to steer the country away from crisis.

"It's time to change eight years of economic policies that put Wall Street before Main Street and ended up hurting both," he said. "We need policies that grow our economy from the bottom up. We need policies that don't just help the ones who run the factory, but for those who work on the factory floor -- not just for the CEO but for the secretary and the janitor."

The campaign has taken on an increasingly negative tone in recent weeks as the McCain campaign continues to attack Obama's policies as socialist and government handouts.

Obama said that McCain's attacks showed that he was out of touch with Americans, who he said did not want to watch two politicians attack each other, but wanted to hear about how they were going to bring relief to middle class families.

Obama said it was true that he wanted to raise corporate taxes to the rates assessed under former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

"Let me ask for a show of hands," Obama said. "How many people here make less than a quarter-million dollars in a year?"

Almost everyone in the crowd raised their hands.

"I was just checking," Obama said, "but John McCain keeps saying I want to [raise your taxes], but I have already said that I will not raise your taxes one dime. I mean, everybody here, looks like everybody is pretty safe."

Obama responded to McCain's recent attacks that have called him a socialist. He said that McCain had denounced the Bush tax cuts in 2000 when they were proposed.

Obama referenced his famous conversation with "Joe the Plumber" -- Ohio plumber Samuel J. Wurzelbacher -- when he said that his tax policy was aimed at "spreading the wealth around."

"I like Joe," Obama said. "All I want to do is give Joe a tax cut. Let's be clear about who John McCain is fighting for. He's not fighting for Joe the Plumber. He is fighting for Joe the hedge-fund manager. It's time to try something new."

Obama said he would invest $15 billion a year in renewable energy and invest in infrastructure. He proposed laying broadband cables in rural America to attract businesses.

"People may ask, 'How are you going to pay for all this?'" Obama said. "You tell them, if we can afford to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq ..."

Obama also spoke about his plan to make college more affordable through community service, telling the large number of young people in the audience that if they would commit to community service or military service, he would make it affordable to go to college.

Obama also responded to suggestions from McCain surrogates and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- McCain's running mate -- that rural and small-town America represented the "real America." Palin made the comments at a fundraiser in North Carolina last week and apologized for them during an interview that aired on CNN Tuesday.

"There are no real parts of the country or fake parts of the country, there are no pro-American parts of the country and anti-American parts of the country. We all love this country."

The comments from Palin were seen as a slight against a large percentage of Obama supporters who live in urban areas. During the primaries, Obama gathered a large number of votes in cities including Philadelphia, but struggled to get the blue-collar vote in more rural and small-town areas of Pennsylvania and other states.

The Richmond area is fertile soil for the Obama campaign. Obama garnered approximately 70 percent of the vote in the city of Richmond, Richmond County and Henrico County combined during Virginia's February primary. In the city of Richmond, he received nearly 80 percent of the vote.

Obama's campaign officials have appeared on cable news shows and the campaign trail warning voters about overconfidence in light of his nearly 7-point lead in the national polls, according to pollster.com. Obama warned supporters in Richmond that the next 13 days would be difficult.

"In just 13 days, we can finally bring the change we need to Washington," Obama said. "Now that's the good news. But, we're going to have to work, we're going to have to fight, and struggle for each of the next 13 days to turn this country in a new direction."

The event started an hour late. Obama volunteers attempted to keep the crowd enthused. Obama volunteer Erik Fox, 16, performed break dancing on the Coliseum floor and 16-year-old James Wallace helped bolster the crowd's enthusiasm by dancing.

Fox said he had been volunteering for a couple of weeks and had been interested in the campaign for two years ever since he went to a rally for Sen. Jim Webb, where Obama introduced him.

"We can't vote," Fox said. "But we can get the adults to vote. That's what kids are for -- to get people excited and energized."

Wallace said that he had canvassed much of the West End of Richmond in recent days.

"I've been chased and had doors slammed in my face, but I'm still excited to be part of it," he said.

Contact staff writer David Larter at david.larter@richmond.edu