TERRE HAUTE — Local politicians and leaders of the democratic party were out in force Saturday to support Barack Obama during his visit to Terre Haute.
After Obama’s remarks, several commented on Indiana’s role as a potential battleground in the general election in November.
Indiana State Sen. Tim Skinner (D-38), a longtime high school teacher in West Terre Haute, said he sees Obama’s campaign as a chance for real change in the country.
“We’ve got some real opportunities here,” Skinner said. “The whole time he was standing there talking, I just kept thinking about the situation we’re in now, and it’s sad. Corporate America is wallowing in some of the biggest profits in history, and middle America, and low-income America can’t afford the very basic things in life. That’s a tragedy, that’s not what this country’s all about.”
As for Obama’s education policy, Skinner said he thinks Obama is “on the right track, he’s right on the money.
“No Child Left Behind, it sounds good when you take a look at it, but when you take a look at the application of it, it doesn’t help the kids it’s supposed to help. The only thing I would suggest if I could talk to him personally is to scrap the whole thing and start over.”
Skinner said he applauds Obama’s effort to include educators in reforming education policy.
“That should have been done a long time ago … educators are the least consulted people when it comes to education — it’s almost like they don’t want to hear what we’ve got to say, and we’re the ones who work with these kids every day, we know what the problems are,” Skinner said. He added, “We’ve got thoughts on how we can fix it — we just don’t have the clout to do it.”
Indiana State Representatives Clyde Kersey (D-43) and Vern Tincher (D-46) also weighed in.
Kersey said he recently learned from the Obama campaign that if the senator wins all the states that Democratic candidate John Kerry won in the 2004 general election, as well as the state of Iowa, he will be just 11 electoral votes shy of winning.
“Indiana has 11 [electoral votes],” Kersey said, “And all the polls indicate that he’s doing well in Indiana.
“We haven’t voted for a democrat candidate since 1964,” Kersey added, “I think [Obama] thinks it’s a battleground state, and I think he thinks he can win it … I think he has a real good chance.”
Kersey said the Illinois senator is pushing for a strong Get Out the Vote campaign in the Hoosier state, relying on young supporters to get out and knock on doors.
As for Obama’s speech Saturday, Kersey said, “I thought he was just outstanding. He connected so well with the crowd … He talked about people having budget problems, having to pay some bills and not some others, he talked about people losing their homes, he talked about health care, he talked about all those things that I think the audience related so well to. He’s just a remarkable speaker.”
Tincher agreed with Kersey, saying, “He has some great ideas of moving our country forward, making change from eight years of the Bush administration.”
As for Indiana’s role as a battleground, Tincher said, “I believe the Obama campaign believes that Indiana is in play in this election, and it could be the winning margin.”
He added, “Obama’s time in the Illinois senate and in the U.S. senate certainly qualifies him to lead our country.”
Another local Democrat, the township trustee and assessor for Linton Township, as well as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, Bionca Gambill attended Obama’s speech Saturday and worked as a volunteer for the campaign.
She spoke about Indiana’s role in the general election, saying the state will play an instrumental part in how the nation goes on election day.
“We are a battleground state,” she said. “Vigo County has been notoriously known as a bellwether county,” she added. “As Vigo County goes, so goes the nation.”
“For the most part, Indiana tends to go ‘R’ nationally,” Gambill continued, “but because there is so much at stake, we want to change that ‘R’ into a ‘D.’”
Deb Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.kelly@tribstar.com.
