OBAMA TALKS 'REAL CHANGE'

Posted: Saturday, March 01, 2008 5:12 PM
by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Attempting to change the storyline away from national security and “the red-phone” moment that dominated the news coverage yesterday, Obama introduced a new slogan on the stump: “real change.”

Variations on the theme change has been Obama's message and on his banners since Iowa, including: “Stand for change,” “Change you can believe in,” and “Are you ready for change?” “But I want you to understand what real change is,” Obama told the crowd. “Don't be fooled. Real change means saying what you mean and meaning what you say. Real change isn't about fitting the politics of the moment.”

He continued with a series of attacks on Clinton's record, including NAFTA, the bankruptcy bill, the vote to go to war in Iraq and the power of lobbyists and special interests. Obama also tried to paint Clinton as a flip flopper, repeatedly telling the crowd she had changed her positions since she started running for president. “Real change isn't calling NAFTA a victory and saying how good it was for America until you decide to run for President, like Senator Clinton did,” Obama continued before detailing his own positions, saying that he represented “real change” on the issues.

Presenting himself as consistent on NAFTA, he said, “I won't stand here and tell you that I will stop every job from disappearing because of globalization, but I will tell you that I'll be thinking about workers and not just Wall Street when I put together trade agreements. I will end the tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. That is real change. That's change you can count on, because I've been saying this for four, five, six, seven years. I don't just say this during an election.”

Obama has also been complimentary of NAFTA, saying benefitted parts of his home state in Illinois. However, he has also said that the agreement should include labor and environmental protection. Clinton has praised NAFTA in the past, because, like Obama in Illinois, it has helped parts of her state. Both candidates' rhetoric on the issue has heated up since they started campaigning in Ohio, which has lost more than 250,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000.
Obama ended by hitting Clinton on the war, claiming that “real change isn't voting for George Bush's war in Iraq and then telling the American people it was actually a vote for more diplomacy when you start running for President.”

Criticizing Clinton's explanation of her vote to go to war, Obama shouted out to the crowd with former Sen. Lincoln Chaffee sitting in the front row, “I knew what it was. Lincoln Chaffee knew what it was. It was a vote for war. And if Lincoln Chaffee could stand up against this president, he knew what the vote was. Lincoln opposed this war. Many of you opposed this war. That's why I will bring this war to an end when I am president.”

The mention of Chaffee's name appeared to whip the crowd into a frenzy of enthusiasm. Ironic since Rhode Islanders voted Chaffee out of office in 2006, despite his vote against the war. Obama's only point that could be a reference to Clinton's ad from yesterday, when the candidates traded barbs on who was best fit to answer the phone in the White House when it rang at 3 a.m., was to say that he was opposed to “the fever of fear” that employed 9-11 as a “way to scare up votes.”

Instead he referred to Clinton's “clouds parting” comment to claim critics were discrediting his message of “hope.”

A statement issued by Rhode Island College said the event, with an estimated 5,000 people inside the hall and another 5,000 outside, was the state's largest political event since 1996. Back then a rally for President Bill Clinton drew a crowd of 10,000. Obama was introduced by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who told the crowd the candidate's eloquence would be an effective tool to bring about change when he is president.

Obama is not expected to win this bright blue state where the Clintons are immensely popular. However, Clinton's lead has begun to erode in the state, and the large population of college students may help Obama due to better than expected.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/01/721065.aspx

(My bold and highlight)