Utahns cheer Obama at a rally in Park City
Demo says it's time to get the U.S. out of Iraq
The Illinois senator originally planned only to attend a private fund-raiser at the home of a Park City supporter during the few hours he spent in Utah between campaign events in Atlanta and Elko, Nev.
But that would have made him the only contender for the White House in 2008 so far to have come to the state without making any contact with Utahns, either directly or through the media.
So his campaign, which had already intended to have the senator stop briefly en route to the fund-raiser to deliver a brief pep talk to a handful of members of Utahns for Obama, quickly put together a rally outside the Park City Visitors Center.
Obama told the Deseret Morning News afterwards that his reception in the state was wonderful and that the turnout at what he called a "sort of spontaneous" rally made it worth stopping.
"This is part of what gives you energy in a campaign, seeing all these folks who are so eager for change. You know, it reminds you why you do what you do," the senator said as he shook hands and signed autographs.
With only limited notice, the senator managed to attract a crowd estimated at about 500 that included children and even a few dogs at the visitors center's parking lot just off State Route 224 near Kimball Junction.
Jaime Sisk, who lives nearby, said she found out about the event after her husband noticed the rally. Sisk described Obama as charismatic but said she'd yet to make up her mind. "It certainly helps," though, she said, to be able to hear a candidate in person.
Her daughter, Blair, 11, shook Obama's hand. "I was just kind of excited 'cause I think since I'm a kid, meeting people who are running for president will give me ideas for what I'm supposed to expect when I'm older and voting," she said, adding Obama had good ideas.
In what turned into the first public rally held in Utah by a presidential candidate this election, Obama spoke for nearly a half-hour about his views on a number of issues, including health care, education, the environment and, of course, the war in Iraq.
Dressed in dark suit pants and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and no necktie, he repeatedly drew cheers, especially when he reminded the crowd that he had always opposed the war and would end it quickly.
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