On Oct. 30, President Barack Obama rallied students, community members and other supporters to encourage the city to get out and vote on Nov. 2.
“The fact of the matter is we are in a difficult election,” Obama said, asking that everyone vote and get everyone they know to vote so his administration could continue to progress, he said.
“So the key right now is not just to show up here, is not just to listen to speeches, it’s to go out there and do the hard work that’s going to be required to bring this home over the last few days,” Obama said.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato and senatorial candidate Joe Sestak joined the rally to further inspire canvassers to knock on doors and call local supporters to vote Democrat.
“There’s so much at stake,” Onorato said. “If you care about quality education, if you care about keeping college affordable, so you don’t have a lifetime of debt, if you care about where this country is going, where this state is going and you care about jobs, these are the issues we’re talking about.”
“So you have to get out and vote,” Onorato said. “There’s too much at stake not to vote, you can make a difference.”
Sestak spoke about the need for additional volunteers during this last weekend before the election.
“We”re asking you to give us your time,” Sestak said. “John F. Kennedy had something wrong, when he said, ‘One man can make a difference and every man should try.’ One man by himself in that White House cannot do it alone.”
The event was the seventh stop of the president’s “Moving America Forward” series, which Obama has held across the nation from Los Angeles to Columbus, Ohio. Obama is hosting all of the events in strictly Democrat counties, which held more than 65 percent of the vote in his 2008 election.
“We want a country where every young person can get a decent education,” Obama said. “And so it is absolutely critical that you go out there and you describe your hopes for the future, especially the young people because this election is not just going to set the stage for the next two years, it’s going to set the stage for the next 10 years.”
Several students from Temple College of Democrats, working for Organizing for America, encouraged people to volunteer their time to canvas before the election.
“I think it’s important for all the students to get out and vote,” said David Lopez, a sophomore political science and philosophy double major. “Especially since if Republicans are running the country Temple could essentially lose a lot of its funding.”
The event saw protest from a group of people who identified as Independents or of other parties. The group came in opposition to big government and universal healthcare.
“A lot of governments programs have helped subsidize education, loans and other things,” N’keya Peters, a sophomore social work major said. “I think that both parties need to talk more about the deficit.”
First Lady Michelle Obama will hold a rally at the University of Pennsylvania on Nov. 1 to end the Democrat campaign efforts before the election.
Connor Showalter can be reached at connor.showalter@temple.edu.
Former President Bill Clinton compared Republicans to a football coach fired after several losing seasons who demands his job back after the new coach posts a winning record but still hasn’t won a championship.
It’s well known that democracy & technology shape the future of a nation.
Let’s give Democrats a chance to make headway.
Former President Bill Clinton said “It took me four years to balance the budget, then I gave you four surpluses, paid $600 billion down on the national debt,”
And I’d say : It took 8 years for the Bush mishandling to get a final verdict.
Let’s not fall for the outrageous claim : Heal the 8 year-long chronic disease quickly, but do not see a doctor, adding to the deficit.