Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Sen. Barack Obama gave a 30-minute speech in Vinton, Iowa, on Thursday before a crowd of about 300. During the speech he said that some had questioned his experience. Without naming them, he called out his opponents in the presidential race on the subject of experience and Washington beltway “seasoning”:
“You can have the right kind of experience and the wrong kind of experience. Mine is rooted in the real lives of real people, and it will bring real results if we just have the courage to change. I believe deeply in those words, but I have to admit those words are not originally mine. They were actually Bill Clinton’s in 1991 and 1992. …”
More videos from Obama’s speech in Vinton are below the fold.
Retired Gen. Tony McPeak, former chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller were also at the event, supporting the presidential bid of the Illinois senator.
A live interview with Wolf Blitzer was broadcast to the standing-room-only crowd before Obama took the stage.
Obama acknowledged his staff and supporters before beginning his speech. The speech took two familiar paths, addressing the experience of others compared to his own and the longtime Obama campaign theme of change. At one point, he asked, “Who can actually deliver change?” and continued:
“You can’t argue that you should be elected because you are the master of the broken system in Washington that’s not working for the American people and yet offer yourself as the person best able to bring about change.”
He also answered critics who have said he needs to show more anger about current U.S. politics: “We don’t need more heat; we need more light,” in Washington, D.C.
He reminded the audience of his work as a professor of constitutional law. “I will be a president who has taught the Constitution, who believes the Constitution and will obey the Constitution of the United States of America,” he said, and finished his speech with a passionate defense of his “hopeful” campaign theme:
“This is our moment; this is our time. … I believe that if you stand with me in seven days, if you will stand for change so that our children have the same opportunities that we had, if you stand to keep the American dream alive for those who still hunger for justice, who still thirst for opportunity, if you refuse to accept what the cynics tell you you have to settle for and instead reach for what we know is possible, then I believe that we will win this caucus, and we will win this election, and we will change the course of our country’s history. … And I have no doubt that we can begin that journey right now.”
Obama will continue his campaign throughout Iowa until the caucuses on Thursday.
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