Sen. Barack Obama rallied a capacity crowd at Reunion Arena midday Wednesday only hours after winning his 10th contest in a row. Despite suffering from a cold – he stopped halfway through his speech to blow his nose – Obama brought the diverse Dallas audience to its feet numerous times.
Obama delivered his usual stump speech with a few notable exceptions. He sharpened his rhetoric against primary rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, calling her the candidate of yesterday and himself the candidate of change.
“Today, Senator Clinton told us there is a choice in this race, and I couldn’t agree with her more,” Obama said.
“But contrary to what she was saying, it’s not a choice between speeches and solutions. It’s a choice between the politics of divisions and distractions that did not work in South Carolina, that did not work in Wisconsin and that will not work in Texas – or a new politics of common sense, of common purpose, shared sacrifices, shared prosperity.”
Obama also singled out the opponent he would face as the Democratic nominee, Sen. John McCain. He said an election between him and McCain would be about who has the most experience in Washington or who can change Washington.
“It’s about going into the general election campaign with Republicans and independents united against us or going in with a campaign that has already united all Americans around an agenda for change,” Obama said.
But the jabs were the exception to the rule for Obama, filling the rest of his speech with the uplifting prose that he has become known for.
“I am running because of what Dr. King called ‘the fierce urgency of now,'” Obama said. “I believe there’s such a thing as being too late. That hour is almost upon us.”
Supporters started arriving at Reunion Arena as early as 4 a.m. to get a seat inside, even though the doors weren’t scheduled to open until 10:30 a.m.
Shalonda Marcus, 36, of Dallas had never attended a rally for a presidential candidate until Wednesday. She arrived at 4:30 a.m. to beat the crowds and support her candidate.
“I figured time didn’t matter, I just wanted to be here,” Marcus said. “I wanted to make sure I got a good seat and to make sure that I was a part of what’s going on today.”
Lines snaked around the side of the arena, through the parking garage and into the parking lot behind the Dallas Convention Center. Reunion Arena officials had to shut the doors when the crowd hit its capacity of 17,000. Nearly 500 people were unable to come inside. The event was scheduled to begin at noon, but did not get underway until just before 1 p.m.
Former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk warmed up the crowd before Obama took the stage and tried to dismiss concerns about the candidate’s toughness, saying he could take the punches.
“A little, skinny kid with big ears and a name that rhymes with yo mama – you better believe he knows a thing or two about fighting,” Kirk said.
Kirk also introduced a surprise guest to the crowd – former Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith. The NFL’s all-time leading rusher took the stage and told the crowd that he was made for the moment of introducing Obama to his adopted hometown.
“This moment means so much to me because now is the time to stand up for what I believe in,” Smith said. “If you believe in change, you vote Barack Obama!”
