Obama Draws Cheers at NAACP Convention

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, standing next to Sen. John Edwards, gives her opening remarks before the delegates at the NAACP convention in Detroit, Thursday, July 12, 2007. All leading Democratic presidential candidates were present. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) (Carlos Osorio - AP)

DETROIT -- Presidential hopeful Barack Obama drew the loudest cheers of the eight Democratic candidates at a civil rights forum Thursday as he assailed the Bush administration's record on race relations.

The candidates shared the stage at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's 98th annual convention. Obama, seeking to become the first black president, drew the strongest applause from the 3,000 people at the event.

"I know what you know, which is that despite all the progress that has been made we still have more work to do," said the first-term Illinois senator.

Black voters are a core party constituency. Candidates are in a fierce struggle to capture their support and are refusing to cede it to Obama. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the front-runner, enjoys strong support in the black community and is married to former President Clinton, who was wildly popular among black voters. John Edwards has won praise from black leaders for his commitment to fighting poverty.

After the forum, Fox News microphones picked up Clinton and Edwards discussing their desire to limit future joint appearances to exclude some rivals lower in the crowded field. "We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group," Edwards said.

Clinton agreed. "We've got to cut the number. ... They're not serious," she said, then thanked Obama and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich as they walked by. Turning back to Edwards, she added that she thought their campaigns had already tried to limit the debates and "we've gotta get back to it."

Obama's performance was the first time he has managed to outshine Clinton in a candidate's forum. That includes last month's debate at Howard University, a historically black college in the nation's capital.

At the forum, each candidate responded to five questions from NAACP delegates on topics including health care, gun violence and voting rights.

All the candidates were warmly welcomed in Detroit. Even before Obama spoke, the crowd at Cobo Center was clearly in his corner.

Obama derided President Bush's commutation of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison term, noting black men routinely serve time.

"We know we have more work to do when Scooter Libby gets no prison time and a 21-year-old honor student, who hadn't even committed a felony, gets 10 years in prison," Obama said.

Aides said Obama was referring to Genarlow Wilson, a Georgia man serving a 10-year prison sentence for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17. A judge last month ordered Wilson to be freed, but prosecutors are blocking the order.