At Crunchtime, Clinton and Obama Make Their Final Appeals

Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton stumped throughout Prince George's County this week in last-ditch efforts to sway voters before Tuesday's historic, high-stakes primary election in Maryland, Virginia and the District.

Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) drew a raucous crowd of more than 20,000 supporters of all ages to the University of Maryland in College Park on Monday afternoon. The doors swung open at 10:30 a.m., and people flowed in, dancing to Motown hits blaring on the audio system, doing the wave, chanting the candidate's name and displaying placards with his slogans, such as "Change We Can Believe In" and "Yes We Can!"

Christine Easterling, 57, a retired D.C. school vice principal, wore a pink-and-green sweatshirt, the colors of her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, emblazoned with a picture of Obama and his name in bold print.

"I support him because he has lived a lot of what other Americans have lived," she said. Obama was born to an interracial couple (his mother was white; his father was African), abandoned by his father at a young age and raised primarily by his mother and maternal grandparents.

As the crowd waited for Obama to go onstage, a group of four young, black men sat and talked quietly near the stage. They were: Anthony Lewis, 20, of Upper Marlboro; Malcolm Wells, 21, and Enrique Monges, 22, both of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Malcolm Ray, 22, of Queens, N.Y., all engineering students who said they had never before taken an interest in politics. But all four said they planned to vote for Obama on Tuesday.

Lewis said Obama has awakened hope in him, when so much of what he sees as a young, black man is negative.

"I actually believe that this black man is going to be the next president of the United States," he said, smiling. "He's very motivational. I really, really believe in him."

Ray said some of his friends were afraid to vote for Obama because they worry about his safety if he is elected.

"I tell them they can't think like that, that we have to support him," Ray said. "We have to make sure that he knows we are with him so he will stay motivated and keep his eye on what he needs to do for the country."

In a 45-minute speech, Obama promised to unify the country, improve education, provide health care to all Americans and end the nation's involvement in the war in Iraq. He said he is running for president now, instead of waiting, "because of something Dr. King called 'the urgency of now.' "

Obama thanked the event's organizers and his Maryland campaign team, including Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D), co-chairmen of Maryland for Obama. Then, Obama worked the crowd, members of which had stood the entire time he was onstage.

"Thank you so much!" Obama said. "Wow! Look at this crowd! It looks like we're having March Madness a little early. Terrapins are all excited!"

Before the event, Cummings told reporters that Obama's success can be attributed to his ability to unify people from all walks of life.

"This is a movement," Cummings said. "You don't get 20,000 people wrapped around a building on a cold morning for a campaign. It just doesn't happen. This is much more than that."

Supporters of Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) were out in full force in the county throughout the week, too, working telephone banks and canvassing from malls to neighborhood parks.

Maryland Department of Aging Secretary Gloria G. Lawlah stopped by beauty and barber shops on Clinton's behalf Saturday. Lawlah (D) said she admires Obama but was drawn to Clinton by her experience and strength.

"I never believed that in my lifetime, 40 years after [Martin Luther King's] death, that we would have a black man and a woman running for the highest office in the land," Lawlah said. "This is a dream come true and something for all of us to take pride in."

Clinton gave a rousing speech at Bowie State University on Sunday night to an excited crowd of about 1,000 supporters who came from as far away as Westminster, Md.

"Maryland gets the chance to pick a president, and it matters this year more than ever, and everybody will be watching," she told them, referring to the tight battle for delegates. In most past presidential primaries, the Democratic candidate had been a foregone conclusion by the time Maryland, Virginia and D.C. voters had gotten to the polls.

In the overwhelmingly white and female crowd at Bowie State, Gary McCoy, an African American from Upper Marlboro, and his daughter Demi, 15, were in the minority. McCoy said he will vote for Clinton because she is the better choice. He said he has always been impressed by Clinton's call for universal health care.

"Obama's message is based on inspiration," McCoy said. "His substance on the issues at hand have not been spelled out."

Alexander Sharp, 10, of Westminster, spent his birthday with his mother, Valerie, pushing for Clinton, their favorite candidate. He held a sign that read, "Go Hilary. It's My Birthday & I'm Here to See the Next President."

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) and County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) joined Clinton at the Bowie event. So did former county executive Wayne K. Curry (D), who earlier in the day had stumped for Clinton with her husband, former president Bill Clinton at Greater Mount Nebo AME Church in Bowie.