What has he done for the Great State of Illinois?
ATLANTA - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Monday he doesn't just want to win the White House - he wants a mandate. And that includes competing in Georgia, a state that hasn't awarded its delegates to a Democrat in 16 years.
"I intend to win right here in the great state of Georgia," Mr. Obama told some 300 donors.
They had paid a minimum of $2,300 apiece and crowded into the upscale Atlanta restaurant 103 West to hear him speak. It was the first of two Atlanta fundraisers the Illinois senator headlined Monday night to stock his campaign war chest for the coming general election battle with Republican John McCain.
Mr. Obama evoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his hometown, warning Democrats not to forget "the fierce urgency of now."
"We want a mandate for change and we're not just going to run in the same old states and have just everything hinge on Florida," Mr. Obama said.
He will host a town hall today on the economy in the GOP stronghold of Cobb County.
Georgia Republicans went on the attack against Mr. Obama before he'd arrived in the state. In a conference call with reporters, Georgia's two U.S. senators - both Republicans - blasted the Illinois senator on taxes, gas prices and the war in Iraq.
Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson said Georgians need to know about Mr. Obama's voting record, which they allege is out of step with many of the state's voters. The Georgia Republican Party also issued a blistering press release taking aim at Mr. Obama's decision to forgo public financing for his campaign .
Mr. Isakson predicted Monday that Mr. McCain would carry Georgia. He said the Obama camp is touching down in the state in a futile attempt to engineer a win in Dixie.
"I think they would like nothing better than to crack a Southern state," Mr. Isakson said.
Mr. Obama on Monday also received a plug from Georgia Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Vernon Jones , who praised him for battling in the state unlike some previous Democratic presidential candidates "who wrote the South off."
Comments
What has he done for the Great State of Illinois?
Are Saxby Special Interest Chambliss's big spending, big government, pro immigration ways out of step with Georgia Voters? How about $473,000,000 for race horses, Are you really happy about helping rich horse owners out? Term limit Chambliss..
Well Ga. it is time to step up to the plate--oops dont' have that kind of money well then come on in Obama has said he is not going to look to the public for campaign financing so the dinner is free..."Oh okay let's take that one back", says Obama, "just tell the press overlook what I said in the beginning it was a slip of the tongue"....:-)
We will probably see Obama in Augusta as well. He's forcing McSame to spend money here. Obama's got the dough and the votes. Poor old Republicans just better get ready because a change is gonna' come.
Yes i hope the urban centers in columbus, augusta, savannah, macon, and atlanta. Come out strong and in record numbers for obama. Georgia, virginia, and north carolina. No more republican stronghold for the south.
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