MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2010


KLMNO


EZ SU POLITICS & THE NATION Obama’s midterm message: Support the party like it’s 2008


RALLY TARGETS YOUTHVOTE


His electionwas ‘just the start,’ president says


BY NIA-MALIKAHENDERSON


philadelphia — President Obamapressedhis case Sunday to a crowd that packed into a park here, urging themto defy the con- ventional wisdom that they will not showupat thepolls inNovem- ber thewaytheydidtwoyearsago. “I want everybody to under-


stand our victory in that cam- paign,” he said. “That wasn’t the end of the road. That was just the beginning of the road. That was just the start of the journey. By itself, it does not deliver the change thatweneed. “I’m back here two years later


because our job is not yet done, andthesuccessofourmissionisat stake right now. On November 2nd, I need you as fired up as you were in 2008, because we’ve got a lot ofwork aheadofus.” Philadelphiahasbeentheback-


drop for pivotal moments in Obama’s political career. It’s where he delivered his race speech, where he had one of his toughest debates against Hillary Rodham Clinton, and where he drew one of his biggest crowds in the days before the presidential


cratic candidates at thepolls. The Philadelphia stop was the


second of four planned rallies; Obama will head to Ohio on Sun- day and to Nevada on Oct. 22. Democrats are locked in tight rac- es inbothstates. “Canwematch the enthusiasm


of the tea party? No. There have been toomany disappointments,” Rendell said. “But one of the old adages is that a tepid vote counts the same as a wildly enthusiastic one.Our job is to generate enough enthusiasm and interest to get people to thepolls.” Askedwhether itwas problem-


atic thatObama is stillworking to shore up the base so close to the election, strategist David Plouffe said, “We would’ve liked to enter Labor Day in a little different place, obviously.” The Senate race in Pennsylva-


JIM YOUNG/REUTERS


“Our job is not yet done, and the success of our mission is at stake right now,” President Obama said at the Philadelphia rally. “OnNovember 2nd, I need you as fired up as you were in 2008.”


election. “We must have seen 80,000 to


100,000 people that day” over multiple stops, Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D) said. “Itwas unbeliev- able.” That was a lifetime ago in poli-


tics.NowRendell,once verypopu- lar and a huge asset in delivering Pennsylvania’s 21 delegates to Obama, has approval ratings in the mid-30s, mirroring Obama’s ratings inthe state. Overall, however, Obama re-


mains popular with his base, and thousands turnedout Sunday. Yet whatever enthusiasm and


loyalty Obama brings, it has not been evident in statewide races. Democratic candidates in Senate andgubernatorial raceshavebeen lagging inpolls forweeks. “I’m not willing to say that the


Democrats cannot win the state- wideraces—Iwon’tgothere,” said G. TerryMadonna,who heads the Center for Politics and Public Af- fairsatFranklinandMarshallCol-


lege and has conducted polls on the contests. “Will theywin?Prob- ablynot.” Obama has tried to close the


enthusiasmgapwiththeGOPover the past fewweeks by re-engaging with the young and urban voters who were critical to his winning presidential campaign. Democrats have been betting


that such rallies, ripped from Obama’s 2008 playbook, will re- mind voters of that enthusiasm and prod them to support Demo-


DIGEST NORTHCAROLINA


Missing girl’s stepmother arrested Police in North Carolina are


searching for a missing 10-year- old disabled girl, and they have arrested her stepmother on un- relatedcharges. Police in Hickory said Zahra


Clare Baker, who is hearing-im- paired and has an artificial leg, was reportedmissing Saturday af- ternoon. Her father and step- mother told police they last saw her sleeping inher bed.


dayonmore thanadozencharges, including


Elisa Baker was arrested Sun- communicating


threats, writing worthless checks, larcenyanddrivingwitharevoked license,police said. —AssociatedPress


NEWYORK


Eight arraigned in anti-gay attacks Eight gang suspects arrested in


connectionwiththe tortureof two teenage boys and a man in an anti-gay attack this month have


beenarraigned. The defendants were expected


to face charges including robbery, assault and unlawful imprison- ment as hate crimes at their ar- raignment Sunday,butno charges were read aloud in court. The de- fendantsdidn’t enterpleas. Police were looking for a ninth


suspect,whohadbeenexpectedto turnhimself inbutdidn’t showup. After themembers of the Latin


KingGoonies gang heard a rumor one of their teenage recruits was gay, they found the teen, stripped him,beathimandsodomizedhim with a plunger handle until he


confessedtohavinghadsexwitha man, police said. The gang mem- bers thenallegedlyfoundasecond teen they suspected was gay and torturedhimandtheman. —AssociatedPress


WASHINGTON


Police: Spiked drinks probably sickened 12 Police foundnodrugsatahome


in central Washington state after 12 young peoplewere sickened by anunknownsubstanceandhospi- talized.Allhave beenreleased.


Police suspect someone spiked


drinks during a party at the home in Roslyn, but they don’t know who might have done it or what theyused. Scott Ferguson, police chief in


nearby Cle Elum, says his depart- mentwillmeetMondaywithother police agencies to coordinate in- terviews with attendees. They are also waiting for toxicology test results. Most of those who were at the


party are students at Central WashingtonUniversity. —AssociatedPress


Auspicious date: Churches, ban- quet halls and otherwedding ven- ues were extra busy Sunday as couples seeking a perfect 10 rushedtotietheknotonaonce-in- a-centurymilestone:Oct. 10,2010. InLasVegas, onemarriage license bureauextendedits Sundayhours from6p.m. tomidnight to accom- modatetherush.Wedding-related businesses said the day was per- haps the most sought-after wed- ding date since July 7, 2007, when the lucky07/07/07markedthe cal- endar. Some 10/10/10 couples evenchose to take their vows at 10 a.m.


—AssociatedPress


nia, which pits Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak againstRepublican Pat Toomey, is inmany ways a stand- in for the national debate. Sestak has linked Toomey to corporate greed and outsourcing. Toomey says Sestak is too close to Obama, linking them to the high unem- ployment rate. ObamawonPennsylvania by 10


percentagepoints in2008,backed heavily in Philadelphia and Pitts- burgh, and picked up support in someRepublicancounties.Demo- crats also gained twoHouse seats, making red congressional dis- tricts blue. But this time those House seats, as well as a few oth- ers, are in play.Democrats hold 12


seats,withtheGOPholdingseven. “If the Democrats lose four


seats, I would say no surprise,” Madonna said. “If they go deeper thanfour inour state, theRepubli- cans will take control of the House.” Obama and Biden know how


importantPennsylvania is to their 2012 reelection bid. Obama has visitedthestateninetimesaspres- ident.Bidenhasmade 15 visits. At times Sunday, the crowd


chanted Obama’s campaign slo- gan, “Yes we can.” The president saiditwashis jobtomake sure the crowdstayedfiredup. “Of course people are frustrat-


ed.Of coursepeople are impatient with the pace of change. And be- lieve me, so am I,” he said during his 30-minute speech. “Nomatter howangry you get, nomatter how frustrated you are, the other side has decided to ride that frustra- tion and anger without offering any solutions.” Aiming to capture some of the


spirit of his 2008 campaign, Obama said that even though his name isn’t on the ballot, and “they’re saying the other party’s supporters aremore enthusiastic, more excited,” he urged his sup- porters to become engaged. “Well, Philadelphia, I think the


pundits are wrong,” he said. “I think we’re going to win, but you’ve got toprove themwrong.” hendersonn@washpost.com


Staffwriter PhilipRucker in Washington contributed to this report.


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