Women 'falling for Obama'

2008-02-12 12:02

College Park, Maryland - You can see it in their flushed-face smiles and hear it in their screams. They say the phenomenon is difficult to describe, but once they experience it they tell their friends, sisters, mothers and daughters, and they come back for more if they can.

"He's very charismatic. It was a 'you-had-to-be-there' kind of experience," said Lolita Breckenridge, 37, after hearing Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama address a packed rally at the University of Maryland on Monday.

A dedicated supporter, she brought two of her friends to hear the Illinois senator deliver one of his much-talked-about speeches.

"Not too much of the speech was new to me," she admitted. "But hearing him live..." she trailed off, shaking her head and grinning.

When Obama addressed the crowd of 16 000 on the eve of primaries which he is tipped to win in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, he carried himself with his habitual worldly confidence, interspersed talk of foreign policy with recollections of his childhood and even poked political fun at his Republican adversaries.

He did not flinch when women screamed as he was in mid-sentence, and even broke off once to answer a female's cry of "I love you Obama!" with a reassuring: "I love you back."

The 46-year-old son of a white American mother and black Kenyan father repeated his platform of ending the war in Iraq, offering tuition credit for students and providing health care for all Americans, drawing repeated standing ovations during the hour-long rally.

In contrast to Obama's schedule which included a second arena-sized appearance in Baltimore on Monday, his rival Senator Hillary Clinton held a series of low key talks, including a guest lecture at the University of Virginia and a tour of a General Motors plant.

'Party Like a Barack Star'

The former first lady's discrete approach to voters in Washington and bordering states appeared to acknowledge her likely defeat there, amid questions over her campaign's stability after a sudden shake-up saw her top advisor stepped aside.

With Obama surging after a series of key wins last week, supporters eager for a chance to see him in the flesh braved freezing temperatures and filed politely into a near interminable line that stretched all the way across campus.

Ahead of Obama's speech, hip-hop music blared across the sports arena and fans held up signs that read "Barack My World" and "Party Like a Barack Star". Afterward, supporters were eager to talk about the experience.

For Karen Ruffin, 42, hearing him speak of his hope for the country was "inspiring, full of hope and phenomenal".

She said she felt some pangs of regret for not supporting Clinton, who early on was tipped to gain the women's vote.

"I was undecided in the beginning but after hearing a few speeches I gradually moved toward him," Ruffin said.

Her friend Tyra Simpkins, 37, said she has always rooted for Obama.

"I think he has a lot of momentum and I'm really excited about his health care plan, I know he's going to do a lot of great things for people with disabilities," said Simpkins, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

'My grandparents like Hillary...'

His speech "made me glad to be an American again".

Obama, who has been endorsed by Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, brother of the late John and Robert Kennedy, often quotes the famous family in his speeches and did so again on Monday.

"John F Kennedy said we can never negotiate out of fear, but we can never fear to negotiate," Obama said, vowing to shut down the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, end the war in Iraq as well as "the mindset that got us into war".

For student Rachel Niederer, 21, it was Obama's way with words that swayed her to his side.

"I love listening to his speeches," she said.

Asked if she had any university friends who were backing Clinton, she answered: "My grandparents like Hillary. I don't know anyone (my age) who does."

Retired Washington native Marty Lallis, 61, said Obama reminded her of Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, five years after his brother and the same year as Dr Martin Luther King, Jnr was gunned down.

"I was just as excited by Robert F Kennedy when I was a teenager. I feel the same excitement for Obama. Maybe a little bit more because I am more mature," she said.

"Every time I hear him speak I become more hopeful and more sure that he would be the best president we could have," she said. "He makes you feel like he's talking to you especially."

- AFP