Rice calls on students to vote for change
Posted on February 11, 2008
Dr. Susan Rice, made a pit stop at JMU Saturday morning while riding the campaign trail with Barack Obama. Rice, Obama’s foreign policy advisor addressed dozens of students and community members while Obama was in Richmond for the Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson Jackson Day dinner.
The Oxford graduate expressed her commitment to the Obama campaign to garner support for the presidential candidate. She said she believes Obama has the ability to unite the country, as he has already drawn record numbers of young voters to the polls and doubled voter turnout in many states. Rice thinks Obama’s sharp judgment and exhaustive professional and life experience give him an advantage over his opponents.
“I’ve never been more excited about anything I’ve ever worked on in my life,” she said.
Rice noted that the inherent difference in this campaign versus the others she has worked on is that everyone participating in Obama’s campaign is doing so because they wholeheartedly believe in the cause.
In the last six weeks, Rice traveled to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, New Mexico, Utah and Georgia, where she canvassed, knocking on doors to encourage people to vote and to gather support for Obama.
Rice said that the six most recent polls show Obama defeating McCain if the presidential election was held today. She added Obama would win by a much larger margin than Clinton, which she said is necessary for uniting a country and achieving change.
“Barack Obama is all about the politics of addition rather than the politics of division,” Rice said.
She said this means captivating not only Democrats, but also Independents and Republicans to create real change.
Rice said that if Obama is sworn in as president next January, the world will take note. Other countries will see our growth and have a newfound respect for our country.
“College campuses are crucial for us,” Rice said urging students to vote and bring friends to the polls Tuesday.
Although many of the people attending the lecture Saturday morning were clear supporters of Obama, others were critical. They had tough questions involving the current state of Iraq, allocating finances and possible future threats such as Russia.
Rice ended with a strong message.
“You all get to decide,” she said. “You all get to go to the polls on Tuesday and decide if we’re going back to the future... or if you want fundamental profound and visionary change.
Rice served as John Kerry’s foreign policy adviser during the 2004 presidential election, and was assistant secretary of state for African Affairs from 1997 to 2001. She was also special assistant to President Clinton and the Senior Director of African American Affairs at the National Security Council from 1995 to 1997.
