With hope and change as his battle cry, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama came to a city in need of both Thursday, two days ahead of Louisiana's suddenly significant Democratic presidential primary.
The Illinois senator, fresh off a strong Super Tuesday showing that left him in a dead heat with U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for the party's nomination, started his speech at Tulane University by highlighting signs of New Orleans' resiliency: the Endymion parade's return to Mid-City, the streetcar back on its traditional Uptown route, even the Super Bowl success of New Orleans native Eli Manning.
The only major presidential candidate scheduled to appear in Louisiana before Saturday, Obama also told a crowd of about 3,500 supporters that it will take change in Washington for New Orleans to recover. He pledged that if elected, he would restructure FEMA and make sure there is enough money to protect the area from future storms.
"I promise you that when I'm in the White House I will commit myself every day to keeping up Washington's end of this trust. ... And I will make it clear to members of my administration that their responsibilities don't end in places like the 9th Ward -- they begin there," he said.
With the two senators in a tight battle for delegates, at stake in Saturday's primary are 37 of the state's 67 Democratic delegates to the party's convention this fall. The Democrats apportion those delegates based on the popular vote in each of the state's seven congressional districts. The rest are named by party officials or by the Democratic State Central Committee, the party's governing body.
On Thursday, the energy was palpable as a crowd of mostly college students lined up outside Fogelman Arena before dawn to await Obama's arrival. With a line stretched across campus and down Willow Street, hundreds were unable to get in, so Obama stopped briefly to speak to a crowd of about 500 gathered outside.
Under the din of "Yes we can" chants and cries of "I love you, Barack," Obama made his case as the leading agent of change, not by contrasting himself with Clinton, but by focusing on the Bush administration's failures after Hurricane Katrina. The speech's first big cheers erupted when Obama made reference to Bush's flyover to view Katrina's destruction, calling it a "metaphor for his entire presidency."
The senator said that as much as he would like his positions and oratory to inspire people, many of his supporters are driven simply by knowing that "George W. Bush's name won't be on the ballot."
Obama got another loud response when he took shots at Bush's appointment of Michael Brown, who had no emergency management experience, as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Obama promised that his FEMA director would report directly to the president, as was the case before Bush took office and placed the position under the Office of Homeland Security. "No more Brownie, no more heads of the Arabian Horse Association in charge of FEMA," he said.
George Kobitz of Covington, toting an "Obamacan" sign -- a contraction of "Obama Republican" -- lumped Clinton in with Bush as part of the old guard that has to go. "I've been a Republican all my life, and this Bush thing didn't go over very well. If it was just Clinton, I would stay a Republican and vote for (Arizona Sen. John) McCain, but Obama's about change," said Kobitz, who drove to Tulane before sunrise to catch the speech. "The Bush-Clinton era is over. We're sick of it."
Norman Francis, president of Xavier University led Obama's tour of the city Thursday and was wowed by his speech. "The speech was tremendous for New Orleans," he said. "He covered all the bases. The enthusiasm for him was unbelievable. There is a clear inspirational side of his delivery, and his message totally energizes young people."
Obama also focused on post-Katrina education needs in New Orleans, touring George Washington Carver Elementary School in the Upper 9th Ward. Walking through the cluster of temporary trailers behind a public school bus depot, he learned about the Recovery School District's challenges from an old friend, Superintendent Paul Vallas, who once ran the schools in Obama's hometown of Chicago. "Superintendent Vallas tells me that, ironically, even though these are transitional buildings, in many ways they're superior to the buildings that existed before the storm," Obama remarked as he paused in a makeshift gym -- essentially a double-wide trailer with a large open floor space. He spent more than 30 minutes there, asking teachers and administrators about their needs and taking questions from wide-eyed students.
Obama spent more than half the day in New Orleans before stopping in at Dooky Chase's restaurant in Treme for a lunch of chicken, sausage and shrimp gumbo with the restaurant's 85-year-old owner, Leah Chase.
"You're too frail, baby. I have to fatten you up," Chase said to the lean Obama.
Chase, who is struggling to get her iconic restaurant back to full strength after Katrina, said she likes Obama, even though she's always been close with President Bush. In explaining her change in allegiance, she summed up the message Obama hopes voters take to heart.
"Things move along, things change," she said.
contributions by David Hammer, times picayune staff writer, staff writers John Pope and Ed Anderson, and The Associated Press. David Hammer can be reached at dhammer@.com or (504)826-3322
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