Obama Pitches Undecided Voters in Iowa by Christopher Wills (AP)
Barack Obama sealed the deal Saturday with Hal Geren.
Geren entered an Obama campaign event unsure of whom to support in next week's Iowa caucuses. He left as an Obama backer, convinced that the Illinois senator has what it takes to win the election and shake up Washington.
"I think he's a lot tougher than people think," said Geren, a 56-year-old postal service employee. "He's not afraid to stand up."
Obama spent much of Saturday courting undecided Iowa voters with an argument that he has the political skills to win the presidential election but none of the baggage carried by Democratic rivals John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton. He boasted that a recent poll showed he could beat the five major Republican candidates, while Edwards or Clinton could not.
"Part of the problem John Edwards would have in a general election is that the issues he's taking out now are not the things he was saying four years ago, which always causes problems in the general election," Obama told about 400 people at a Keokuk high school. "And Senator Clinton doesn't beat all five of them because you start out with half the country not wanting to vote for her."
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The Illinois senator also rejected arguments that he's too nice or too inexperienced to fight special interests in Washington. Obama said listening to other views and looking for common ground is not a sign of weakness.
People who say he needs more seasoning in Washington just want to "boil all the hope out of him" so he sounds just like everybody else, Obama said.
Geren entered an Obama campaign event unsure of whom to support in next week's Iowa caucuses. He left as an Obama backer, convinced that the Illinois senator has what it takes to win the election and shake up Washington.
"I think he's a lot tougher than people think," said Geren, a 56-year-old postal service employee. "He's not afraid to stand up."
Obama spent much of Saturday courting undecided Iowa voters with an argument that he has the political skills to win the presidential election but none of the baggage carried by Democratic rivals John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton. He boasted that a recent poll showed he could beat the five major Republican candidates, while Edwards or Clinton could not.
"Part of the problem John Edwards would have in a general election is that the issues he's taking out now are not the things he was saying four years ago, which always causes problems in the general election," Obama told about 400 people at a Keokuk high school. "And Senator Clinton doesn't beat all five of them because you start out with half the country not wanting to vote for her."
...
The Illinois senator also rejected arguments that he's too nice or too inexperienced to fight special interests in Washington. Obama said listening to other views and looking for common ground is not a sign of weakness.
People who say he needs more seasoning in Washington just want to "boil all the hope out of him" so he sounds just like everybody else, Obama said.