BALTIMORE — President-elect Barack Obama capped the first day of his inaugural celebration here before a crowd of about 40,000 people by calling for a “new Declaration of Independence” and a return to the idealism of 1776.
At the climactic stop of his 137-mile train trip that began in Philadelphia, passed through Wilmington, Del. and was to end at Washington’s Union Station, Obama spoke of the need to recapture the spirit of the American revolution. “What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives – from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry…” he said
He added, “Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast,” citing tough economic times and two wars. Americans today must call upon “the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed,” to deal with those challenges, he said.
In an 11-minute speech, Obama touched on some of the themes he is expected to expand upon during his inaugural address Tuesday. He warned that there would be “false starts and setbacks,” and admitted “I will make some mistakes” on the way to achieving goals of reviving the economy and dealing with conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama, the first African American elected president, made what appeared to be a reference to slavery, calling the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence “documents that were imperfect but had within them, like our nation itself, the capacity to be made more perfect.”
During stops along the journey that mimicked Abraham Lincoln’s pre-inaugural train trip, Obama made a fleeting reference to the 16th president, calling upon Americans to reach out to their “better angels” in coming together to solve problems, a phrase lifted from Lincoln’s first inaugural address.
Earlier Saturday, about 250 people heard a similar Obama speech inside Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. Several hundred more were inside the station, but blocked off from the speech by blue curtains and police barricades.
“It’s like they just bypassed Philly,” said Joyce Cunningham of West Philadelphia, an Obama volunteer but not one of the lucky 250. “We played a major role. You tell him Joyce said we’re not happy.”
Others were content just to be part of the scene. “Here we are,” said Stephanie Williams of Salt Lake City, who flew in a day early for a family event. “We just had to take a shot.” It was heartwarming, Williams said, “for lifelong Democrats like ourselves to have so many people [in Utah] vote for Obama.”
