Columbia Walks for Obama

In a walk which inspired restauranteurs, market owners, and passer-byers to join in, twenty-two Columbia students marched for Barack Obama this Saturday morning. With a groggy ten o’clock start earlier than any typical college morning, the Students for Barack Obama chapter met and, fortified with coffee and donuts, walked from 130^th Street to the rally point at Columbus Circle. As they walked, they signed up supporters while all the while chanting and cheering for Obama. Everyone felt the same infectious enthusiasm, and the same desire to show people that they cared deeply about Obama’s message. To them, Obama is not just a distant figure or an appealing celebrity, but a person who inspires true passion and who brings a wide variety of people together.

Above all, the walk transcended the political, much as Obama does. Perhaps this is best proven by the grassroots nature of the event, which was run not by the campaign but by various groups from throughout New York City. His broad base was apparent at the rally, where hundreds met to listen to speakers like State Senator Bill Perkins and Harlem Office Director Cordell Cleare. The common thread in the diverse array of speeches was a consistently positive, uplifting message, a characteristic clearly inspired by Obama’s own adherence to the positive politics. One Columbia student expressed the walk and rally proved to him that Obama gives people the faith in the value of doing good, and, as was apparent by the many supporters who came out, in their own ability to do good. With seventy-five new supporters signed up by the Columbia students alone, the journey from uptown to Columbus Circle was a beautiful example of the transcendent quality of Obama’s message.

For more information contact Students for Barack Obama Director Mary McDonald at mcm2172@columbia.edu, 914.380.2250. Students for Barack Obama is a registered umbrella group of the Columbia University College Democrats.