September 22, 2008
People of good conscience need to stand up and correct lies being spread about presidential candidate Barack Obama, South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler said Thursday night.
Speaking in front of a crowd of more than 200 people crammed into a small room at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Henry Street, Fowler specifically referred to a recent ad launched by Republican John McCain's campaign that accuses Obama of supporting "comprehensive sex education" for children in kindergarten.
In fact, the Illinois Senate bill that the ad refers to was one of "age and developmentally appropriate sex education" and gave parents the power to withdraw their children from the classroom if they felt it didn't fit their values. The accusation was debunked when Republican Alan Keyes used it to attack Obama during a 2004 state Senate race, and again recently when Republican Mitt Romney brought it up during primary season.
"It never happened," Fowler said. "People just make stuff up. And if you hear people telling lies and you don't say anything about it, you might as well be agreeing with them."
Fowler went on to say that people tend to believe "terrible things" about Obama, and that sometimes people innocently pass along lies without knowing they are doing so.
"You need to be the person they trust to straighten them out," she said.
Thursday's rally was an attempt to sign up volunteers to knock on doors, make phone calls, help with voter registration drives - Saturdays at the soccer complex near Old Caanan Road was specifically mentioned as a target area - and even get churches to "adopt" precincts. The faith outreach would be nonpartisan, said Ann Smith, an Obama staff member based in Spartanburg. It involves churches registering people to vote and, if necessary, helping them get to the polls on Election Day.
For a volunteer drive, it was quite energetic. Chairs filled up quickly and soon people were standing along the walls, sitting in the floor or standing in the hallway trying to listen in.
The night was sponsored by the Spartanburg County Democratic Party and Obama's Campaign for Change effort in South Carolina. It was much more diverse than the recent Victory '08 event sponsored by state and local Republican organizations - particularly in terms of age and race.
Democratic state House candidate Will Rothschild opened the night, saying "We have to realize there are some good Republicans and good independents in Spartanburg County and we're going to win them over this year."
Rothschild criticized what he called "the era of stagnant wages, the era of a stagnant economy and of a shrinking middle class."
"That era needs to end, and it needs to end now," he said. "That's what we need to get this country and community moving - and that's why we're going to win on Nov. 4."
Smith, who is working out of the county party's office, said that phone banking will take place on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, along with Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Neighborhood canvassing would include asking people to sign a card saying they would vote for Obama, or that they are leaning toward voting that way.
Every now and then, a Democratic candidate would mention what would normally be thought of as a conservative idea when talking about their platform - sometimes to applause, sometimes not. A spokeswoman for state House candidate Eric Hayler said he couldn't attend Thursday night because he was out putting up purple campaign signs - furthering the red-to-blue message.
State Senate candidate Jimmy Tobias summed up the sentiment: "The Republican Party isn't Republican any more. It's the Libertarian Party. They've been hijacked, and they don't even know it. They've been hijacked by greed."
As she was leaving, Kathy Wheale of Greenville - a self-described Republican - stopped Fowler to thank her for speaking. Wheale said she was fully behind Obama.
"I'm sick of all the wars and the redundancy of politicians," she later said. "And I'm married to a very staunch Republican husband, and have a very staunch Republican father, and they're probably going to tar and feather me. But I don't care."
Joan Roosmann of Spartanburg said her son was afraid to wear his Obama T-shirt to Dorman High School because of the political atmosphere, and because "the kids go off on what their parents tell them."
Trav Robertson, Obama's South Carolina campaign manager, said that the Spartanburg crowd was indicative of what he was seeing across the state.
"There's a movement afoot, and it begins with the idea that individuals are empowered," he said.
