Thousands cheer Obama at four Phila. stops

Helen Henderson, 82 years old and African American, sat in the sunshine at 52d and Locust Streets yesterday, waiting for Barack Obama to arrive.

She said she felt excited, honored and blessed.

"I never thought I'd live to see a black man in the White House," said the retired nurse, who lives in University City. "I sent him a small contribution in the mail. I owe it to him because he's taking a chance for us. I pray for him."

Yesterday, thousands of African Americans and other Philadelphians got to see and hear the Democratic presidential candidate.

On a warm and cloudless Saturday, Obama did something he had never done before in the campaign - make four consecutive stops in the same city, stumping mostly in black neighborhoods.

He started in North Philadelphia at 8:15 in the morning, then hit Mayfair, Germantown, and finally West Philadelphia in early afternoon. He'd done two fund-raisers in the city on Friday.

That he would devote so much time to Philadelphia at this point made perfect sense. In the world of presidential politics, where New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix are in noncompetitive states, this is the biggest city that matters.

And with three weeks left before Election Day, it was time to stir the urban faithful.

Supporters turned out by the thousands, an estimated 20,000 in West Philadelphia alone. They cheered his speeches and jumped for joy as his motorcade passed.

"No question, the mayor [Michael Nutter] and I were clamoring to get him to do this kind of day," said Gov. Rendell, who, along with Nutter, Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and numerous other Democratic officeholders accompanied Obama on his tour. "Think of the buzz this will create."

Tony Goodwin, 58, a retired firefighter from the Logan section, already had all the buzz he needed.

"The dream is becoming a reality, thank God," said Goodwin, wearing an elaborate Obama T-shirt at Progress Plaza in North Philadelphia, where the line started forming at 11 p.m. Friday. "I've already got president and first lady shirts, five of them. If he doesn't win, I'll stroke out."

At all four stops, Obama gave a variation of the same speech. A key element was a thank-you of sorts to his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain.

On Friday, at a town hall meeting in Minnesota, McCain had drawn boos when he defended Obama as a "decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president."

Said Obama: "Now, I want to acknowledge that Sen. McCain tried to tone down the rhetoric yesterday, and I appreciated his reminder that we can disagree while still being respectful of each other. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Sen. McCain has served this country with honor, and he deserves our thanks for that."

For the most part, though, Obama talked about the economy, blaming the Republicans for the current crisis and laying out his own plans to cut taxes for families making less than $250,000 a year and to invest $15 billion per year in renewable energy.

"I don't quote Ronald Reagan that often, but are you better off than you were four years ago?" Obama asked the crowd outside the Mayfair Diner, his smallest of the day. "Are you better off than you were four weeks ago? We've had enough, and it's time for a change."

A McCain spokesman, Tucker Bounds, described Obama's words as "pie-in-the-sky rhetoric" and said the Democrat's tax plans would burden small business.

In the four speeches, Obama engaged in give-and-take with his audiences at times.

He told a story about ordering a piece of pie at a small-town Ohio diner where the workers were Democrats and the owner a Republican. The story ended with Obama suggesting the owner vote Democratic because, on the economy, "we can't do any worse."

The problem with the diner, he told his listeners, was that it didn't have sweet-potato pie - an African American favorite - on the menu. At the rally at Vernon Park in Germantown, a woman shouted out an offer to make him some.

"We might have to have a sweet-potato pie contest," Obama said, as other offers flowed. "I'll be the judge, because I know my sweet-potato pie."

At Vernon Park, David Wilcots, 46, an environmental engineer, contemplated the prospect of an Obama victory, which he and other African Americans now believe is a probability.

On the one hand, Wilcots said, the venom expressed by the crowds at Republican rallies last week makes him fear for Obama's safety. On the other, he marvels at what might transpire on Nov. 4.

"It wouldn't resolve everything in race relations, but it would mean we'd reached a milestone in this country thought to be impossible a few short years ago," he said.

"America would be embracing as president a black person, a person of mixed-race background, and a person one generation removed from Africa. Those are three pretty big embraces."