Ill Still Win Nomination, Obama Tells Newark Crowd

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I'll Still Win Nomination, Obama Tells Newark Crowd

By Eric Hinton

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He owned the room.

That's the only way to describe Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., on stage at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Monday evening in Newark.

What are the three things that Obama said went into his decision-making processes before declaring his candidacy? Click on the video below to watch.

Taking the stage to a raucous ovation after being introduced by Newark Mayor Corey Booker, Obama spent 44 minutes covering everything from Bush administration policies and the Iraq war, increasing the minimum wage, expanding healthcare, stopping the genocide in Darfur, and increasing financial aid to stop AIDS in Africa.

Obama even found a moment to jab at his extended family tree when referring to his newly discovered cousin, Vice President Dick Cheney. "We've been trying to hide that for a long time," Obama said to laughter and applause. "But everyone has a black sheep in the family."

Currently, Obama trails Clinton by as many as 26 percentage points in New Jersey, according to recent polls.

The "Countdown to Change" event was designed to enlist the support of average citizens. Tickets for the event ranged from $15 for students to $25 for general admittance.

One of Obama's main topics was the war in Iraq. He recalled a 2002 rally that he was scheduled to attend shortly before the Bush administration sent troops to Iraq. Since he was running for the U.S. Senate at the time, friends advised him that the issue was a political quagmire and to steer clear. "But I went to that rally and I spoke out against this war. I did not want to start my career not telling the truth. I didn't want to start by being afraid to tell the truth," he said.

Obama pledged one of his first duties if elected would be to return the troops home. "Now, every Democratic candidate is going to tell you that," Obama said. "But who's more apt to do it? The person who voted for it in the first place? Or would it be someone that was against it from the start?" Obama said, referring to Democratic frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton's early support for the war.

Seeking to separate himself from Clinton, Obama positioned himself as an outsider trying to change Washington politics and as the underdog who's faced an uphill climb from the start.

"When you're a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama running for leader of the free world, you're always going to be an underdog," he said. "But we knew with the help of people at the grassroots level that we could be successful."

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