A Message That Transcends Race

By Dana Milbank
WashPost
Thursday, October 30, 2008

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Oct. 29 The Obama rally in the rec center had turned into a gospel revival.

Killing time before Michelle Obama arrived to campaign for her husband here Wednesday afternoon, the ministers and lay leaders of the General Baptist State Convention decided to strike up a spiritual:

So glad I'm here

So glad I'm here

So glad I'm here in Jesus's name.

The faithful stood and waved their arms in the air and, as others stomped on bleachers and clapped in time, they gradually changed the words to "Oh, yes, we can." By the end, some of the Baptist leaders were shouting out the Obama campaign theme: 'Yes, we can!"

Obama, taking the stage, knew her audience well. "We have less than a week," she said. "Hallelujah! Praise God."

For the woman who would be first lady, it was the continuation of a delicate mission she has been on since the primaries ended: Get out the vote among African Americans, but in a way that doesn't frighten white voters. In this case, Obama made an overt appeal to the 800 religious leaders in the room, virtually all of whom were black and many of whom were veterans of the civil rights movement.

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