Obama rally draws voters
to Window Rock park
Harold Morgan, left, speaks while Senator Albert Hale, center, and rally organizer Shaun Deschene listen at a rally for Barrack Obama at the Window Rock Veteran's Memorial Park Thursday, September 25.— © 2008 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Many people across the nation say that the Democratic contender for U.S. president represents hope and change. On Thursday afternoon, local voters joined the voices in support of Barack Obama for president at a rally at Navajo Nation Veterans Memorial Park.

The rally turned into what organizers called an open dialogue, with citizens speaking about why they are supporting Obama. Information on the candidate was available for voters.

Chris Campos was one of the young citizens in attendance at the rally. This will be the first time that Campos, 19, gets to vote in a presidential election, and he will cast his vote for Obama.

“I believe if he gets elected, everything is going to change,” Campos said. “Everything’s going to be right. Everything’s been messed up. The only thing that actually stays the same is change, and I believe in it so much because my life has been pretty bad ... Yet I grew up knowing that someday something will change and Obama is the way to be.”

He added that Obama knows what it’s like growing up having only one parent.

Campos was at the rally with Krystal Kelly, 18, who will also be voting for the first time.

“We really do need change,” she said explaining why she will vote for Obama.

Kyle Sandoval, 19, said that he is also looking for change with the next president.

“As Obama likes to say, he wants to make our world a better place, see our future generations living healthier lives. I see what he’s talking about. He’s going to make this world better and we need a guy like this in our office,” Sandoval said.

Arizona State Sen. Albert Hale spoke in support of Obama. He said when he met him, he told the congressman that the president has historically been called the Great White Father.

“When you get elected, what are we going to call you?” Hale said to the senator.

“He just laughed and said, ‘We’re going to need to change that also’... He said ‘change’ and that’s what he’d like to see and that’s why we need to get our people out to vote,” Hale said. “The only way they can vote is if they get registered. Hopefully we can generate all that registration, get the support out, get the people out to vote for Obama.”

He reminded voters that registration deadlines are coming up for the state of Arizona on Oct. 6 and in New Mexico on Oct. 7. In Utah, the deadline is Oct. 6 or on Oct. 20 if in person.

Chris Clark Deschene said he has heard many people say they don’t know Obama.

“This man is, in a lot of ways, like us. He grew up with a single parent. A lot of us have or know of brothers, sisters, mothers, who are raising our youth as single parents ... For the nation we value education. The man has a law degree from Harvard, and then instead of going to work for the big money, he went back to the community of Chicago and helped organize as a community organizer,” Deschene said.
He called claims that Obama is an elitist “political nonsense.”

“As a person of color, he shares a lot of the same issues that we have in the sense that it’s not easy for us sometimes to make it in this world given the challenges and the history that we have,” he said.

Deschene added that though there are many Democrats on Navajo, the voter turn out for national elections has traditionally been low.

He added that the purpose of the rally was to bring together a structure of volunteers for the work that is planned to organize the effort on the Navajo Nation. He said that this was the first of more rallies throughout Navajo to support Obama for president.

Navajo voters can help determine an election, Deschene told the audience. He spoke about how when Janet Napolitano first ran for Arizona governor, she won by only 11,000 votes.

“The majority of those votes that put her over the top came from the Navajo Nation,” Deschene said.

Spencer Willie said he thinks Obama will be the instrument of change needed for the Navajo Nation and the United States.

“Right now we’ve endured eight years of President Bush. We’ve seen cuts after cuts to tribal programs and a number of different areas which we need to help our people. He’s continued to put aside our viewpoints and our understanding about what’s going on in order to move forward with his own prerogative,” Willie said.

He said that Bush has cut out the middle class.

“Why are we in the financial mess we’re in right now? We talk about this $700 billion bailout. It’s because of the tactics of George Bush and the Republicans that we are in this mess today,” Wilie said.

Angela Barney Nez said she knew in 2004 when Obama introduced John Kerry at the Democratic National Convention that he was the person who had a “real captivating vision of what the country needs.”

“He was, what people were saying, electrifying. He really caught your attention how he said what he said,” she said.

“You could almost touch that hope that he was talking about. We don’t just say it. We don’t just think it. We can actually see it and make it happen.”

She said that Obama is the most inspiring candidate since the Kennedys.