Democrats hold NCCU rally

While Republicans campaign nationwide to take over Congress in November, Democrats targeted students Tuesday night in hopes of maintaining their majority.

U.S. Rep. David Price, D-NC, who represents Orange County, and Ron Kirk, U.S. trade representative, addressed a crowd of more than 100 students in a cafeteria at North Carolina Central University.

Rallies on college campuses all over the country preceded a televised speech by President Barack Obama at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he addressed 26,500 students.

Kirk encouraged students to remember the excitement of election night in 2008 when Obama won — a feat largely due to a high voter turnout among young people.

“You were organized; you did the tweeting and the facebooking,” he said. “You said yes in the most resounding and powerful way.”

While Kirk was passionate about Democratic successes in the past two years, he acknowledged the frustration showing in the polls.

“Change is tough,” he said. “Change doesn’t always come in a box with a ribbon around it.”

Despite many Republicans’ opposition to Obama’s stimulus plan, Price said the current administration has improved the economy.

“In times like these, the attitude ought to be all hands on deck,” he said. “Neither party should just withdraw from the scene.”

Kirk also said Republicans have been blocking legislation, serving as an obstacle to economic progress.

“When you get an inch, you have to fight for that inch,” he said. “Republicans have offered you nothing but the same old dribble that got us in trouble in the first place.”

Courtney Crowder, Gov. Bev Perdue’s government affairs and legislative director and an NCCU alumnus, reminded the audience of former President George W. Bush’s policies that he said led the country into recession.

Echoing his sentiment, Kirk compared the U.S. to a car that needs Democratic leadership to move forward.

“If you want to go forward, you put it in D,” he said. “If you want to go backward, you put it in R.”

Obama’s speech, which candidates and supporters watched at the rally at NCCU, had similar themes: a push for young people to vote and a promise of continuing change.

“This election is going to say a lot about the future — your future and the future of our country,” he said. “But this is going to be a bloodletting for Democrats — that’s what they’re saying in Washington.”

Gabriel Aikens, a sophomore at NCCU, said tonight’s events could boost youth turnout.

“I think that if people were inspired like I was inspired tonight, then we can pull off what Obama is saying,” he said.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.