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Alex Cabrero reportingWith the Iowa caucus over, the candidates have refocused their attention on New Hampshire. One of those candidates is Barack Obama.
At a rally this morning in Portsmouth, Obama said the American people are ready for the change he represents. And he said the people took the first step toward that change when they voted for him last night.
Polls in New Hampshire show him running neck-and-neck with Hillary Clinton.
There's also some rallying for Obama here in Utah. After last night's big win, folks here in the reddest of red states are starting to hear what the Illinois senator has to say.
In a lot of ways, Iowa is like Utah: a mostly white, conservative state with religious values. Early on, people wondered if a liberal black man could do well there. Now that he has, convincingly, his supporters here in Utah are even more energized.
Aaron Wiley is the head of Obama's campaign in Utah. He couldn't celebrate Barack Obama's Iowa victory too long because it's just one state out of 50. He said, "We're gonna stay focused and get out the vote her in Utah. So we're excited about it."
Wiley is only 24 years old. He is young, politically, but exactly the kind of person Obama's campaign is counting on. "Absolutely, and if more young people voted we would get a different type of turnout. So they're very crucial to this campaign, and so we definitely want to have them come on out," said Wiley.
One look at the crowd during last nights Utah Iowa caucus party proved the younger crowd is interested. Many young voters, like Josh McGrath, said they've never been involved in politics before, until they listened to what Obama had to say. McGrath said, "I've never seen a candidate. I've been so excited about, and it's just, really, I'm happy, and I'm pumped for this time of the year. I've never been into it like this."
But more than the young vote, or the elderly vote, or the white vote, or the black vote, what people here are saying last night means is a vote for change. "He energized those people and symbolized to them, as he does to me, a different approach, said Alan Scheffres, an Obama supporter.
Nancy Thompson, also an Obama supporter, said, "I think people are ready for change. I really do. I personally have not been this excited about a candidate since Bobby Kennedy; young, energized, and full of change and hope for our future."
A future maybe the younger crowd is starting to realize it can have a say in. Wiley said, "Typically, young people don't get involved, and so we're really excited to have them come out and get involved with the campaign."
Obama's Utah team plans to have an even bigger party this Tuesday night for the New Hampshire primary.
