Obama pledges to offer 'a better path forward'

By Rod Boshart and Mike Wiser, Gazette Des Moines Bureau

In contrast with the mixed crowd that President Barack Obama met during an appearance at the Iowa State Fair two weeks ago, the enthusiastic group of about 10,000 people attending his campaign appearance Saturday in Urbandale seemed to be made up of hard-core supporters.

“We got his back again,” said Cassandra Flomo, a kindergarten teacher and 40-year veteran of the Des Moines Public School District, who wore a black T-shirt with the iconic red, white and blue Obama HOPE image on the front.

“If (Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees) Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan get in, we're done,” she said. “C'mon, Ryan's from Wisconsin. He'll try to break our union.”

The event was part-political rally and part-concert. The Brooklyn-based rock band The National played a 20-minute set, and former Soundgarden and Audioslave singer Chris Cornell played an acoustic set of about the same length before Obama took the stage.

Temperatures were in the lower 80s, but humidity of more than 50 percent took a toll on the crowd, some of whom collapsed before the president arrived despite free bottled water being distributed throughout the day.

The crowd cheered loudly and thrust campaign signs in the air whenever the president criticized the Republican presidential ticket and GOP policies. Likewise, they broke out in chants of “four more years” and applause when Obama hit on his health care initiative, his pro-choice position and his call for early voting.

The visit was the president's seventh to Iowa since Jan. 1 and the second of the week. He stopped Tuesday at Iowa State University in Ames as part of a “college tour” through battleground states.

Saturday's 17-minute speech at the Living History Farms focused on taxes, college affordability and economic recovery - three issues Obama uses to appeal to the middle-class voters who helped him win Iowa by 9 percentage points four years ago, but where polls show he is running even with Republican nominee Mitt Romney now.

Obama said he plans to offer "a better path forward" at next week's Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. than the "tired, trickle down policies" that were offered at this week's Republican National Convention in Tampa. The crowd booed at the GOP approach, and Obama answered, "Don't boo...vote."

The president said he decided to kick off his "Road to Charlotte" tour in Iowa because "It will be Iowa that chooses the path we take from here."

Not far from the Obama rally site, Romney supporters made phone calls urging Iowans to elect a leader that will put the country back on the right track, said Romney campaign Iowa spokesman Shawn McCoy.

"Mitt Romney has the plan to do what President Obama can't – create 12 million new jobs, increase take-home pay, and bring relief to the struggling middle class,” McCoy said.