2008 Woodie Awards
Barack Obama Town Meeting gets appraisal, argument in Greensboro
Ben Dedman
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Features
Obama covered several issues in the nearly two hours he spent in the auditorium and the overflow room at the Coliseum, most which were well received by the audience.
"He cracked me up when he was talking about no child left behind," Assefa said about Obama's quip that "on no child left behind we left the money behind."
Other issues were more controversial, including a question from a Southern Baptist high school student about Obama's religious beliefs.
According to Carter, the most important questions in American politics tend to be about "religion and your sex life, the two things that Europe cares absolutely nothing about."
Because of the "Jeremiah Wright (Obama's former preacher) controversy, and (questions) in some extreme right wing blogs about whether Obama's even Christian or not, it's a crucial element to this campaign," Carter said. "His response to me was absolutely brilliant. First off he used the key terms an evangelical Christian would be looking for … Then Obama went on to say that, and this is what warmed the cockles of my little Quaker heart, it's not just what you believe but how you live."
"That question really drove me up the wall," Ericson, a Christian, said. "There were all these other questions that could have been asked that were pushed aside."
Carter disagreed, saying, "I would pick at the Guilford students (who disapproved of this) for not being aware of the theological complexities and the political ramifications of that question."
Several members of the Guilford community also thought that Obama's immigration policies, which he said he wants to be effective and not "a political football," became just that.
"The one cringe-worthy moment was when he said that illegal immigrants have broken the law," senior Chelsea Simpson said about Obama's plan for seeking economic and legal restitution from illegal immigrants. "But I understand that at the end of the day he's a politician."
"The section on immigration I didn't like that much because he had very strict views," Assefa said. "I think (the process) needs to be changed before he can be strict. He didn't answer it wrong, it was just different from what I believe."
"He cracked me up when he was talking about no child left behind," Assefa said about Obama's quip that "on no child left behind we left the money behind."
Other issues were more controversial, including a question from a Southern Baptist high school student about Obama's religious beliefs.
According to Carter, the most important questions in American politics tend to be about "religion and your sex life, the two things that Europe cares absolutely nothing about."
Because of the "Jeremiah Wright (Obama's former preacher) controversy, and (questions) in some extreme right wing blogs about whether Obama's even Christian or not, it's a crucial element to this campaign," Carter said. "His response to me was absolutely brilliant. First off he used the key terms an evangelical Christian would be looking for … Then Obama went on to say that, and this is what warmed the cockles of my little Quaker heart, it's not just what you believe but how you live."
"That question really drove me up the wall," Ericson, a Christian, said. "There were all these other questions that could have been asked that were pushed aside."
Carter disagreed, saying, "I would pick at the Guilford students (who disapproved of this) for not being aware of the theological complexities and the political ramifications of that question."
Several members of the Guilford community also thought that Obama's immigration policies, which he said he wants to be effective and not "a political football," became just that.
"The one cringe-worthy moment was when he said that illegal immigrants have broken the law," senior Chelsea Simpson said about Obama's plan for seeking economic and legal restitution from illegal immigrants. "But I understand that at the end of the day he's a politician."
"The section on immigration I didn't like that much because he had very strict views," Assefa said. "I think (the process) needs to be changed before he can be strict. He didn't answer it wrong, it was just different from what I believe."
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