WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama implored black voters to restoke the passion they felt for his groundbreaking campaign two years ago and turn out in force this fall to repel Republicans who are ready to "turn back the clock."
In a fiery speech to the Congressional Black Caucus, Obama warned that Republicans hoping to seize control of Congress want "to do what's right politically, instead of what's right — period."
"I need everybody here to go back to your neighbourhoods, to go back to your workplaces, to go to the churches, and go to the barbershops and go to the beauty shops. And tell them we've got more work to do," Obama said to cheers from a black-tie audience at the Washington Convention Center.
"Tell them we can't wait to organise. Tell them that the time for action is now," he added.
His speech acknowledged what pollsters have been warning Democrats for months — blacks are among the key Democratic groups who right now seem unlikely to turn out in large numbers in November.
"It's not surprising given the hardships that we're seeing across the land that a lot of people may not be feeling very energised, very engaged right now," Obama said. But he said he's just begun rolling back a devastating recession that's come down "with a vengeance" on African-American neighbourhoods that were already suffering. "We have to finish the plan you elected me to put in place," Obama said.
Summoning the joy many blacks felt at the election of the first African-American president, and recalling the words of actor and activist Ossie Davis, he declared, "It's not the man, it's the plan."
In a fiery speech to the Congressional Black Caucus, Obama warned that Republicans hoping to seize control of Congress want "to do what's right politically, instead of what's right — period."
"I need everybody here to go back to your neighbourhoods, to go back to your workplaces, to go to the churches, and go to the barbershops and go to the beauty shops. And tell them we've got more work to do," Obama said to cheers from a black-tie audience at the Washington Convention Center.
"Tell them we can't wait to organise. Tell them that the time for action is now," he added.
His speech acknowledged what pollsters have been warning Democrats for months — blacks are among the key Democratic groups who right now seem unlikely to turn out in large numbers in November.
"It's not surprising given the hardships that we're seeing across the land that a lot of people may not be feeling very energised, very engaged right now," Obama said. But he said he's just begun rolling back a devastating recession that's come down "with a vengeance" on African-American neighbourhoods that were already suffering. "We have to finish the plan you elected me to put in place," Obama said.
Summoning the joy many blacks felt at the election of the first African-American president, and recalling the words of actor and activist Ossie Davis, he declared, "It's not the man, it's the plan."
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