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'The risks they took were so much greater'
Obama pays tribute to the 'pioneers' who made his journey easier.
- By Nia-Malika Henderson, - Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
- Published: 00:11 June 6, 2008
Washington: Carrying the weighty mantle of history, Barack Obama spent his first day as Democratic nominee-in-waiting setting a course to an even loftier goal and acknowledging his place in a long line of pioneers who made his journey possible.
Pausing on Wednesday during a dizzying day that took him from the Senate floor to New York's Upper East Side to raise money, he called his accomplishment nothing less than humbling.
"When you think about all the people who had knocked down barriers for me to walk through this one, the challenges they went through were so much more difficult, so much more severe; and the risks they took were so much greater," he said. "Last night, standing in the auditorium, it struck me that it was a testimony to them."
His victory speech done, his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton now pledging to step aside, Obama on Wednesday began to lay out a course for the next five months, a path that could lead him to the White House.
Even on this first day, there was business to be done - picking a vice presidential selection committee, talking of a possible trip to Iraq, fighting off a dig by Republican John McCain.
Provocative emails
He also battled rumours about his faith before a pro-Israel conference, a reminder that the first Black man to claim a major party presidential nomination is also in some ways running against the nation's complicated racial history.
"I want to say that I know some provocative emails have been circulating throughout Jewish communities across the county," he said of the emails, which claim he is Muslim.
Obama also used his speech to clarify his stance on Iran, which has been the main focus of McCain's attacks over these last weeks. Obama said any meeting with Iran would require "careful preparation" and would not be arranged "just for the sake of talking".
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