Barack Obama Rally in Tiny Boone, Iowa, Draws Hundreds Just Days Before the Iowa Caucus

Supporters, Undecideds and Even Challengers Came Out to Hear Obama Speak, Shake His Hand and Ask Tough Questions

It's New Year's Eve and bitterly cold here in Iowa, which you would think would give Iowans plenty of excuses not to show up at yet another political rally. But just days before the Iowa caucuses, people from the tiny town of Boone showed up to hear what Barack Obama had to say. And he had plenty to say.

He started by thanking the Boone County leadership and precinct captains. While most might have glossed over this, he spent several minutes thanking specific people for their different roles. He especially thanked the local Organizer, and even invited him onstage to receive a round of applause.

Of course, being a politician, he didn't miss a chance to sell himself during this time. He spoke about how he used to be an Organizer back in Chicago. He used to work, for three years, with steel workers who had been laid off setting up job training programs, after-school youth programs and working with churches to stabilize the local economy. He said, "It's the best education I ever had, because it taught me that ordinary people can do great things when they're brought together."

He went on to recall why he chose to run for president. He said it had nothing to do with any long-held desires to run for president. He said it was not because he thought it was somehow owed to him. He said, "I chose to run because of what Dr. King called 'the fierce urgency of now' because I believe we are at a defining moment in our history." He cited war, the peril of the planet, healthcare and the economy as the urgent issues of the day.