A crowd gathers to hear President Barack Obama speak at Iowa State University Aug. 28. About 6,000 people were in attendance.
By Cainon Leeds
Editor-in-Chief
Logan Hassebrock, a DMACC student who listened to President Obama during a campaign stop in Ames, said he thinks his message is on target for college students.
“I think he’s well connected wtih the college level age group,” Hassebrock said.
He added, “I agreed with about 90 percent of what was said.”
Hassebrock is a student in a News Media and Politics class, which attended the rally on Aug. 28.
Obama spoke to a crowd of about 6,000 people at Iowa State University at Central Campus. The speech touched on such issues as job creation and training, federal student aid, student loans, independence from foreign oil, health care reform, Medicare, a foreign policy of diplomacy and the repealing of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
The leading issue, however, seemed to be higher education.
Editor-in-Chief
Logan Hassebrock, a DMACC student who listened to President Obama during a campaign stop in Ames, said he thinks his message is on target for college students.
“I think he’s well connected wtih the college level age group,” Hassebrock said.
He added, “I agreed with about 90 percent of what was said.”
Hassebrock is a student in a News Media and Politics class, which attended the rally on Aug. 28.
Obama spoke to a crowd of about 6,000 people at Iowa State University at Central Campus. The speech touched on such issues as job creation and training, federal student aid, student loans, independence from foreign oil, health care reform, Medicare, a foreign policy of diplomacy and the repealing of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
The leading issue, however, seemed to be higher education.
“We created a college tax credit that’s saving families up to $10,000 on their tuition over four years,” he said.
The audience cheered.
He added, “We took on a college loan system that was giving billions of taxpayer dollars to big banks and we said, ‘Let’s give the money directly to students,’ and we doubled grant aid for millions of students.”
Again, the crowd applauded.
He continued, “We just won the fight to keep federal student loans from doubling for 7 million students. That would not have happened in Washington except for you. Your vote did that. You made that change. You helped millions of young people and maybe even yourself get the kind of college education you deserve. Don’t believe them when they tell you that you can’t make a difference.”
The President added emphasis to the importance of higher education by saying that, “in America, higher education isn’t a luxury--it’s an economic necessity that every family should be able to afford.”
Sustainable energy and health care reform were also highly ranked issues in the speech.
The President said that the United States is less dependent on foreign oil and emitting fewer greenhouse gases than at any other time during the past 20 years. He also pointed to new fuel standards, saying that by the middle of the next decade, cars will be able to get 55 miles per gallon. Obama also praised Iowa’s advances in wind energy, saying that the wind energy industry makes for a cleaner environment and creates nearly 7,000 jobs in Iowa.
Obama said that, because of health care reform laws, seven million young people are able to stay on their parents’ health care plans, women would be able to purchase affordable contraceptives and get relatively inexpensive mammograms.
When the president spoke of health care reform, he said, “I’ve come to like the term Obamacare. I do care.”
The audience cheered.
He also pointed out that his opponent, Gov. Mitt Romney, planned to put an end to Obamacare the first day he took office.
“Maybe we should call [Governor Romney’s] plan ‘Romney Doesn’t Care,’” he said.
The crowd laughed.
Obama turned the crowd’s attention toward the negative ads and the “steady stream of cynics who will tell you that nothing really changes, that you can’t make a difference.” He laid the blame for the cynicism at the feet of his adversaries, telling the audience that, according to his opponents, they were “‘a lost generation.’” The crowd booed.
The president encouraged the audience to vote on election day, stressing that they were the ones responsible for his administration’s success. He reminded them of their influence on others.
“When they see you register, they’ll register. When they see you vote, they’ll vote,” he said, “And I’m asking you one more time to do what we did — what young people all across the state of Iowa did four years ago. I’m asking you to believe.”
Cainon Leeds is covering politics for Banner News as part of an honors project for his News Media and Politics class.
The audience cheered.
He added, “We took on a college loan system that was giving billions of taxpayer dollars to big banks and we said, ‘Let’s give the money directly to students,’ and we doubled grant aid for millions of students.”
Again, the crowd applauded.
He continued, “We just won the fight to keep federal student loans from doubling for 7 million students. That would not have happened in Washington except for you. Your vote did that. You made that change. You helped millions of young people and maybe even yourself get the kind of college education you deserve. Don’t believe them when they tell you that you can’t make a difference.”
The President added emphasis to the importance of higher education by saying that, “in America, higher education isn’t a luxury--it’s an economic necessity that every family should be able to afford.”
Sustainable energy and health care reform were also highly ranked issues in the speech.
The President said that the United States is less dependent on foreign oil and emitting fewer greenhouse gases than at any other time during the past 20 years. He also pointed to new fuel standards, saying that by the middle of the next decade, cars will be able to get 55 miles per gallon. Obama also praised Iowa’s advances in wind energy, saying that the wind energy industry makes for a cleaner environment and creates nearly 7,000 jobs in Iowa.
Obama said that, because of health care reform laws, seven million young people are able to stay on their parents’ health care plans, women would be able to purchase affordable contraceptives and get relatively inexpensive mammograms.
When the president spoke of health care reform, he said, “I’ve come to like the term Obamacare. I do care.”
The audience cheered.
He also pointed out that his opponent, Gov. Mitt Romney, planned to put an end to Obamacare the first day he took office.
“Maybe we should call [Governor Romney’s] plan ‘Romney Doesn’t Care,’” he said.
The crowd laughed.
Obama turned the crowd’s attention toward the negative ads and the “steady stream of cynics who will tell you that nothing really changes, that you can’t make a difference.” He laid the blame for the cynicism at the feet of his adversaries, telling the audience that, according to his opponents, they were “‘a lost generation.’” The crowd booed.
The president encouraged the audience to vote on election day, stressing that they were the ones responsible for his administration’s success. He reminded them of their influence on others.
“When they see you register, they’ll register. When they see you vote, they’ll vote,” he said, “And I’m asking you one more time to do what we did — what young people all across the state of Iowa did four years ago. I’m asking you to believe.”
Cainon Leeds is covering politics for Banner News as part of an honors project for his News Media and Politics class.