Saturday afternoon President Barack Obama addressed a crowd of 2100 people at Centerville High School in Clifton as part of his “A Vision for Virginia’s Middle Class” campaign tour across Virginia.
The President kicked off his speech by criticizing the Republican approach to economic polices and trickle down economics, and portraying himself as a protector of the middle class.
“We went from surpluses to deficits,” the President of the Republican economic policies of his predecessor. “Normally in your own life, when you do something over and over again and it doesn’t work, you try something new.”
“So we don’t need more top up economics. I believe in middle up economics, a bottom up economics. I believe when hardworking Americans are doing well, everybody does well. That’s been our history. That’s why I ran for president to fight on behalf of the middle class,” said President Obama.
The President’s speech focused on the need to protect and grow the American middle class through tax relief for those making under $250,000 per year, job creation, education and health care reform. He emphasized the differences between himself and his opponent, Mitt Romney, in regards to policies responding to the needs of the middle class Americans.
The President proposed that a solid middle class was good for America as the wealth would trickle not down, but up, even towards millionaires and billionaires. As evidence, the President alluded to mid-twentieth century policies that helped America work its way out of the Great Depression and build a strong middle class, and attributed the nation’s recovery from the recession of the early 90s to the policies of President Clinton.
Obama said that when he looks out at the people in the audience, he sees hardworking people like himself and his family, and that he wants to provide for those individuals the same opportunity to live the American Dream as he was afforded.
He praised his Affordable Care Act, and predicted it would bring an end to a time when people would go bankrupt because they had become ill. He pointed out that his opponents in Congress had tried to repeal the act over 30 times.
He also said it was necessary to curtail the rising cost of higher education and student loans, and make higher education accessible to all Americans who care to pursue it.
President Obama’s message resonated with the crowd, who also responded to his personable style as he interacted with individuals in the audience, shaking hands, giving hugs and giving high fives.
Before the President’s speech, Representative Gerry Connolly-D (VA-11), gave a harsher speech, lambasting Mitt Romney and the Republican controlled Congress. He said that the only argument the Republicans have is that they messed up the economy so badly that President Obama has yet to sufficiently clean up their mess.
Relating to Northern Virginians, Obama referred to traffic congestion we are all accustomed to, and how he used to get lost traveling through the area.
Audience members at the rally demonstrated their tech savvy, snapping photos with Smart Phones and tablets.
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