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Obama for America

"The Story of 'Fired up! Ready to go!'" +

 4:32 web video from April 3, 2012.

Edith Childs, Greenwood, SC: Fired up.  Ready to go.  Fired up.  Ready to go.  Fired up.  Ready to go.  Fired up.  [Music starts] Ready to go.

I'm Edith S. Childs from Greenwood, South Carolina, and I'm the one that got Barack Obama fired up.


TEXT: November 3, 2008  Night before Election Day  Manassas, VA

Obama: And so I just want to close with a story that some of you know, because it shows you the importance of one voice.  And it's a story about my first trip to Greenwood...

Childs: When I heard that he was coming to Greenwood, I thought, okay, I'm just going to go and welcome him to Greenwood.

Obama: ...Turns out that Greenwood is about an hour and a half from everywhere else...

Childs: Well, Greenwood is a little bit out of the way.

Obama: ...So we drive and we drive and we drive.  Finally we get to Greenwood.  We pull up to a small building...

Childs: Right here in this building, the Civic Center.

Obama: ...It's pouring down rain and my umbrella blows open and I get soaked.  I'm mad, I'm wet.  We go inside, and lo and behold, after an hour and a half drive, turns out there are twenty people there...

Childs: When he first came in the room he had this grin on his face, like maybe I'm in the wrong place.  You know it was a small group of people.

Obama: ...Twenty people, and they all looked kind of damp and kind of sleepy like maybe they aren't really excited to be there either...

Childs: And looking around at everyone in the room, I knew we had to do something.

Obama: ...Suddenly I hear this voice cry out behind me.  Fired up.  And I'm, I'm shocked...

Childs: I know that the Senator wasn't sure what was going on, 'cause he had that look on his face.

Obama: ...So I look behind me and there's this small woman, looks like she just came from church; she's got a big church hat, and she's standing there and she looks at me and she says...

Childs: Fired up, ready to go.  I knew we needed to keep saying "Fired up.  Ready to go."

Obama: ...And so for the next five minutes, she proceeds to do this.  "Fired up."  And everybody says fired up.  And "Ready to go."  And everybody says ready to go.  And I'm standing there and I'm thinking, she's stealing my thunder.  I look at my staff and they shrug their shoulders; they don't know how long this is going to go.

But here's the thing, Virginia.  After a minute or so, I'm feeling kind of fired up.  I'm feeling like I'm ready to go.  I join in the chant, and it feels good.  And for the rest of the day even after we left Greenwood, I'd see my staff; I'd say, "Are you fired up?"  They'd say, "We're fired up, boss.  Are you ready to go?"  I'd say, "I'm ready to go."

Childs: Once you hear it, you will never forget it.

Obama: ...So some people started putting "Fired up!  Ready to go!" on their shirts; some people started putting "Fired up!  Ready to go!" on signs.  Everybody's saying "Fired Up!" and "Ready to go!"

Childs: Fired up!  Ready...

Obama: ...It shows you what one voice can do.  One voice can change a room.  And if a voice can change a room, it can change a city.  And if it can change a city, it can change a state.  And if it can change a state, it can change the nation.  And if it can change the nation, it can change the world.

Your voice can change the world.

So I've just got one question for you. 
Are you fired up?  Crowd: "Yes." cheers.
Are you ready to go? Crowd: "Yes." cheers.

Chants of "Fired up!  Ready to go!"

Obama: Let's go change the world.

Notes: This video is a first-rate bit of story-telling.  One major strand is clips of Obama telling the story of "Fired up!" at a rally from the close of the 2008 campaign.  Intercut are clips of Edith Childs, originator of the chant, telling the story.  The result is well-paced duet.  The video brings back the inspirational tone of Obama's '08 campaign.