ASU had Obama fever Friday morning as more than 7,000 students and community members flooded Hayden Lawn to hear the presidential candidate speak.
With a speech that remained consistent with his past calls for an overhaul in the political system, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., asked those in attendance for their trust and their vote in February's presidential primaries.
"I am asking you to trust my ability to lead this country," Obama said. "I am also asking you to trust yourselves. I want you to say to yourselves, 'how can I get involved?'"
Obama's speech called for change in areas of the current administration, including the Iraq War, health care and open communication between the public and politicians.
"I do not accept that there is a conflict between our security on the one hand and our standing in the world on the other hand," he said. "We can't wait 15 months [to end the war] because too many of our young men and women are dying. This war has made us less safe."
When speaking of health care, Obama called on his experience with his mother, who died of cancer and worried about insurance until the day she died.
"I know what it's like to watch a loved one suffer, not just from an illness but from a broken health care system," he said.
Other goals laid out in Obama's speech included capping greenhouse gas emissions, closing Guantanamo Bay prisons and leading the way to ending the genocide in Darfur.
Jasmine Blocker, an ASU graduate who attended the speech, said she admired Obama's ambition but was skeptical of his ability to act on his words.
"It all sounds great," she said. "I just hope he can actually pull it all off."
Fellow Washington politicians have the same concerns, Obama said.
"Sometimes when I talk like this people in Washington roll their eyes," he said. "They call me a hope monger. I am guilty as charged."
Lines of people waiting to get into the event stretched the length of Cady Mall two hours before the gates were scheduled to open at 10 a.m.
Some, like Timothy Reed, a secondary mathematics education junior, had been waiting since 1 a.m.
"I thought there would be a long line," he said.
Others, like Kassandra Maldonado, a literature and history senior, had been waiting since 8 a.m.
"I think anything that can excite people my age is pretty important," she said. "I didn't want to miss it."
Crowds exceeded the expectations of the event's organizers, said Undergraduate Student Government volunteer Lindsey Tepe, an economics junior.
Tepe had planned on attending the speech, but was pressed into service as a volunteer when USG officials saw the crowds.
"I had planned on coming to watch, but duty [called]," she said.
Around 50 attendees waited after the event for almost 45 minutes for a final glimpse of Obama walking to his motorcade.
Among them was Christina Hundley, an ASU graduate. Hundley said Obama helped her become more interested in politics.
"This is really the first time I've really felt this strongly about a candidate," she said.
Hundley said her excitement was summed up by the end of Obama's speech.
"Let's go change the world," he said.
Reach the reporter at: emma.breysse@asu.edu.
