“Everybody has to vote. You have no excuses,” Obama told the crowd, including some members who had arrived as early as 9 a.m. for the 2:30 p.m. speech.

“But you have to go get cousin Pookie, you know, Ray-Ray, who’s sitting on the couch loafing around. You have to get them registered and get them out to vote as well.”

Obama might as well have been in Breslin Center, as he led a raucous “Go Green, Go White” chant and paid homage to Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who led MSU to the national basketball championship during Obama’s senior year of high school in 1979.

Had the event been housed in Breslin Center, the crowd wouldn’t have had to endure the cold wind or threat of rain.

But it didn’t matter to them. And it especially didn’t matter to social work sophomore Joseph Langston.

“The whole thing is history in the making,” he said.

Issues

Obama centered much of his attention on the financial crisis and how it impacts students. He called on young people to make a change, as the current economy will hit college-age individuals hardest.

“We can’t afford another four years of the kinds of deficits we’ve seen over the past eight,” he said. “Young people, you are going to have to pay for this debt we are piling up. We can’t afford to mortgage our children’s future on another mound of debt.”

Obama’s proposed solution is contingent on two factors: education and strengthening the middle class.

By educating students to participate in a global economy, Obama said Michiganians would be able to keep jobs in the state. He criticized tax-cut proposals by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, saying the state and country’s economies would be revived with tax cuts for the middle class instead of the upper class, allowing them to have more disposable income to put back into the system.

Obama warned the financial crisis will make it more difficult to obtain student loans. He said this means a change from the deregulating, hands-off philosophy that has been guiding the economy for the past eight years is needed.

Situnyiwe Chirunga, a zoology senior, said she was pleased to hear Obama’s plans about providing affordable loans for education. Chirunga said her debt will only continue to mount as she heads to medical school.

“I definitely have had to take out loans this year even though my grandparents took out a Michigan Education Trust fund when I was born,” she said. “It’s run out and tuition keeps on rising on me.”

Obama said Michigan is essential in producing the people who will help create and harness alternative energy technology so America can relieve its foreign energy dependence.

“When John F. Kennedy looked up and said, ‘We are going to the moon in 10 years,’ the engineers didn’t know how to do it,” Obama said.

“They didn’t understand what could get us there, but what they knew was when America puts its mind to something, we cannot be stopped.”

School’s out for Obama

Students couldn’t be stopped from skipping classes Thursday, although many professors canceled or made class optional.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, especially for him to come to our campus,” said Justin Koziatek, a nutritional sciences senior. “It’s a pretty big deal. I might even skip a lab today and not be able to make it up.”

Marshall Moore, a hospitality business senior, said he wasn’t sure whether his class had been canceled.

“I don’t even know, I skipped it. He might have canceled it, but I don’t care,” Moore said. “I figured (the rally) is pretty important. Nobody came here when I was a freshman, so I figured someone’s here who is going to be the next president of the United States, so I might as well come.”

Rudy Bernard, a physiology professor, said he couldn’t cancel his lab Thursday, but students have the option of arranging a make-up time.

Several professors declined to comment about their class plans.

Many instructors, though, used Obama’s visit as an opportunity to accomplish course objectives.

Darcy Greene, an associate professor of journalism, designed her online publishing class around the election. She said Obama’s visit was a way to incorporate course goals.

“The next exercise we have is to cover an event, so this makes sense to do because it’s important,” Greene said. “People are going to go and cover the event and gather media elements to use in class.”

Michigan’s out for McCain

Students likely won’t have a chance to skip class to see McCain speak, as he pulled his resources from Michigan on Thursday.

Citing falling poll numbers, McCain canceled a trip to the state next week, won’t run TV ads in Michigan markets after this week and is dispatching staffers to states that show him in a stronger position, The Associated Press reported.

About 20 members of the MSU College Republicans, though, surprised Obama supporters with their presence at Adams Field. The group held signs that endorsed McCain, and quickly became a magnet for cameras. The group was at the speech to collect change — a stab at Obama’s “Change We Need” campaign slogan.

“I’ve got some change with me in my back pocket right now. If Senator Obama wants to come here and collect it we’ve got it ready for him,” said Louie Glinzak, press secretary for MSU College Republicans.

“I took my laundry money out here because I know he’s going to want some for the tax increases.”

Glinzak said his group was disheartened to learn of McCain’s move, but their mission and strategy won’t change.

“We, the students, are still here,” he said. “We are going to show support for Senator McCain and energize the Michigan State community.”

But David Lanore, a political theory and constitutional democracy junior, said “people are ready for change” and that Obama’s appearance at MSU is important to win the more moderate mid-Michigan voting population.

Obama gave his speech without knowledge of McCain’s Michigan departure. But at some points, it seemed as if he already knew such a development was imminent.

“The truth is my opponent’s philosophy isn’t just wrong-headed. It reveals how out of touch he really is,” Obama said of McCain’s economic policies. “Senator McCain just doesn’t get it. But Michigan, you get it, and I get it. And that’s why we’re here today.”