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Obama Urges Unity on Final Leg of White House Journey

By Cindy Saine
Washington
17 January 2009

President-elect Barack Obama and his family were joined by Vice-President-elect Joe Biden and his family in Wilmington, Delaware, on an historic train trip from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. for their inauguration on Tuesday. This is the final leg of Mr. Obama's nearly two-year journey to the White House.

Cheered by excited supporters, President-elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two young daughters, Sasha and Malia, stopped on their railway tour in Wilmington, Delaware, the home city of Joe Biden.

The crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Mrs. Obama, who is celebrating her 45th birthday Saturday.

Before hopping on the train, Mr. Biden told the crowd that braved the frigid winter cold that the warm "spring" of better times is coming. "Our economy is struggling. We are a nation at war. Sometimes, just sometimes, it's hard to believe that we'll see the spring again. But I tell you, spring is on the way with this new administration," he said.

The so-called "whistle-stop" tour is mirroring the journey taken by President Abraham Lincoln to Washington for his inauguration in 1861.

Mr. Obama reflected on Mr. Biden's working class upbringing, and vowed both men will fight for working Americans. "And we will fight for you every single day that we're in Washington, because Joe and I are both committed to leading a government that is accountable - not just to the wealthy or the well-connected, but to you. To the conductors who make our trains run, and to the workers who lay down the rails. To the parents who worry about how they're going to pay next month's bills on the commute to work, and to the children who hear the whistle of the train and dream of a better life," said the President-elect.

Earlier Saturday in Philadelphia, the soon to be first U.S. African American president again sounded the dominant theme of his campaign, that Americans need to recognize their commonality and work together for change. "I believed that our future is our choice, and that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everyone together - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, north, south, east and west, black, white, Latino, Asian, and Native American, gay and straight, disabled and not - then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process," he said.

The train is passing through some towns slowly so the Obamas and Bidens can greet crowds of fans along the 220-kilometer route. The next stop will be in Baltimore, Maryland, before the final stop in the nation's capital Saturday evening.

President Bush gave his farewell radio address Saturday, saying he will join all Americans in offering their best wishes to Barack Obama and his family.