OBAMA THRILLS ROCHESTER DEMOCRATS

10/31/2006

ROCHESTER, Minn. — With a week and a day until the election and a visit from one of their party’s biggest names of the moment, Democrats in Rochester were feeling good Monday.

“I feel a wave forming. I think this is a seminal year for Democrats,” said Sharon Vandenorth, a Mayo Clinic employee who joined a huge rally for U.S. Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar and 1st District congressional candidate Tim Walz that featured U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.

The crowd of more than 1,000 Democrats gave Obama a rock star’s welcome, reflective of his growing national stature and possible 2008 presidential ambitions.

“I need you to knock on doors. I need you to make phone calls. I need you to volunteer,” the senator from Illinois told the crowd. “And if you do that, on November 7th we are going to take America back.”

The growing city of Rochester is a linchpin of Democratic hopes in Minnesota this year.

The DFL Party two years ago unexpectedly picked up several legislative seats in the onetime Republican stronghold and transformed the area into a key swing region. Walz, once considered a long shot against Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht, has in recent weeks surged onto the list of possible Democratic pickups this year.