By C. Fraser Smith|August 24, 2008
She's not Obama Girl, but Cheryl A. McLeod may be the essence of the national phenomenon generated by Sen. Barack Obama.
She's got the wardrobe and the record to prove her commitment.
At the end of July, the Ellicott City resident set out by bus for Denver and a weekend training session for Obama convention volunteers. She thinks of the 2,000-mile, 39-hour trip (one way) as her chance to take part in changing the nation's political system, in behalf of a candidate who is the embodiment of that change.
In part because some of the money goes to the Obama campaign, she's collected a trove of buttons and other memorabilia: incense candles with inspirational quotes from the candidate, a windshield sun screen, church fans - all bearing the candidate's name and his invocations of hope and progress.
An African-American, Ms. McLeod is one of an estimated 500 Marylanders headed west this weekend to witness the nomination of Mr. Obama and to prime the faithful for a general election outpouring of effort on his behalf. These men and women far outnumber the state's 99 official voting delegates and alternates.
Ms. McLeod knows she has little persuading to do among this state's representatives. Maryland voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Obama in the Democratic primary, and its convention contingent is solidly behind her candidate. An organizer for the Maryland State Teachers Association, she says she's been preparing for what she expects to be a difficult fall campaign. She is not surprised that polls suggest a tight race in spite of Sen. John McCain's support for the unpopular war in Iraq, a Republican president with very low approval ratings and a slowing economy.
"Obama's an ethnic minority," Ms. McLeod said. "He's young. And he's asking us to take some responsibility to create change."
She said she is ready for a strident Republican attack on her candidate. The suggestions that he is "arrogant" or "inexperienced," she says, represent some of this society's most unattractive past behavior. "Arrogant" is a code word for "uppity," a suggestion that someone had gotten beyond their "place," she said. In recent elections she says, people voted out of fear. Now they have a world in which Americans are looked upon with suspicion and disdain. Voters are eager to change that perception, she said: "I firmly believe that people will vote for something."
