02/03/08 - UCLA.

On a rainy morning on Super Bowl Sunday, a large crowd gathered at UCLA Pauly Pavilion for a rally to support Presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Although the candidate was not present, his wife Michelle Obama, introduced as "the next First Lady" along with supporters Caroline Kennedy and Oprah Winfrey were the headline speakers at the rally. Surprise guests, Stevie Wonder and Maria Shriver also made appearances.

A big hit was the 3.5 minute 'Yes We Can' video by Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas co-produced with Jesse Dylan (son of Bob) featuring multiple celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Legend, Common, Kate Walsh, Aisha Tyler, Kelly Hu and Herbie Hancock, just to name a few. The video is now widely circulating the internet and has become a staple of Obama campaign rallies.

Here are some of the key statements from the rally:

• Caroline Kennedy - "I'm here today because I am inspired by someone who inspires me the way people say my father inspired them. Obama believes it's wrong that a woman has to choose between her career and her family, he believes in investing in early childhood education."
• Oprah Winfrey - "Caroline and I have something in common. Though we usually shy away from politics, we decided to step out of our lives and into the light to help Sen. Obama become president. I can tell change has already come to California." (Because it's Super Bowl Sunday) “I thank those who love football, I know what this means to be out here. But that party has got to wait because there's another kind of party going on at UCLA. This is a party about principals, and change we can believe in. Last Sunday, I was dancing in my PJs when I read the Op-Ed piece by Caroline Kennedy. She spoke to the heart of how I felt. I know you can feel it because you came out in the rain! We can change how we see ourselves and change how the world sees us. We are free: free to vote our hearts." "After Iowa, there were women who approached me and said, 'how could you Oprah? How could you be a traitor to your gender?' [by not endorsing Hillary Clinton] I was surprised and insulted, I've been a woman all my life. But I’m a free woman, free to vote, to follow my truth."
• Oprah quoted Toni Morrison; "In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, [Barack Obama] exhibits something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender... That something is a creative imagination which, coupled with brilliance, equals wisdom."
• Michelle Obama - "I’ve had the opportunity to walk into people's homes and I've found that there's more that unites us than divides us. I’m doing this for our children, Malia and Sasha so that they can dream, so that they can travel this world with pride. America is not there yet. We live in isolation, we're too divided. Our souls are broken in this nation and I’m here because I'm married to the person who can heal this country."
• Michelle addressed the young people in the crowd, "Critics believe you will just fold your arms in disgust and say this is someone else's process. Fear hurts us, cuts us off. We spend more time saying this won’t work rather than what will. This gets passed onto the next generation, and I don’t want this for my girls. Character matters."
• "Life has grown increasingly complicated for regular folks. I grew up on the Southside of Chicago in a working class community. [Barack and I] are three years out of paying debt, and the only reason we could do so, is because Barack wrote 2 bestselling books. We were lucky."
• On Barack’s childhood, Michelle said his mother (Ann Durham) had "some nerve." She was an 18-year old white girl raising a black kid in the 60's. She went on to study Women’s Studies in parts of the world like Indonesia. Barack was able to travel the world and view countries with respect. "To whom much is given, much is expected. Sometimes the truth is hard because we don’t recognize it."
• Maria Shriver: "I know how it feels to have a spouse who runs for office. "I'm living my own life, I'm standing here because I want to be here today. Our lives are made up of moments. This election is about a moment." "If Barak Obama was a state, he'd be California: innovative... bucks tradition, a leader. He is not about himself, he's about us. Remember, so goes California, so goes the nation. You've found someone who believes in you."