"Fired up? Ready to go?"

This morning I watched Barrack Obama on television. He was speaking about the need for health insurance for all Americans at a rally in Minneapolis.

At the end of his speech Obama told a story of being on the campaign trail in South Carolina. He woke up in a Greenville hotel room for an early morning drive to Greenwood. He was exhausted, missing his family. and angry about a New York Times article about him. It was raining, his umbrella blew out and he got soaked while running to the car.

Obama got soaked again running from the car to the Greenwood rally and when he entered the building he saw about 20 people. He was disappointed, thinking about the 1 1/2 hour drive back to Greenville, when he heard a voice behind him ask: "Fired up?" He turned to see a small woman in her 50s, a Greenwood city council member. "Ready to go?" she asked. The woman repeated, "Fired up?" and the small group responded, "Fired up". "Ready to go?" she asked. "Ready to go". Obama started to feel better and joined in. The woman continued to lead the chant until he was fired up and ready to go.

Obama told the crowd he and his staff repeated the chant many times that day and on many days during the campaign. One person can make a difference, he said. One person had made the difference that day in Greenwood.

Then he asked: "So Minneapolis, are you fired up and ready to go?" "Yes", the crowd responded. "Fired up?" he shouted. "Fired up!", they replied. "Ready to go?" he shouted. "Ready to go!"

"Fired up?" "Fired up!" "Ready to go?" "Ready to go!"

I was laughing and tears were streaming down my face.