The crowd was enthusiastic and drowned out five hecklers who were escorted out by police but there were empty seats in the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University, with a capacity of about 14,000.
Delphehnia Gilbert, 57, a registered nurse from the Akron area, said the rally was just what Democrats – whose enthusiasm has lagged Republicans’ – needed.
“I think this might take us over the top,” said Gilbert.
Others came to see the president, more than to cheer on Strickland and Fisher. Harrison Gilmer, 35, a 1999 Wright State University graduate who’s now a Cleveland-area teacher, said that he wanted his daughter, Arriah, 5, to see the president. Gilmer still is undecided in the governor’s race, although he backed Strickland in 2006.
Obama and Biden said that Strickland and Fisher have been good partners in getting the economy out of the ditch where the Republicans drove it.
“We can’t give them the keys back. They don’t know how to drive,” said Obama.
Strickland, who has pulled nearly even in the polls with Republican challenger John Kasich, thanked Obama and Biden for economic help from the federal government during tough times and then predicted victory.
Fisher, still trailing Republican challenger Rob Portman by double digits in the polls, said Democrats were running against Republicans who set the nation’s economic house on fire.
“I say never elect an arsonist to be a fireman,” said Fisher.
Fisher and Portman, a former Cincinnati-area congressman and top aide to President George W. Bush, are battling for the seat now held by Republican George Voinovich, the former Cleveland mayor and governor, who is retiring.
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