Posted 12:30 am Monday, February 25, 2008
Samuel L. Jackson Visits Tyler, Holds Rally For Obama
By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer
As celebrities primped, prepping for the Oscars, movie star Samuel L. Jackson, famous for his roles in "Pulp Fiction," "Jackie Brown" and "Snakes on a Plane," blazed the presidential campaign trail for Sen. Barack Obama in three East Texas towns.
Staff Writer
As celebrities primped, prepping for the Oscars, movie star Samuel L. Jackson, famous for his roles in "Pulp Fiction," "Jackie Brown" and "Snakes on a Plane," blazed the presidential campaign trail for Sen. Barack Obama in three East Texas towns.
His final stop Sunday was at the Tyler Obama campaign office where he was met by the deafening cheers of hundreds of Obama supporters carrying signs.
For approximately six minutes, Jackson explained how he became involved in the Obama campaign and why he is supporting the democratic candidate.
Jackson told the crowd that as a product of the 60's he was familiar with political activism.
"We got in the streets, we raised our voices, we did something about it," he said.
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As a product of a lower middle-class home, Jackson said he's supporting Sen. Obama because he's the kind of candidate that would represent his family.
"There are only two types of people now, the 'haves' and the 'have nots.' Fortunately I was able to become one of the 'haves,'" he said.
Jackson said that he would be the logical beneficiary if a republican was elected to office, but said that he was there supporting Obama for his relatives who need health insurance, have house payments to make and are affected by policy.
"We need to make sure the world is not just an affordable place for me, because, hey, I don't need health insurance. You do," he said.
While fans waited for the celebrity's arrival, Obama supporters manned booths and recruited volunteers to help with the campaign by working a phone bank or block walking.
"We're here to make some changes in America and we need your help," Jocelyn Anderson told the screaming crowd.
"We can not 'Ra Ra' this man into the Whitehouse. We are going to have to do the work."
During downtime while waiting on Jackson from his stops in Texarkana and Longview, Smith County field organizer Gabe Lifton-Zoline took the time to explain the Texas two-step of voting.
Fifth grade teacher Katrina Shackelford of Dallas, who was at the rally with her mother said she was pleased by how easily the voting process was explained.
"Lack of knowledge deters people from voting. I like the way it was broken down so that everyone can understand the process and be a part of it," Ms. Shackelford said.
Jackson told attendees that that in the past 10 to 12 years, he became apathetic towards politics.
Jackson said that when he travels oversees he worries that the current elected politicians are not effectively representing American.
"We need somebody the world relates to in a very real kind of way," he said.
He said eight years ago he voted in an election and he went to bed thinking his candidate won, then woke up to realize he had lost.
"Nobody else got out and did anything, and this time I'm asking you and your friends to get out there and vote, so no matter what happens they cant tell me my candidate did not win," Jackson said.
After speaking to the crowd Jackson visited with supporters and signed posters.
Tyler native Virginia Stephens said that she came to the rally to get more information on the candidate, but was disappointed the rally didn't focus more in the issues.
"I didn't really learn enough to make a change in my decision," she said.
