"Fired up, ready to go" woman coming to D.C. for inaugural

[bigtree]

The South Carolina woman who came up with President-elect Barack Obama's signature "Fired up, ready to go" campaign chant is coming to Washington for the inauguration.

"You know I would not miss it even if I were 6 feet under the dirt," said Edith Childs, 60, of Greenwood, S.C. She was invited by the official inaugural committee and plans to frame her 5-by-7-inch invitation.

For months during the election season, Mr. Obama was regularly telling the story about how she chanted, "Fired up, ready to go," which became an unofficial creed for campaign staffers.

She learned the chant at a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People convention decades ago but gave it to Mr. Obama in June 2007. Mr. Obama, then a long shot candidate, heard the Greenwood County Council member's voice rise from the back of a tiny room when he was asking for votes from just a few dozen people.

He was in a foul mood but heard someone say, "Fired up?" And the crowd responded, "Ready to go!"

"My staff and I, we're looking at each other, we don't know what to do," he would say on the stump. "But here's the thing: After about a minute, I'm starting to feel kind of fired up. And I'm starting to feel like I'm ready to go."

He said her story proves "the power of one voice to change the world."


read: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/16/creator-of-obama-campaign-chant-to-attend-inaugura/

[AnnieBW]

1. We're all fired up

and ready to go now!

:fistbump:

[Bicoastal]

2. Awwww....

...that's sweet. :)

[One Voice]

3. Here's the story about her

Enjoy!

This is my favorite clip of the campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vlM3x-GoCA

[monmouth]

4. Thank you so much for posting that. I had not seen that one and it

is wonderful. I love the "detail oriented" aspect of his campaign. No one is forgotten. I also miss the rallies. I know we've moved on but I did so look forward to hearing his campaign speeches.