VIDEO: Obama, in Independence, talks of patriotism

Barack Obama delivered a message packed with patriotism during a presidential campaign stop to Independence Monday morning.

The Illinois senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee spoke to a full house of supporters and others eager to eye a presidential candidate from a personal vantage point at the Truman Memorial Building in Independence.

Jim Stephenson, of Kansas City, was among a throng of people waiting outside the Truman Memorial Building for hours before the event.

“I’ve loved him ever since I first heard him speak,” he said, adding he’s only seen Obama speak on television, never in person.

Jaime Skelly, who came from Lake Ozark to see her candidate, described her family as “political junkies. Watching him set up a national rally is impressive,” she said, looking around at Secret Service, police and others charged with the candidate’s safety during his stay.

Independence Mayor Don Reimal said it was fitting that Obama make a stop in Harry Truman’s hometown.

“I think he (Truman) would love this,” Reimal said of the event. “He’d be right in his element.”

U.S. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver said Obama’s trip to Independence has meaning beyond the obvious.

“This is exciting and to have Sen. Obama come to Independence makes a statement of intentionality,” he said. “He recognizes if you don’t win outside (of big cities), you’re probably not going to do well.”

The candidate made his remarks on patriotism against a backdrop of blue velvet flanked by three American flags.

Obama reached into the past to give examples of patriotism from what he called the beginning of the movement during Revolutionary War times, through the turbulent 1960s, until the present.

But Obama left the past temporarily to hint at present political rhetoric.

“I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign,” he told the crowd to loud applause. “I will not stand idly by when I hear others questioning mine. The use of patriotism as a political sword or shield is as old as the republic itself.”

He referred to the patriotism displayed by the men and women in the armed services as the ultimate form.

“Failure to honor the veterans coming home from Vietnam is something that remains a national shame to this day.”

However, he added, “Dissent doesn’t make one unpatriotic,,” he said, referring to 1960s-era protests and riots.

“The anger and turmoil of that period never really wore away,” he told the crowd. “We can no longer afford these divisions. No party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism,” he said to a standing ovation.

Obama ended his stay in Independence with a walking tour of part of Harry Truman’s hometown, from the Truman Memorial Building west on Truman Road to the Truman home. He talked of Truman while walking along tree-lined sidewalks, stopping to chat with onlookers.

He even made his way up sidewalks to chat with homeowners.

When one couple, who live in a house across the street from the Truman home, told Obama the house was used by the Secret Service during Truman’s era, he turned and relayed the information to his own Secret Service agents before crossing the street and entering the Truman home.