"It was like Barack Obama was INSIDE her head"

For Christena Weatherspoon of Struthers, it was like Barack Obama was inside her head.

After the Democratic presidential candidate’s 45-minute address to at Youngstown State University, Weatherspoon said she was speechless. She said, "It was like he knows what I want."

She was not alone in the crowd of about 6,800 supporters who packed Beeghly Center for Obama’s first campaign rally in Ohio and responded enthusiastically to his message of "hope and change."

William Binning, retired political science professor at YSU, called Obama a "phenomenon" . . .

"This guy has drawn in a whole new layer of support," Binning said. "For the youth here, this is the most significant political event of their lives."

As if to prove Binning’s point, Jared Jacobs, 17, drove all the way from Ashtabula to see Obama. Jacobs, who said he will be 18 in time to vote in the November election, said, "I’ll never forget this. It’s one of the best moments of my life."

Obama brings message of Hope, by Stephen Oravecz. Tribune-Chronicle February 19, 2008.