President Barack Obama last night told a huge crowd in Des Moines, Iowa the story of how his campaign’s memorable phrase, “Fired Up! Ready to Go!” came into being. It’s an awesome story, truly endearing, humanizing, and heartwarming, and one, frankly, that President Obama should have told on the trail more often this year.
“You taught me to bet on hope,” the President told supporters, who have been with him in Iowa for the past five years.
A Greenville, South Carolina woman, Edith Childs, is the person who created the now-iconic phrase, as Obama tells the story, via CNN:
“Iowa, in 2008 your vote changed the world and Edith Childs asked me to ask you that if you’re willing to stand with me tomorrow … she’s pretty sure we’ll win Iowa,” Obama said. “She’s pretty sure we’ll win this election, and she just has one question for you and that is, are you fired up?”
To which the crowd of 20,000 chanted, “Ready to go.”
“Long before most people even knew his name, you saw what I saw,” she said. “Tomorrow we get to finish what we started here.”
While the president showed his feelings through a few tears streaming down his face, the first lady also acknowledged it is an “emotional time” for her family.
“This is the final event of my husband’s final campaign,” she said. “This is the last time he and I will be on stage together at a campaign rally. That is why we wanted to come to Iowa tonight because truly this is where it all began, right here.”
Watch: