The Lakewood Observer

Illinois Senator and Democrat Candidate Barack Obama visited Balwin-Wallace University Tuesday on a two-campaign trip through Ohio.

Obama was accompanied by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio. Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones was also in attendance. Strickland and Jones stumped for Hilary Clinton during the Ohio Primary but now back Senator Obama as the Presidential Candidate for the Democratic Party.

The Town Hall meeting gave Ohio residents the opportunity to ask the Senator questions. A member of the press was so eager to ask his question, that he waited two sentences into the Senator's speech and disrupted the crowd by asking why the Pledge of Allegiance was skipped.

An estimated 2,500 people rose to their feet and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Tickets for the free event, which were released August 4, disappeared by noon the same day.

Strickland, Brown and Obama took jabs at rival Republican Candidate John McCain for being "four more years of the same George W. Bush policies" and vowed to invest in energy programs that will generate more jobs across the country and keep the environment clean.

Obama vouched for tax breaks for individuals that bought high-tech electronic cars and for car companies that produced them. Obama will head to Indiana and Virginia to finish up the week of campaigning.

1 of 39 - Timon, the on-duty bomb sniffing canine, takes a break from sniffing camera equipment and enjoys his owner's company.