Hundreds in Lehigh Valley line streets for glimpse of Obama

SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. – The wait was long and the wind was freezing. The big black limousine hurtled past in an all-too-momentary blur. But for hundreds who lined the streets of the Lehigh Valley yesterday, it was their first sighting of President Obama in the flesh.

And even if they caught only a glimpse, the bundled-up crowds relished the chance to offer an encouraging wave or a full-bellied boo.

“Yes we can!” shouted about 50 supporters as they danced to pop tunes outside Lehigh Carbon Community College, where Obama gave a talk on the economy. A few feet away, a crowd of similar size said the Pledge of Allegiance and yelled, “Go home!”

Those who wanted to give Obama a piece of their mind had a laundry list: bank bailouts, unemployment, his push for a health-care overhaul. A dozen abortion opponents also stood along Route 309, holding signs that blamed him for permitting the abortion of “future taxpayers.” Others criticized his announcement this week of a troop increase in Afghanistan, and at least 100 people protested the rate of government spending.

As the motorcade raced to the school, supporters cheered, and members of a group called the Lehigh Valley Project 912 Tea Party shouted “No-Bama!”

“This is not what we want to be doing,” said Linda Schmidtner, a founder of the group, a mother of two, and a small-business owner from Lower Saucon Township. “They’re not representing us.”

Frustrated with bailouts for corporations that she felt ignored the plight of workers, Schmidtner said, she had never been politically active before organizing the group.

“I had to do something with the frustration I had,” she said in the biting wind outside the college. “Now we have 1,000 members.”

Like Schmidtner, Diana Reimer, 67, of Lansdale, said she had never been politically active. But when her 71-year-old husband was told to retire or face a layoff, and they could not sell their home, Reimer grew frustrated.

“I’m not blaming Obama, I’m not saying he caused all this,” said Reimer, who is now state coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots. “But this government is getting bigger and bigger. Instead of taxing the people more, why don’t they cut out some of their perks?”

Diane McFarland, 51, of Whitehall, said this was her first protest, too. She held a sign with a red line through the words “Obama Care.”

After overcoming melanoma 19 years ago, McFarland said, she feels passionately about the health-care system and thinks the proposals being discussed in Washington have ignored such cost-saving measures as tort reform and letting businesses buy insurance out of state.

“They know that will save money,” she said. “But no one will ever talk about it.”

Inside the college’s auditorium, Obama was cheered.

“I didn’t hear a boo,” said Terry Miller, 70, a retired Pennsylvania Department of Transportation employee from Limeport. Miller was impressed with Obama’s candor.

“He didn’t spare anybody,” Miller said, noting that the president said he does not trust the financial markets to regulate themselves.

Other invitees took heart in the new employment numbers Obama mentioned: November’s job losses were down from previous months’, and unemployment leveled off from 10.2 percent to 10.

“I pretty much agree with everything he said,” said Alvin Changco, 41, a sustainable-building consultant from Reading. “We have to be patient. Unfortunately, we as Americans are impatient.”

Later, in nearby Allentown, another throng of onlookers and protesters stood across from the Hamilton Family Restaurant as Obama ate a cheeseburger with local business owners and Mayor Ed Pawlowski.

Zohrain Hirji, 28, and four other Allentown mothers brought their six children – Hirji has a young son – to glimpse the man who, she said, represents her generation and “the generation coming up.”

“We wanted the kids to see him,” said Hirji, an ethnic Indian who said she came over from London six years ago. The children chased leaves while Hirji craned for a view.

That view came in a fleeting moment, as the limousine pulled away, giving 58-year-old pharmacy technician Sherry Yochum, too, her first look at a president in Allentown.

Yochum had been going Christmas-shopping, got detoured by the entourage, and pulled over to gawk.

And there he was, waving through the smoked glass at her and everyone else as his car headed for the airport.

“That’s an excitement,” she said