WEST PALM BEACH - Broward County builder and Army Reserve Lt. Col. Julian Garvin paid $100, because he wanted to see "the candidate of the future, who can communicate across all lines."
Delray Beach retiree and Democratic Club leader Sam Lender came to see the "fresh face" candidate who had the foresight to oppose the Iraq war early on.
Mary Hubbs, a Republican and assisted living facility owner from Pompano Beach, is so fed up with GOP leadership she wanted to personally size up the new Democratic star who seems so appealing.
"I have never been more excited and more passionate about a presidential campaign and a presidential candidate than I am about Sen. Barack Obama," shouted U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton. He dubbed Obama a John Kennedy for a new generation.
The Temptations' "Get Ready," blared from speakers before Obama took to the stage.
He called on the more than 600 people at the Kravis Center to fight cynicism and embrace a new kind of politics.
"This campaign cannot just be about me. I am confident in my capacity to lead this country, but I can't do it alone," the Illinois senator told the cheering crowd Sunday.
"When ordinary people stand up, they can do extraordinary things. That's always been our history. So I want you guys to stand up with me."
The reception was among five fundraisers Obama held throughout South Florida on Sunday, most of them far pricier than the $100 per person West Palm Beach reception.
Many Democrats in the half-filled Kravis Center ballroom were undecided voters eager to check out the newest Democratic sensation who's threatening to knock off front-runner Hillary Clinton.
"It is so refreshing to have an African-American candidate bring out this many people," said an ebullient Palm Beach County Commissioner Addie Greene, waiting for Obama to sign his bestselling book, The Audacity of Hope, which she brought to the event.
The 45-year-old, first-term senator is being billed as a new kind of candidate to transcend partisan, slash-and-burn politics.
But the broad platform he laid out Sunday sounded little different from any other Democrat: improve schools, increase teacher pay, restore America's international standing, push energy independence and universal health care by the end of his first term.
Campaigning among Florida Democrats, he threw in a call to "count every vote" and embraced paper trails for voting machines.
"He's got the charisma, the intelligence and has everything going for him, but I want to hear how he's going to do all that," nurse Shelley Nathan said after the speech. "I want to hear his plans. Those were all sound bites."
Obama, who opposed authorizing force in Iraq and calls for all combat troops to be withdrawn by March 2008, said the country's domestic agenda is largely dependent on what happens in Iraq.
"We can't initiate all these creative ideas to solve our domestic problems if we don't bring war in Iraq to a close. We can't spend $100 billion every year and still fund early childhood education, still provide for universal health care," he said.
Sunday was Obama's first Florida campaign swing since announcing for president, but he'll be back often in the coming days and weeks. Private fundraisers are scheduled for Friday in Tallahassee and Jacksonville.
On April 15, Obama will be in Tampa for a high-dollar fundraiser at the home of Jean Lykes and Charlie Burr and a $25-per-head reception at the Cuban Club in Ybor City.
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