Before Sen. Barack Obama's campaign even officially announced that he would be visiting Claflin University Saturday, callers from around the state were wanting to know how they could attend the event.

Now it's official. The Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate will speak at the university at 11 a.m. Saturday.

"There is a lot of excitement in the county, and a lot are looking forward to having an opportunity to meet the candidate," said Betty Henderson, Orangeburg County Democratic Party chairwoman.

"It is a privilege to have candidates of a national level to visit Orangeburg County," Henderson said. "Orangeburg County has really participated in the voters' process. Our participation is going to another level."

Obama is scheduled to speak at Claflin University's Tullis Arena in the Jonas T. Kennedy Health and Physical Education Center. Doors open at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Tickets, available on a first-come, first-serve basis, will be given out at the Davis Law Firm at 149 Centre Street from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday.

Tickets will also be available from the Office of University Relations and Marketing, South Carolina State University, 262 Crawford-Zimmerman Building, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Thursday and Friday.

Claflin University President Dr. Henry Tisdale called Obama's visit "a significant and wonderful opportunity for our students to observe, first-hand, the political process unfolding on a national level."

"We are honored that Sen. Obama chose us as the location for the citizens of this area to hear his political platform as presidential candidates explain their political agenda to the voters of South Carolina and as we head toward these early and very important primaries," Tisdale said.

Claflin University Director of Public Relations Helene Carter says Obama's visit has sparked a number of inquiries from people throughout the state.

Carter, however, says the university does not have any estimates of how many people will attend the event. Tullis Arena can seat approximately 2,000.

Obama's traveling press secretary, Dan Pfeiffer, said "We are seeing a lot of interest in Sen. Obama's events in South Carolina."

"This is his first visit to South Carolina as a presidential candidate, and he is excited to talk with the people of South Carolina about how we can change our politics and meet the challenges facing the country," he said.

It will be Obama's second visit to Orangeburg. He also spoke at Claflin in October 2004 when he was running for the U.S. Senate.

Political observers expect Orangeburg to garner the attention of Democratic candidates over the next year. It is a heavily Democratic county in a state slated to hold the first-in-the-South Democratic presidential primary.

The Democrats plan to hold their first presidential debate on April 26, 2007 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium on the South Carolina State University campus.

Henderson said she expects Orangeburg County to continue drawing candidates because of its place in South Carolina as a stronghold for Democratic politics.

"Any Democrat who looks at the South will look to Orangeburg County as the place they need to visit," Henderson said.

The Orangeburg event is Obama's second scheduled for the state this weekend.

On Friday, Obama is scheduled to speak at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Later Saturday, Obama is scheduled to speak in Richmond, Va.

Obama, 45, is the youngest candidate in the Democrats' 2008 primary field dominated by front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In his presidential bid announcement made last weekend, the first-term U.S. senator sought to distinguish himself as a staunch opponent of the Iraq War and a White House hopeful whose lack of political experience is an asset.

During his announcement, Obama talked about reshaping the economy for the digital age, investing in education, protecting employee benefits, insuring those who do not have health care, ending poverty, weaning America from foreign oil and fighting terrorism while rebuilding global alliances.

Obama graduated from Columbia University with a degree in political science and a specialty in international relations. He worked as a community organizer in some of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods, helping church groups create job-training programs, reform area schools and improve city services.

He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. After law school, Obama organized one of the largest voter registration drives in Chicago history to help Bill Clinton get elected president, and worked as a civil rights lawyer on voting rights and employment discrimination cases in federal and state courts.

Obama's elective career began 10 years ago in the Illinois legislature. He lost a bid for a U.S. House seat, then won the Senate seat in 2004.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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