“If I win, the Democrats might get the Senate back, the Senate will be diversified and the Senate will get a spine,” State Senator Barack Obama said to the NIU community.

Obama spoke Thursday to a group of about 40 students, professors and local residents as part of his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat.

Obama said the upcoming presidential election may be the most important election of his lifetime. He said the current race for the Illinois Senate seat may be the second most important.

Obama said the effect of the current political regime on the next generation will be worse than that of the previous.

“The role of the current regime is that of protecting the powerful against the powerless,” he said.

With his suit jacket hung on a chair and shirtsleeves rolled up, Obama said Americans need an opportunity to make a living wage, to retire with dignity, to receive a good education and not to go bankrupt when they are sick.

“We can have it if we change things just a little bit,” he said.

Obama’s first legislation as a U.S. senator would be to improve health care. Obama said the need for businesses and labor to have affordable health care puts America in a position for political alignment change.

Obama said people are motivated to remove President George W. Bush and, because of this, Democrats have an advantage in Illinois. In regard to his own campaign, Obama said he thinks he has an advantage as a state senator with a record of accomplishments.

Donna Dalton, acting president for the College Democrats and a sophomore political science major, said Obama “is well spoken – one of the most intelligent candidates – eloquent and very electable.”

“I think out of all the Democratic candidates, he will make the best improvement,” said Eric Reyes, a law student and president of Generation Dean, a student organization that supported Howard Dean. “Putting Barack Obama in office is a crucial first step in returning the Democratic Party to its progressive roots and ensuring a better path for the American public.”