When Maya Soetoro-Ng was a child, Barack Obama was the man of the house.
Nine years her senior, Obama pushed his half sister to solve harder math problems. He took her to bookstores and museums. And he fueled her passion for teaching when he got her a job as a swim coach.
“Barack became the man in our lives,” Soetoro-Ng, 38, told a crowd in Denver on Tuesday. “And he certainly was the man of mine.”
Soetoro-Ng told stories about Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, often drawing laughter and applause at the Rude Park Recreation Center, where she spoke to about 150 campaigners before heading to a fundraiser in Boulder.
Soetoro-Ng is the latest campaign surrogate to visit Colorado, considered a presidential battleground state. Last month, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke at the state Republican convention on behalf of John McCain.
Soetoro-Ng, a teacher from Hawaii, plans to travel the country, sharing Obama’s story and courting voters.
Just like every man, she said, he has his flaws.
“He’s cute, but he has those ears,” she said, drawing laughs.
But he also has the gift of bringing out the best in people, she said.
“He’s a genuinely good man. And not only does he push us, but he pushes us in the very best sense of the word — not push us down or to the side, but up,” she said. “He buoys us.”
Obama and Soetoro-Ng are the children of Ann Dunham Soetoro. After Obama’s father left when he was 2, she remarried but divorced again soon after Soetoro-Ng’s birth.
Obama has a lot in common with their mother, Soetoro-Ng said.
“She was never afraid of dialogue,” she said. “And I think she passed this gift to my brother.”
Soetoro-Ng said she has enjoyed hearing others on the trail.
Chris Stevens, a 22-year-old fellow for the campaign, said he quit his job at the New York State Assembly to join the Obama team. He said it was nice to see Obama’s sister speak.
“She was incredible,” he said. “And I appreciate the insight she gave us. It provided a window inside his character.”
The more than 3,500 fellows across the country, including about 150 in Colorado, are in charge of voter registration drives and organizing.
Soetoro-Ng said they are helping shape the country.
“I feel like the landscape was pretty barren before — or maybe there was just a lot of debris. There was a lot of scorched material,” she said. “Well, what you’re doing is helping to clear the path in front of you so collectively we have someplace to walk.”
Sandy Sherman, an Obama campaign member from Boulder, said Soe toro-Ng is a lot like the Illinois senator.
“She’s very charismatic,” she said. “She’s beautiful and warm. Since she’s a schoolteacher, she has a presence of ease with the audience.”
Online.
Christopher Sanchez: 303-954-1698 or csanchez@denverpost.com
