Obama Praises Edith Childs, SC Volunteer, in Final Speech

President Barack Obama's final campaign speech ended with the story of Edith Childs, a Greenwood, S.C., resident who inspired a popular campaign slogan that has followed Obama for nearly five years.

Childs was one of just 20 or so folks at a 2007 Obama rally in rural South Carolina. When the crowd seemed less than enthused to meet then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama, Childs yelled out "Fired Up! Ready to Go!"

Since then, the chant has become a staple at Obama rallies all across the country, and it has fueled small-time fame for Childs, who has been using the chant since her days as a NAACP civil rights worker.

"She became a celebrity. She was written up in the Wall Street Journal," Obama told the crowd.

She has also traveled to the White House and in Charlotte at the Democratic National Convention this fall, Obama supporters stopped her on the street for photos and handshakes. She cast the state party's electoral votes for Obama on the second-to-last night of the convention, an honor usually reserved for Democratic Party officials.

Obama told a similar story about Childs at the close of his 2008 campaign.

Obama said he invited Childs to Iowa for the final rally to "get the band back together" but Childs said she preferred to spend the final days of the election in North Carolina. South Carolina is not considered a battleground state, but neighboring North Carolina has better — albeit long-shot odds — of falling into Obama's column.

“I’m still fired up, but I’ve got work to do,” she told the President.

Tearing up at times during what he said was his final campaign rally, Obama said Childs's spirit is inspiring.

“One voice can change a room. And if it can change a room, it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state. And if it can change a state, it can change a nation — and if it can change a nation, it can change the world.”