Older voters see parallels between Obama and some past presidents

  When 97-year-old Keifer Shipp went to work in 1933, he made $2 an hour.

  The job, created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and The New Deal, helped put him on the path to financial independence during the Great Depression.

  Shipp said that's when people in the community began to get jobs again.

  "Things began to pick up a little bit. People seemed to have more money."

  Shipp, a Somerton resident, said if President-elect Barack Obama initiates a public works program, he hopes that it will similarly stimulate the faltering economy today.

  According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, and 524,000 Americans lost their jobs in December.

  The tough economic times may have some comparing Obama with FDR, but there is another former president with whom older voters sometimes compare Obama, who will be sworn into office Tuesday.

  Keifer and his wife, Grace, said they see similarities with the Obamas and the Kennedy family because of the excitement and hope that many people feel in the community.

  Grace Shipp said the Kennedys definitely had a lot of attention on them, similar to the Obamas.

  The level of attention isn't the only parallel some people draw.

  Natacha Dannenberg of Yuma said she compares Obama, the nation's first black president, with Kennedy because of the controversy surrounding him, particularly the negative attacks during the campaign because Kennedy was the first Catholic president.

  "They said (Kennedy) was going to be ruled by the pope," Dannenberg said. "You put someone out there who is a little bit different, and all of this nastiness comes out."

  Even though they said they don't know what the future holds, the Shipps said Obama has big shoes to fill from presidents past.

 "I sure hope he's on the right track (because) it's going to be tough, getting out of this," Keifer Shipp said.

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Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.