Obama praises woman behind ‘Fired up’ chant as she retires

By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is marking the retirement of the South Carolina woman credited with popularizing the chant “Fired up, ready to go!” The chant came to epitomize Obama’s two presidential campaigns. The former president says Edith Childs’ energy played a key role in lifting his spirits and his candidacy. Obama’s remarks come in a video he recorded for Childs’ retirement from the Greenwood County Council after 24 years. The Obama Foundation provided the recording to The Associated Press. The former president recalls a campaign stop in Greenwood, South Carolina, on a dreary, rainy day in 2007. Obama says the small crowd was transformed as Childs led them in the rousing, back-and-forth chant, “Fired up, ready to go!”