KOKOMO — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said “the fierce urgency of now” had compelled him to seek the nation’s highest office, drawing roars to the rafters in Kokomo’s Memorial Gym Friday.

The first presidential candidate to visit Kokomo since Ronald Reagan in 1980, Obama drew an audience stunning in its ethnic balance and rapt in its devotion.

And he wasted no time addressing Kokomo’s economic woes.

“You can’t negotiate over anything except trying to keep the health insurance you’ve got, your city just passed 7 percent unemployment, you’re making $6,000 less on average than the typical American family, and you’ve lost 4,000 jobs since the start of the Bush administration,” Obama said of the City of Firsts.

“I’m running for president because of places like Kokomo, Ind.”

Downplaying differences with Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, Obama said no matter what the outcome of the Democratic primary, “the Democrats will be unified in November.”

“Because whatever differences I’ve got with Senator Clinton, and she has with me, they pale in comparison with the differences we’ve got with John McCain,” he said.

Calling McCain “a genuine hero, worthy of our respect,” Obama nonetheless said “John McCain is running for George Bush’s third term.”

“The failed war in Iraq, the failed economic policies, the 232,000 jobs we’ve lost since the beginning of the year — we can’t afford four more years of a George Bush economy, so the Democrats will be unified in November.”

The three things Obama said he offers as a candidate have by now become familiar with voters.

“First, I’ll drive the special interests out of Washington, and the American people’s agenda comes first,” he said. “Second, I’ll bring people together so we don’t have a bunch of bickering in Washington. And third, we need a president who tells the truth to the American people.”

The third point drew a standing ovation, and the loudest cheers of the entire event.

With Obama and Clinton staking out many of the same claims regarding domestic policies — both calling for massive investment in clean energy, education, veterans’ benefits and health care — Obama treaded gingerly when casting himself as the more likely agent of change.

“(Clinton’s) making similar claims, so why is it we haven’t got health care reform? All these folks talking about all the experience they’ve got — why haven’t they got it done?” he said.

“If we think we can get a different kind of health care with the same kind of politics, we’re mistaken,” he said.