When he stepped onto the platform at Muhlenberg College’s Memorial Hall in Allentown on Monday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) became the first presidential candidate since Richard Nixon to campaign in the Lehigh Valley.

Following the footsteps of former President Bill Clinton, who campaigned in the same hall less than two weeks before him, and preceding his Democratic opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Obama sounded his theme of hope and change to an estimated 3,500 cheering supporters.

The senator departed to the blasting sound system that played Stevie Wonders’ “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” following the conclusion of his 55-minute address.