It did not take a “drug and wife beating scandal” for him to win. He was up in the polls over Blair Hull before the domestic abuse story came up. Hull was already going down, despite spending around $25 million of his own fortune on his campaign, because he hadn’t even been registered to vote prior to throwing his hat in the ring. Obama’s rise wasn’t a fluke. He won 53% of the vote in the primary despite having 6 opponents, and he had wide ranging support throughout Illinois, not just in Chicago. The guy is just that impressive, even though I admit I didn’t really know much about him before his primary victory.
Shorter Lib and John:
[sarcasm]
An inspired choice of forum!
[/sarcasm]
Before posting my OP, I did give a minute or so’s thought (about as much as it’s worth, IMHO) to my choice of forum. I quickly concluded that it didn’t exactly fit well anywhere, but flipped a mental coin and chose GD because the subject of the OP is a politician and his speech.
But I think it’s kinda stupid to criticize the placement of an OP in a particular forum without choosing an alternative, and explaining why you think the OP should have known right off* that your choice was the right one. Or at least that, by comparison with your choice, the forum chosen by the OP was clearly the wrong one.
*Right off, because it’s also stupid to criticize another’s forum choice if you acknowledge that it’s a borderline call.
PaulFitzroy, you are way off base, and out of line. Your posts are on the borderline of a well desered pitting.
This man is damn impressive, and would be regardless of his skin color, and regardless of what you think of Jackson and Sharpton. His oratory, the strength of his ideas, his intellect, the rightness of his idealism: all are on the highest level. That combination will win him a lot of support, regardless of skin. He has mine from that one speech alone. A man to watch.
I agree that there doesn’t seem to be any real debate here, though. There’s a MSPIMS thread with virtually the same content.
Maybe the debate is, is there a reasonably good chance that Obama could become a leader of National significance in the near future?
If Bush returns to office (God help us), I’d throw my support behind Obama for 2008. Sorry, Hillary, but you’re too polarizing.
You know, my Momma told me, “If you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything at all.” I am glad to see you opted for the latter.
I don’t know about Lib, but I wasn’t criticising the placement of your OP. GD is, in fact, the proper forum for witnessing.
Have you ever actually heard Jesse Jackson give a speech? I have memories that his convention speeches were a hell of a lot better than just about any other besides Mario Cuomo’s “city on a hill” speech. Actually, if speech time were allotted on the basis of speech quality, I think we might need some quotas for white politicians. 
I’m afraid I must agree. I’m not knocking the guy, but this “channeling MLK” stuff is way, way over the top.
Actually, now that I think about it, I rather hope he’s not channeling Dr. King. If he’s the Dem.'s new spokesmodel for Black America, and he pulls some of the stunts MLK did, the right-wing dirtmongers will ruin his career and smear the whole party in the meantime.
Yeah, me too neither or me neither too.
Not that it really matters, RTFirefly, but it might have been more appropriate to post in this thread (as I did), as it deals with the convention. Personally doesn’t make any difference to me where you posted it, but it does deal with aspects of BG’s other thread and would have fit in there.
-XT
Many around the world were duly impressed by Obama… and I have seen then saying he will be the future POTUS…
Just watched his speech video… and I had a funny feeling that he is a great speaker (didn’t read ! wow!) and seems passionate enough. Still something about him bugged me… can’t quite put my finger on it. Still WAY better than W. Bumbling around the Bush speeches.
We will follow his tenure as a senator very closely. Lets see what he is made of.
I’m not sure how tactful this sounds, but I didn’t see him as a “black speaker”. Maybe that either reveals a prejudice (I expect “black” oratory to be delivered in a certain way) or lack of prejudice (I saw just another candidate up there) on my part. Aside from his comment on inner city school children viewing learning as ‘acting white’ - he was not making a big deal of race itself.
Let’s say Obama is elected, and Kerry is our next president. We will then have two rather forceful advocates for African affairs (him and Heinz-Kerry) in Washington who have some real direct knowledge of the continent (and don’t see interest in African affairs as simply a way to pander for black votes). That may have some real impact on our long neglected African policy.
I would have, if I had noticed it before posting. I checked to make sure I didn’t post a duplicate thread about Obama, but I didn’t think to be looking for a general Dem Convention thread when I scanned GD before posting.
That’s a good one. I’ll give it a go.
Let’s think this through (strictly in terms of possible presidential aspirations):
'04, Kerry runs.
If Kerry wins, he’ll run for re-election in '08. If Kerry wins re-election, and barring a second-term scandal, Edwards would be the presumptive nominee in '12 (and Obama might be a fine VP choice in that event), pushing Obama’s presdiential aspirations back at least to '16 or maybe '20.
If Kerry loses re-election in '08, could set up Obama vs. Edwards vs. Hillary primary in '12. He might still be perceived as a bit green then (as Edwards is perceived by some now). '16 or '20 might be more realistic.
If Kerry loses this year, all hell breaks loose. Edwards and Hillary will be duking it out for the nomination in '08, and maybe Dean might take another crack at it too. Obama would have less than 4 years in the Senate, still too green for a run.
I have to think that after 8 years of Bush the electorate would be ready for a Democrat which would mean that (again) Obama gets pushed back to '16 or '20.
Sixteen years down the pike, he’ll be 58. If he keeps his nose clean in the interim, that could be his time.
Obviously, all of this is wildly premature. We’re assuming that he has no skeletons in his closet, does a good job in the Senate, fends off re-election challenges there, and keeps his closet skeleton-free between now and whenever he might run.
Still, I was impressed enough with Obama’s presence last night to contemplate the possibility of him running for the White House one day. He was the very definition of “Presidential,” IMO. Hopeful, inspiring, and maybe just as importantly, challenging. He didn’t just pander to the American people, he made demands of them, too. That’s what a leader should do.
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You’re welcome to send Al ‘Tawana’ Sharpton back under his rock. But while Jesse Jackson’s time may have passed, he was a pretty damned good orator - and won some primaries back in 1988 by getting a lot of votes from working-class whites, fwiw.
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I wouldn’t describe Obama as handsome. Before he got warmed up, my reaction to his looks was that he had a geeky face, and his ears stuck out like jar handles. His words made me forget about all of that.
Which means he’s 7 years younger than Clinton was when Clinton called himself the ‘comeback kid’.
At any rate, he’s a number of years younger than me, and looks about 29. I stand by my right as a codger to refer to him as a ‘kid’.
As one old codger to another, I’d say that’s fair enough. 
Say what you will about Sharpton, but I give him major props for holding his own in the primary debates. The guy doesn’t mince words or censor himself, but he isn’t “blubbering” in the least. A guy like him would not go far if he was “blubbering”.
As for JJ, he isn’t blubbering either. He isn’t my most favorite person, but like Al, at least he isn’t afraid to point out the reeking Bushit. There hasn’t been much he has done recently that I didn’t agree with.
I’m SICK of people holding up Sharpton and Jesse as the only two “black” leaders in the USA. Um…there are plenty of black councilmen, congressmen, civic leaders, etc. who are respectable and admirable. Pointing at Sharpton and Jesse all the time is like pointing at Jerry Farwell, Pat Buchanan, or Rush Limbaugh as type specimens of the white community’s leadership.
Obama’s blackness strikes a chord only for those who want to make it a goddamn issue. Being a black American myself, it pleases me that this popular, well-qualified candidate is also in my demographic group. But I’m also pleased with John Kerry and John Edwards and my own state representatives (well…most of them) who are the whitest white men in the world.
Personally, I think the amount of admiration and praise heaped upon Condi Rice is disproportionate to her credentials and performance (She’s so smart. Lookit! She can play the piano while balancing her doctoral thesis on the tip on her nose!) I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama’s blackness is a part of his magical appeal for people. However, you better believe that most of his appeal comes from the fact that he’s on our side and he’s up-and-coming.
Obama did not pass Hull in polling until after the scandals broke. First the drugs then the beatings.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/us_senate/articles/2004/03/09/poll_obama_takes_lead_in_ill_race/
Living in Illinois, I’d heard a lot of buzz about Obama (and I did vote for him in the primary because we seemed best matched), but I hadn’t seen him speak before. I was really stunned. He does have a good story, and he managed to make some very lofty remarks sound very sincere. Having seen that, I do think it’s possible he could be President some day.
I think what impressed me the most about him was that he didn’t seem nervous or newbie-like at all. The speech didn’t sound over-rehearsed or penned by someone else; you could tell it was his words. It actually didn’t sound like a speech. Sure, there were cliches and the occasional flowery phrase, and he tended to overpunctuate his sentences with hand gestures. But his candences were perfectly placed and his flow was natural, almost as if he was making up the stuff as he was going along. I think that was why it was easy to listen to him. Simply put, he broke things down.
If only Kerry could take some pointers from this dude! Obama was passionate without looking like a emotional podium-pounder. He said all the right things in the right way, but you could also get a feel for his stance on things. He was captivating. Kerry captivates very few people. He seems dry in comparison. I’m glad Obama spoke when he did and wasn’t slated to talk right before Kerry. It would have been a tough act to follow.