[jmstein7]

This guy needs to be defeated. Someone get Ditka!

[mlmr]

Do we have a picture?

[BenLurkin]

Who is this guy/gal? I've never heard of him(her).

[presidentbowen]

God Save Illinois!

[smonk]

the same state elected carol mosely-braun, and I guess everyone knows how that turned out . . .

[KAUAIBOUND]

Two questions:
1. The article states that he went to Hawaii's top prep school - does anyone know if it was Iolani or Punahou? I know it wasn't Hawaii Prep.

2. How left is he?

That aside, he appears to be potentially dangerous future Jackass Party candidate for a national office, based just on his speaking skills and appearance (shovels it well/just needs a few sex scandals to make the soccer moms quiver)

[shiva]

They had to talk Obama up because Terasa bombed out soooooo bad. She also has put on the pounds.

[Cacique]

I thought you were mis-spelling Osama.

[unixfox]

This is ridiculous, this guys name has been bandied about over the last few days like he is some kind of rock star. He's just another black democrat that the media wants to cling to.

By next month he will be a nobody. He's a flash in the pan.

[Malsua]

I watched his speech. He's slick, he's clear, he's concise. He could indeed be a president. I don't agree with his politics, but he definately could convince legions with his presentation. Hell, he almost convinvced me until I started doing searches on his name here on FR Face it, him or Kerry 2004, this guy wins. He's only slightly right of Kerry, but I'd take that slight advantage over flipper. I frankly don't think race is that big of an issue any longer. I don't see it that way. Kerry, Obama I vote Obama Obama Rice, I vote Rice Race isn't an issue for me(hasn't ever been), and I don't think I'm alone.

[fso301]

He's not at all a polished public speaker. He has a "herky jerkyness" to him but he is a fast talker. As a fast talker, he can say everything but most people will hear only something.

[Lancey Howard]

Obama is an oily scumbag who I predict will have all the staying power of Pokemon. Popular gangstas like Obama come and go all the time - - big, bright white teeth only take you so far. Ten years ago it was Jim Florio of New Jersey who was the Democrat Party's "Presidential timber".

[Mini-14]

Anyone who thinks that Obama could not possibly end up in the Whitehouse has their head buried in the sand. I saw his speech and it was overpowering. Obama is absolutely brilliant and charismatic speaker, and comes off as a genuinely nice guy.

His policies, well that's another matter...

[StockAyatollah]

What the hell is "remarkable" about his bio. He's a mixed-race kid who went to prep school and became, yet another, commie lawyer and fought to give productive peoples' money to someone else. Big friggin' deal. If he were 100% white, we'd never had heard of him.

[Reagan Man]

He's unapologetically liberal.

Perspective.

Tim Russert mentioned on MTP the Sunday that Obama was on, that the GOP leader of the Illinois state senate once said Obama is left of Mao Tse-tung. That was probably a little over the top, but the politics shouldn't be lost on anyone.

[Soul Seeker]

Obama is a Liberal.

Obama is not a god.

I will not join mounting hysteria over this man based on this performance.

He is a typical young liberal. Which is to say that energy serves to distract from his message. AS liberals age they have to struggle with the loss of that vitality youth provides. Most lose their humor in the process. If you want the perfect example look at Katie Couric's decline as her wrinkles have advanced.

Obama's biggest obstacle, at the moment, will be if he can retain looks and energy as age progresses.

He is a possible threat down the line. The solution is not to attack him. It isn't to build him up into an undefeatable god. That will only serve to build his reputation as it served Clinton. The best procedure to counter him is to acknowledge it was a stylistic speech, hit the right upbeat note for the evening. Then focus on grooming young conservatives to counter him. Quietly, without making it seem it is down out of desperation.

Obama is not a threat in the present. It better that threat has been identified while the opportunity exists to counter him in future.

[GVnana]

Clinton/Barak '08.

[luvbach1]

I was unimpressed with his slick delivery, pushing of hot buttons, distortions of truth, and frequent cliches.But he looks like just the candidate Demonrats like.

[RandDisciple]

My nephew in Chicago and a friend of mine have both met Obama quite a few times. The friend through his job and my nephew had played basketball with him at East Bank Club a few times. Both are Republicans and both say Obama is about the nicest, most presentable guy you could ever be around. They both say they will not vote for him because he is so liberal, but I can tell they have debated maybe doing so. He is going to be impossible to beat for the senate seat and a threat for higher office down the road.

[skeeter]

He's not only a good candidate, but a lucky one. The man he was supposed to run against, Republican Jack Ryan, dropped out recently when unsealed divorce papers said he had dragged his wife, TV actress Jeri Lynn Ryan, to sex clubs.

Lucky my ass. He was a benificary of the democrat/judicial/media slime machine.

[LandOfLincolnGOP]

I keep reading these threads about Obama, and am continually shocked by how desperate people are to write this guy off. I'll say it one more time:

If you think making fun of his name will be enough...

If you think you can lump him in with nutjobs like Jesse and Al...

If you think that describing him as "fruity" is clever or useful in the face of his sophistication, good looking family, and church-going image...

...then, quite frankly, you're high, and I hope you share some of what you're smoking to help us all get through the years he spends in the White House down the road.

Do not, do not, DO NOT underestimate this guy. (And stop harping on his name, it just makes us seem small-minded.)