Posted on 10/21/2008 4:59:47 PM PDT by ethical
MAKING OF A CANDIDATE Obama knows his way around a ballot
By David Jackson and Ray Long | Tribune staff reporters 6:48 PM CDT, April 3, 2007
The day after New Year's 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
There they began the tedious process of challenging hundreds of signatures on the nominating petitions of state Sen. Alice Palmer, the longtime progressive activist from the city's South Side. And they kept challenging petitions until every one of Obama's four Democratic primary rivals was forced off the ballot.
Fresh from his work as a civil rights lawyer and head of a voter registration project that expanded access to the ballot box, Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens.
But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer.
The man now running for president on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it.
One of the candidates he eliminated, long-shot contender Gha-is Askia, now says that Obama's petition challenges belied his image as a champion of the little guy and crusader for voter rights.
"Why say you're for a new tomorrow, then do old-style Chicago politics to remove legitimate candidates?" Askia said. "He talks about honor and democracy, but what honor is there in getting rid of every other candidate so you can run scot-free? Why not let the people decide?"
Go to
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-070403obama-ballot-archive,0,5693903.story
to read the rest of the story.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
This has been known for a very long time. I’m frankly somewhat surprised that nobody has called out Barack Hussein Obama on this.
I haven’t even read about it in any newspaper or on TV.
And this is yet another thing that the McCain camp could use against Barry Obomber but never will.
BO is a typical Chicago Democrat thug.
How do you think he can use this without the media crucifying him?
The headline is misleading. He eliminated petition signatures to boot others off the ballot, not actual ballots. Like Gore.
The Chicago Tribune has done some really good reporting. Why don’t people pay attention to the guys on the ground? Particularly now with Obama’s lawyers going after the McCain campaign for demanding an investigation into ACORN fraud.
Obama justified throwing out petition signatures not based on fraud but, basically, clerical errors.
“But the unsparing legal tactics were justified, [Obama] said, by obvious flaws in his opponents’ signature sheets. “To my mind, we were just abiding by the rules that had been set up,” Obama recalled.
“I gave some thought to … should people be on the ballot even if they didn’t meet the requirements,” he said. “My conclusion was that if you couldn’t run a successful petition drive, then that raised questions in terms of how effective a representative you were going to be.”
Yes, petition signatures. Still, the signature acts as a vote to get someone on the ballot.
Oh Lord, please let there be a problem with his birth certificate.
I’ve wondered why McCain hasn’t brought this up. Doesn’t seem like ACORN is much of a CHANGE from Chicago politics that Obama is a part of.
Oh Lord, please let there be a problem with his birth certificate.
And please let it happen BEFORE the election...unless we as a nation have it coming.
Was probably taught how to get around the legal system in college.
Thread bump!
If this doesn't scare you, you better check for a pulse!
Unpleasant, but a must see.
http://www.usawakeup.org/USSA.htm
(sorry about the non-link - not very good at this stuff - just cut and paste, it's worth your time.
This too close to reality to be funny.
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