The new face of the Democrats?

Salon.com ^ | 3/30/2004 | Scott Turow

[refusenix]

March 30, 2004  |  CHICAGO -- I met Barack Obama, the new Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, eight years ago, at the home of mutual friends. Making introductions, our hostess suggested we had a good deal in common. Like me, Obama was an author -- he had recently published an autobiography, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" -- and he was a graduate of Harvard Law School, my legal alma mater. Unlike me, however, Obama was about to step into politics as a candidate for the Illinois State Senate from Hyde Park, home of the University of Chicago and a stretch of poor neighborhoods that run west from there. I spent much of the evening speaking to Obama and his wife, Michelle, yet another Harvard Law School graduate, and bought Obama's book the next day, which I praised when we met again. In the ensuing years I have stayed in touch with him, observing the ups and downs of his political career.

At the moment, Obama's career is way up, the result of one of the more impressive political victories in recent Illinois history. Sixteen months ago, when he entered the U.S. Senate race here, the odds seemed decidedly against Obama, who was running in his first statewide contest and whose Kenyan last name rhymes uncomfortably with Osama. Yet on March 16, Obama captured 53 percent of the vote in a six-person field, more than double the vote garnered by his nearest competitor, Illinois' comptroller, Dan Hynes. Hynes, who comes across as quiet, competent and likable, had been elected statewide twice before, and as the son of the former Cook County assessor, he is a scion of Chicago's Democratic machine, whose apparatus was fully behind him throughout the campaign. Despite that, Obama outpolled Hynes even in Hynes' home ward in Chicago. Coming in a distant third in the race was Blair Hull, who made half a billion dollars in the brokerage business and who spent $29 million of it on the primary. As the result of an early TV blitz, Hull led in the polls, until a past that included spousal-abuse charges and chemical-dependency treatment sank him.

Barack Obama now becomes the national flag-bearer for Democratic hopes to retake the U.S. Senate, which the Republicans hold by one vote. He is hoping to win the seat being vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald, whose quixotic maneuvers in the Senate left him bereft of support at the end of one term. Handsome, poised, intelligent, Obama has already begun to attract national attention, as he moves toward becoming only the third African-American elected to the Senate in more than a century.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

It is a shame since he was such an unlikely candidate to get elected in the first place. The GOP in Illinois isn't much different than the dems. Although, to be fair to George Ryan, he didn't raise taxes like Chicagovich (blagojevich).

[refusenix]

But what does that mean?

[anonymous_user]

unlikely candidate to get elected in the first place...

All he had to do was appear more competent than a lady who thought we planted a flag on Mars. :)

[capt. norm]

His name sounds (and looks) too much like Osama.

If you think voters are too intelligent to base their votes on soomething that stupid, you are failing to heed the advice of P.T. Barnum.

[techcor]

FEE FIE FO FOMA OSAMA"

Ok, now lets do "Chuck"!

[petercooper]

whatever you want it to mean

[dirtboy]

I see our belligerent newbie is no longer with us. Was he a frequent flier?

[glock rocks]

good nose there, dirtboy.

he wanted discussion?

I'm shocked... he never replied to #5.

[q_an_a]

fair to geo. ryan?? he is under a dozen clouds for graft and in his last days cancelled all death penalty sentences. Ryan was easliy the worst gov in any party in the last decade.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

He will be found to be better than Chigagovich or Walker.

And while the only surprise is that there are politicians in Illinois that aren't indicted, it's ironic that Ryan gets indicted for running a scam in a heavily controlled democratic area, when there are geographically so many more Republican controlled areas that he could have made a fortune in without anyone ever noticing.

[Qwinn]

Who the new face of the Democrats is doesn't matter all that much when Al Franken has just become the designated voice of the Democrats. It'll still sound like a dork.

Qwinn

[petercooper]

go to hell, schmuck

[Admin Moderator]

A personal attack for your very first post? Not a good start but a good ending. Goodbye.

[DMZFrank]

Is any one out there worried about the outcome of the Senate race? I am.

While I agree that Jack Ryan should be the next Senator from the State of Illinois, he might not be. Unlike Carol Mostly Fraud, Obama is genuinely articulate, polished, charismatic, well educated (in semi-Marxist philosophy) and presents a great appearance. He is the type of black liberal that the liberal press loves to extol. They will give short shrift to the bankrupt liberalism of his ideas and focus on the opportunity that the Illinois electorate has to make history and send this anointed liberal political saint to the Senate. If ever a political race should be about ideas and philosophy, then this one should be it. It's hard to imagine a starker contrast between the ideas of the candidates. Barack Obama thinks that the purpose of government is to equalize outcomes between different groups of people, and Jack Ryan thinks the free market and individual merit should prevail. I fear that this race will be framed by the mainstream media has an opportunity for Illinois to show the nation how progressive we are by voting in the socialist Barack Obama.

At every opportunity we must bring the focus of this race to a comparison of the merits of the ideas of the respective candidates rather that a forum on PC.

[dirtboy]

The trolls seem to think they can disguise themselves. As if we haven't seen just about every troll disguise variation many times already.

Makes me pine for ol' Toiletman. Now THERE was a troll. No disguises, just in your face posting until he was booted. And highly entertaining abuse and personal attacks, instead of this lame-assed "echo chamber" bleating we get from the twits nowadays.

[dirtboy]

I mean really, do you think this is clever?

This coming from a troll who misrepresented himself throughout the thread.