Posted on 07/27/2004 7:51:30 PM PDT by jmstein7
One rival politician from his home state of Illinois has called Barack Obama "the Tiger Woods of politics."
But that comparison is unfair - to Obama. The 42-year-old U.S. Senate front-runner and Tuesday night's keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention is having a much, much better year than the struggling golfer.
Obama's already been the subject of a publicity avalanche that's included a 5,744-word profile in the New Yorker - not bad for a politician who's never been elected to anything higher than the Illinois state Senate.
Bidding to become just the third African-American since Reconstruction to win a Senate seat, Obama has been leading by 20 percent in the polls - and that was before his original GOP foe dropped out because of a lurid sex scandal.
Even before the balloons and confetti were swept up from his Democratic primary victory in March, the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "If he is elected in November, Obama will immediately replace Colin Powell as the person most talked about to be the first African-American elected president of the United States."
Who the heck is this guy? Here are 10 things you might want to know about Tuesday night's star, Barack Obama.
1. He has a remarkable bio - one that prompted the Democrat's 2000 keynote speaker, Harold Ford Jr., to call him "an American story."
His father was a Kenyan - also named Barack Obama - who was studying economics in Hawaii and later left for Harvard and then his home country, never to return. His mother was an 18-year-old white woman from Kansas. Her second husband was an Indonesian oil manager, so Obama spent part of his youth in Jakarta.
His family struggled, but Obama went to Hawaii's top prep school, then Columbia and Harvard Law School, where he was the first African-American to edit the law review.
2. His first name means "blessing" in Swahili. On the campaign trail, he wins voters over by joking about his unusual name and says that it rhymes with "Yo Mama" - although he steers away from its rhyme to a certain Middle Eastern terrorist.
3. He declared that Iraq didn't have ties to al-Qaida or weapons of mass destruction - back in 2002. The same autumn that candidates John Kerry and John Edwards were voting to authorize President Bush to go to war, Obama was speaking at anti-war rallies.
"I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars," he said two years ago.
4. He can be candid about his past. In 1995, he published his autobiography, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," and admitted that as a teenager he experimented not only with marijuana but with cocaine.
"I guess you'd have to say I wasn't a politician when I wrote the book," he told the New Yorker. "I wanted to show how and why some kids, maybe especially young black men, flirt with danger and self-destruction."
5. He's very supportive of Bill Cosby's recent controversial comments about African-American teenagers, their parents, and black popular culture.
"I understand the basic premise that Bill Cosby was talking about, and I think he's right about it," Obama said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "There's got to be an element of individual responsibility and communal responsibility for the uplift of the people in inner-city communities."
6. When asked, he says he considers himself an African-American. "The reason that I've always been comfortable with that description is not a denial of my mother's side of the family," Obama told the New York Times. "Rather, it's just a belief that the term African-American is by definition a hybrid term. African-Americans are a hybrid people. We're mingled with African culture and Native American culture and European culture."
He added later: "If I was arrested for armed robbery and my mug shot was on the television screen, people wouldn't be debating if I was African-American or not. I'd be a black man going to jail. Now if that's true when bad things are happening, there's no reason why I shouldn't be proud of being a black man when good things are happening, too."
7. He's unapologetically liberal. After law school, Obama shunned white-shoe law firms and worked as a community organizer in a poverty-stricken Chicago neighborhood.
As a state lawmaker, he pushed for death-penalty reforms and an end to racial profiling. He also pushed for health-care coverage for children.
8. 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. Possible replacement candidates, like former Chicago Bears football coach Mike Ditka, have shied away from taking on Obama.
If he wins in November, Obama will become only the second black Democratic senator, after Carol Moseley Braun, also of Illinois. Massachusetts elected a black Republican, Edward Brooke, in the 1960s and '70s.
9. He's ready for prime time, but apparently not on the major broadcast networks. ABC, NBC and CBS, which used to offer wall-to-wall convention coverage, didn't televise the convention at all Tuesday night.
When Obama took the stage around 10 p.m., the networks were airing shows like "Last Comic Standing" and "Navy NCIS." But you could catch the speech on the major cable news channels or C-SPAN.
10. He really could end up in the White House. Why not? He's not only brilliant and a good public speaker but has movie-star good looks and a great story to tell. He's a bit to the political left, but some pundits already see Obama drifting to the center.
Illinois state Senate President Emil Jones recently told a youngster at an event that if his parents voted Obama into the Senate, then he would have a chance to vote for him for president someday.
Oh for pete's sake. It was not.
In comparison to other convention speeches I've seen over the years... it was.
You know.
I had a whole page typed out.
Fact is, I support GWB for re-election.
I was talking about hypotheticals. In all cases, I'd prefer a Texan over a douchebag from Mass.
If you think I'm a lib, go ahead. I got years to prove you wrong. I got 18 months of history to disprove it now, but I'm patient enough to give you 5 years. If I'm not dead in 2009, I want an apology from you for suggesting that I want a god damn commie to hold the highest office in the USA.
Note Obama's pedigree. What was he, editor of Harvard Law Review? This means he is a true believer. He is a good person, but his politics are toxic. I think the primary long-term antidote is to keep politics honest, while avoiding the appearance of demonizing. With subtlety, neutralize the concept of stealth liberal candidates.
I think the exact opposite is true. I think if Obama is unopposed, the Democratic house candidates will smell blood and drive greater turnout in the face of a depressed GOP electorate.
He is slightly reminiscent of Malcolm X (sans glasses) - another mixed race American...and Malcolm was a powerful speaker...
I see it just the opposite. Some are desperate to make him out to be something he is not.
Sorry, but he's not.
C'mon. Flim Flam Florio had all the charm of a cold wet rag in the middle of the night. A local hack who farmed the depths of 'Rat rich NJ.
This dude seriously worries me. We need to get someone from our 'farm system'....
And I would have never dreamt of mocking his name, but it is a fact that at least separate *democrat delegates* called Obama "Osama". Oh well.
You have a deal.
I hoped to be proved wrong.
Great personal story. But then it was the same dem talking points, just out of a different mouth. He lost me at that point.
'Lucky my ass. He was a benificary of the democrat/judicial/media slime machine.'
That may well be true - *BUT* - had Ryan not been a SCUMBAG, there would have been NOTHING to 'out'....
Any other qualifiers you wish to add after the point?
LOL
The comment was made as a flat statement and not "as far as convention speeches go" or any other such nonsense. And I consider myself as much a qualified pundit of convention speeches as anyone else.
If Obama is a real threat to Hillary, he'd best be very careful about taking drives alone. He could even suddenly develop a severe case of depression and go to an obscure park with a gun in hand..... The Clinton gang plays for keeps and will take whatever actions they deem necessary.
Obama isn't merely a liberal, but a hardcore leftist. It's remarkable how many people will make remarks about how articulate and what a reasonable person he is. I expect Lenin seemed that way at one point as well. There is nothing reasonable about a person who would turn the United States into a totalitarian gulag. In that respect he's really no different than Hillary.
I'd heard rumblings about this guy but watch out - he's a silver tongued devil with a great speech writer. I saw Je$$E J. and he looked like someone had stolen his milk money. Watch out for this man!
Having said that, I admire the guy and his acumen - so please don't write him off - he's a force to be reckoned with.
Mario had a 'cosa nostra' problem in his background; Mario also had NO appeal West of the Hudson.
This guy Obama, if he doesn't have baggage (ie slips back to crack or something) has a charisma that is not regional...he is worth keeping an eye on....
..here's your nightmare scenario...Hitlary wins the nomination in '08 and picks Obama as her running mate - he's only 46 at the time, and is primed for either '12 or '14.
I thought we were comparing speeches to speeches. What else would you like me to use as a reference?
I've seen many convention speeches and political speeches over the years also. They are rarely very good. This one was extremely strong.
Ryan was a bad husband and not a boy scout, so what? This was a very poor decision by a judge. The divorce papers should have remained sealed. We should be very wary. It is overwhelmingly likely that these decisions will tend to go mainly against Pubbies.
Hellary's VP pick if she runs in 2008???
I was just thinking the same thing .. otherwise why give him a prime time slot at the convention
He's already 20 points ahead in the IL race, so he doesn't need the exposer
I would just like to point out that those of us saying it was a strong speech are not saying we agree with his policies. Brit Hume and other Fox commentators were also extremely impressed... it doesn't mean they've turned into lefties.
But we have to understand that not everyone is a Freeper or a committed conservative. There are many independents and swing voters out there and this guy is the kind of guy who can appeal to them. We would be extremely stupid to underestimate his talent and appeal.
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