Posted on 12/09/2006 8:41:00 AM PST by Chi-townChief
Should Sen. Barack Obama run for president? It will be a tough call for the senator and for those who admire and respect him personally. If he runs, he has a good chance of winning because he represents what Americans want in their president at this very troubled time in their history, a man of firm principles but not an ideologue, a moderate who can sympathize with his opponent's position, a modest man with self-deprecating wit, a politician who tries to bring people together instead of polarizing them against one another. A candidate who does not swagger or shout and whom no one would ever call a cowboy.
For voters, sickened by attempts to demonize others in an era of "slash and burn" politics practiced by Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove, Obama seems to represent a possibility for a change in political rhetoric, a politician with honor, integrity and intelligence and one who writes his own material. A public figure who constantly questions his own motives and ambition -- on the record. He would also represent a new image of the United States to the world. The president of the United States is also the president of the Free World, the one to whom people around the world turn for leadership and inspiration. A charismatic moderate who is an African American would transform attitudes toward America almost overnight.
It is small wonder then that the senator's ratings in the polls have surged. There will be many disappointed Americans if he decides not to run. There are three reasons why he should not run.
The first is that he has not had enough experience. One could reply by citing another citizen of Illinois who ran for president, another man of integrity, intelligence and honor whose experience was also mostly in the Illinois Legislature and a year in the House of Representatives. With two years in the Senate, Obama could boast more "experience" than Abraham Lincoln.
Moreover consider the "experienced" presidents who have served the Republic in the last couple of decades. Lyndon Johnson was as skilled a politician as one could want. Yet he made the terrible mistake of escalating the Vietnam War and presided over a failed presidency. Richard Nixon, a man with a tremendous amount of "experience," continued the war, spent much of his time in the Executive Office Building writing paranoid memos on legal size yellow sheets and was forced out of office by the Watergate scandal. Jimmy Carter was a successful governor but did not succeed in Washington despite a large congressional majority because he never learned that you can treat Congress like you treated the Georgia legislature. Bill Clinton was an "experienced" governor but he did not realize that you can't engage in escapades in the Oval Office. The present incumbent had the experience of presiding over the baseball franchise and governing Texas, got us into the Iraq war and cannot admit mistakes.
Honor, intelligence, integrity and self-deprecating humor are superior to "experience" any time.
A second reason for not running is that the political rhetoric in this country is toxic. Attack ads, negative campaigns, personal assaults are an essential part of American politics. Bloggers, radio talk show hosts (like the poisonous Rush Limbaugh who calls the senator Osama Obama), columnists, mean-spirited editorial writers (especially at the Wall Street Journal), Republican operatives, spin doctors, publicity seekers, ambitious small-time politicians, fundamentalist preachers and rich businessmen will seek to destroy the candidate as soon as he announces. Like the Swift Boat crowd in the last election, they will stop at nothing in their efforts to turn him into political toast. Who needs it?
Finally, it is foolish happy talk to say that the United States is ready for an African-American (or perhaps a Kenyan-American) president. Racism is alive and well in the United States and is still as American as cherry pie. Obama starts out with the South solidly against him. Crazy white supremacists will fall over one another in their attempts to derail the campaign even before the primaries. If he decides to run, the senator is a very brave man. He should invest in flak jackets and helmets -- emotional and physical.
mailto:agreel@aol.com
Let me state it here I do not see Hitlery winning the nomination, she is unelectable and teh rats know it, and I at worst see Obama as a VP. But I think Hitlery will make sure all who oppose her are blooded. I expect the rat primary to look like a 12 car pile up.
wha'? he don't like free speech or somethin'?
For all their claims of diversity and African American rights, the Democrats in reality cant stand the thought of having a black candidate for US Prez.
Or any other important elected position, for that matter.
Barack Hussein Obama is simply a minnow on the hook the Democraps use to lure in African American voters, only to turn him into chum when the time comes for action.
If this be poison, give me more of the same.
And just for your info, Greeley, it was one of your fatass stinking drunk heros that laid that moniker on Hussein; Sen. Ted (Chivas Regal) Kennedy, who never saw an Oldsmobile he couldn't drive drunk in.
Funny. When I lived in North Carolina in the late 70's I experienced a civility between blacks and whites. I later moved to Boston and found it to a very segregated city with out and out hostility toward blacks from those in certain white neighborhoods such as Charlestown and South Boston.
Does anyone recall the specific "slash and burn" politics this dimwit writer is talking about.
Surely, calling one a "liberal" or "weak on defense" does not rise to that level, does it??
On the other hand, I've read countless quotes by current Democrap office holders calling Pres. Bush a "tyrant" in the mold of "Hitler", a "despicable racist", a "bible-thumping simpleton" --- and many other names the media just ignores.
The first battle we need to win on the homefront is NOT against the jihadists. It's against the propogandist media, MS-DNC, ABC, PMS-LSD, NPR,etc.
Without fair news reporting, the righteous dont stand much of a chance in this continuing struggle of good vs evil.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article
You beat me to it, SMAJ. Obviously the Reverend Father Greeley hadn't done his homework. Greeley and Kennedy: birds of a feather.
They were giving him that advice a couple of years ago here in IL and look at what happened.
What a crock of shite! Obama is a pro-abortion socialist, pure and simple. Greely just desperately wants people to vote Democrat and not have a guilty conscience about it.
This strikes me as written by someone who is immature.
Except for the "Spun Times", I think they will make his picture part of their logo.
Obama Hussein was born in 1961.
I do not want "Ears" as president.
Not now, not ever.
He's got some history: for example, he lost to Defense Minister Bobby Rush (another classic) for 1st Cong Dist Rep a few years back.
America is "racist", Rush Limbaugh is "poisonous, the Wall Street Journal is full of hatred...not like the writer of this article.
I know exactly nothing about Obama Barack, but I'd like to know how he can be both principled and not an "ideologue"? And what is the evidence of his super high integrity, honor, honesty and intelligence?
Shout it to the heavens!
Yeah. Sounds too familiar -- watch out for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (or "Vivalaraza," as KFI folks call him). Same thing. One potentially very scary dude.
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