blatham
 
  1  
Mon 13 Nov, 2006 09:41 pm
bethie

There is more than a little Abe Lincoln in this fellow. I don't think we see many people like him in a single lifetime.
0 Replies
 
Ethel2
 
  1  
Tue 14 Nov, 2006 12:00 am
I've been getting mail from Obama for at least a year or so now.....probably longer, time goes so fast these days. I've contributed money more than once. I've been for Obama since I first laid eyes on him during the 2004 elections. Even when everyone was declaring that he was too young and inexperienced, I wanted him to run. Now it looks like he will. And I believe he can win. He's got the touch.

I was in Washington D.C. at meetings for the American Psychoanalytic Association in June. Obama was speaking in the ball room next door to the banquet room we were in. The applause for Obama was thunderous. Everyone in our meeting clapped as well. It was inspiring.

I agree with Beth, he has a Clinton feel........hope and all. He stays positive and he has one of those faces that everyone seems to find easy to trust. His smile is genuine and he has that calm intelligence that intimidates his opponents. He's it for 08 as far as I'm concerned.
0 Replies
 
snood
 
  1  
Tue 14 Nov, 2006 01:08 am
So, if he don't run, you ain't participatin'?
0 Replies
 
Ethel2
 
  1  
Tue 14 Nov, 2006 01:20 am
Now you know me better than that, Snood.
0 Replies
 
snood
 
  1  
Tue 14 Nov, 2006 02:14 am
Not really.
0 Replies
 
blatham
 
  1  
Tue 14 Nov, 2006 05:23 am
I'm suddenly reminded of the Tennessee campaign.
0 Replies
 
nimh
 
  1  
Tue 14 Nov, 2006 05:35 am
Lola wrote:
I agree with Beth, he has a Clinton feel........hope and all. He stays positive and he has one of those faces that everyone seems to find easy to trust. His smile is genuine and he has that calm intelligence that intimidates his opponents.

Oddly enough, way I remember it, Clinton did not gain a clear lead in the Dem primaries of 1992 until quite late in the race. Throughout the first primaries - up till Super Tuesday, I think - he kind of had the image of being the machine politician in the contest, being the favourite of the establishment. From what I remember he only roused tepid suport for a long while, with Tsongas and Jerry Brown, coming from two different political corners, enthusing the pundits and party activists.
0 Replies
 
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Tue 14 Nov, 2006 07:56 am
Quote:
Among the notables attending the ceremony were members of King's family, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, writer Maya Angelou and Jesse Jackson.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) represents for many the strides African-Americans have made in politics.

Obama invoked King's "I have a dream" speech as he spoke of his two daughters, saying that the civil rights leader's struggles allowed Obama's children to "live today with the freedom God intended, their citizenship unquestioned, their dreams unbounded.

"The man we honor today did what God required," Obama said. "In the end, that is what I will tell my daughters."

From a report about the new King memorial in today's Chicago Tribune.
0 Replies
 
cicerone imposter
 
  1  
Tue 14 Nov, 2006 11:54 pm
I bought Barak Obama's book today, "The Audacity of Hope." I just read a couple of pages, but I'm really excited about him already! I'll report what I read as I progress into the book.
0 Replies
 
snood
 
  1  
Wed 15 Nov, 2006 12:00 am
I've read it, and recommend it. He offers a real vision of possibilities in many areas, and insights into his own perspective.
0 Replies
 
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Wed 15 Nov, 2006 06:50 am
From today's Chicago Tribune (page 3):

Quote:
`Purpose' pastor has pulpit for Obama
Illinois Democrat invited to megachurch for World AIDS Day


By Christi Parsons
Washington Bureau

November 15, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Like many fellow Democratic politicians, Sen. Barack Obama is no stranger to the pulpit.

But in December, Obama will go where few progressive Democrats usually venture--to a large, conservative evangelical church that boasts a Sunday attendance of more than 20,000 people.

Even more unusual is that he'll attend at the invitation of megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, evangelical icon and author of the popular Christian book "The Purpose-Driven Life."

Aides to Obama say he will appear at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, drawing attention to the kind of issue that the senator from Illinois says should unite all people of faith, regardless of their particular religion.

"Sen. Obama has a deep respect for Mr. Warren's commitment to fighting AIDS and poverty," said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor. "They met in January of 2006 while Mr. Warren was in Washington and have become friends, speaking on the phone with some regularity."

While he was working on his latest book, "The Audacity of Hope," Obama asked Warren to help by reading one of his draft chapters. Warren issued the invitation to Obama to speak at the church next month.

The messages that Friday will focus on AIDS and HIV, a key area of ministry for Saddleback Church. While many conservative Christians have shied away from AIDS because of their discomfort with its connections to premarital sex and homosexuality, Warren and his wife, church co-founder Kay Warren, have been vocal advocates for patients living with the disease.

Shortly before the release of his latest book, Obama issued a call to progressives to shed bias against religious people and to recognize "overlapping values."

Obama is considering a possible run for president in 2008.
0 Replies
 
OCCOM BILL
 
  1  
Wed 15 Nov, 2006 08:28 am
nimh wrote:
Lola wrote:
I agree with Beth, he has a Clinton feel........hope and all. He stays positive and he has one of those faces that everyone seems to find easy to trust. His smile is genuine and he has that calm intelligence that intimidates his opponents.

Oddly enough, way I remember it, Clinton did not gain a clear lead in the Dem primaries of 1992 until quite late in the race. Throughout the first primaries - up till Super Tuesday, I think - he kind of had the image of being the machine politician in the contest, being the favourite of the establishment. From what I remember he only roused tepid suport for a long while, with Tsongas and Jerry Brown, coming from two different political corners, enthusing the pundits and party activists.
Oddly enough, my recollection matches yours, Nimh. Take away Old George's not taking Bagdad, or remove Ross Perot, and Slick wouldn't have stood a snowball's chance in hell. Moreover, I can't recall a single moment during his Presidency that he spoke with the incredible charisma that he displayed at the last DNC, nor when he was that popular. Hope? Trust? Perhaps to the choir, but in 92 even those "rocking the vote" may realistically be able to claim they pushed him over the top. Obama is differentÂ… perhaps even unprecedented in his ability to grab the general public's attention and push their happy buttons. I won't soon forget being wowed by him at that same DNC I just referenced.
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Wed 15 Nov, 2006 11:47 am
Lola wrote:
I agree with Beth, he has a Clinton feel........hope and all.


the particular 'hope' thing I was getting at was the title of Obama's book, and Clinton being "The Man from Hope". Anyone remember that from the 1992 DNC?

It's a 'tie-in' that makes me a little uneasy from a media perspective.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Wed 15 Nov, 2006 12:10 pm
I caught what you meant, but that's really not how it strikes me. It seems too organic, too much of a piece with what Obama has been saying and doing for a long time.
0 Replies
 
snood
 
  1  
Wed 15 Nov, 2006 12:22 pm
I think yours is the more accurate read of the whole deal about the two "hopes", Soz.

Saying it's reminiscent of Clinton in any way seems like a reach based on trifles, to me.
0 Replies
 
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Thu 16 Nov, 2006 03:32 am
A very interesting interview, in my opinion, in today's The Guardian (photo from page G 15 of the print edition)


http://i15.tinypic.com/314vuxs.jpg

Quote:
Question time

Auma Obama is the sister of Democrat senator Barack. So what is it like to have a brother who is tipped to be the US's first black president?


Hannah Pool
Thursday November 16, 2006
The Guardian


We'll do the boring things first. Your age?
I don't tell people my age. I think it's so irrelevant, and I would like to know from journalists why they always ask for the age. Is it because journalists need to put something in it to give it a rhythm?

OK ... How exactly are you and Barack related?
He's my brother - his dad and my dad are one. [Auma is the child of Obama Sr's first marriage; Barack of the second.] I grew up in Kenya; Barack lived in Hawaii.

Have you seen the Obamamania?
I haven't witnessed it in America but I've witnessed it in Kenya [where their father came from], and that was amazing.

How did it manifest itself?
There were hundreds of people around him everywhere we travelled - people wanted to touch him, people wanted to talk to him, people wanted to give him projects, let him know about what they were doing, people wanted to be associated with him. And he was totally embraced as a Kenyan as well - he totally overshadowed everything else that was going on during the days that he was there.

How did you find each other?
"Find" is the wrong word because we've known about each all along. My dad never hid his family, and we always knew about Barack being in the United States as we were growing up. After my father died in 82, that's when Barack contacted me. He wrote to me and we just started corresponding. Then, eventually, we agreed it was time to meet up.

What was that first meeting like?
There was a lot of apprehension. There was so much anticipation. I had a plan B in case it didn't work out, but it worked out. We just didn't stop talking when we met - it was absolutely as if we'd lived together all our lives.

He didn't feel like a stranger?
Not to me he didn't, and I don't think I felt like a stranger to him. We just spent the time talking, talking late into the night.

What was the most surprising thing about that meeting?
Barack was a lot like my father - his hand movements, his gestures, how he talks, how he sits. He's got a certain quietness about him and he sits and he concentrates like my father. He can be in a room full of people and he withdraws on his own. And we've all got the Obama hands - the fingers and everything. So it was amazing to watch that, because I was meeting him for the first time but it felt like I knew him.

Do you feel protective towards him?
Yes I do. I'm not surprised he's where he is. He knew he wanted to work with the co mmunity, to work with people, to help people. It's reached the point now where it is actually frightening, because it's become so big, but to me it's still Barack, he's still my brother.

Do you think he could be the first black president of America?
I don't know - that's for the Americans to say.

Do you think he could unite America?
All I know is that my brother talks to everybody. He's able to relate to a lot of different types of people, and make them feel that he's concerned about their needs. Whether that then unites America is another thing.

Have you spoken to him since the Primaries?
I sent an email congratulating him.

Are you political?
I think I was; I'm not political so much now.

Do you worry about people trying to find scandals about him?
Not really because he's written all about himself in his book, so if anybody wants to know about him they can read his book. There's not really much else to add to that except what's happened since. Barack's not hiding anything. Auma Obama works in children's services in Reading, Berkshire.
0 Replies
 
snood
 
  1  
Thu 16 Nov, 2006 06:52 am
Fascinating stuff. Thanks Walter.
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Thu 16 Nov, 2006 12:41 pm
Snood, it's quite possible that you don't hear/see/feel the odd Clinton vibe.

I can only comment on my gut reaction to the book title (and a few other things I'm reading in the media coverage about Obama).

Not sure I can go with that being 'a reach'. I'm not looking for anything in particular, pro or con, in regard to Mr. Obama's political future in the U.S. Simply reporting a reaction.

I'm obviously curious enough to read media reports about him, read this thread to see what some political junkies think about him, look for his book (not in the Canajun bookstores I've been in lately) - but not invested in any way.
0 Replies
 
snood
 
  1  
Thu 16 Nov, 2006 12:58 pm
I'm not disputing that you had the reaction, and you're certainly entitled not to buy my characterization of your linking the two "hopes" as a reach.

On the other hand, the perceptions of those who don't get that reaction are also valid.

I''m feeling too lazy to go back and reread just now, so could you refresh my memory about the nature of your reaction again? Obama's book title has "hope" in it, and Clinton was "the man from Hope", and that said what again, to you?
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Sat 18 Nov, 2006 09:27 am
Luckily it was just up the page so not too hard to track down

ehBeth wrote:

It's a 'tie-in' that makes me a little uneasy from a media perspective.
0 Replies
 
 

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