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Barack Obama to make the leap

Started by gimmetela, January 16, 2007, 12:24:20 PM

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gimmetela

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) on Tuesday took the initial step in a presidential bid that could make him the nation's first black to occupy the White House.

Obama filed papers creating a presidential exploratory committee, a move he announced on his Web site, http://www.barackobama.com. He said he would announce more about his plans in his home state of Illinois on Feb. 10.

"I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago," Obama said in a video posting. "I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics. So I've spent some time thinking about how I could best advance the cause of change and progress that we so desperately need."

Obama, a 45-year-old with little more than two years into his Senate term, is the most inexperienced candidate considering a run for the Democratic nomination. He quickly rose to national prominence, beginning with his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and his election to the Senate that year, but still is an unknown quantity to many voters.

Two best-selling autobiographies — "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" and "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" — have helped fill in the gaps but have still only touched a fraction of the public.

Nonetheless, he ranks as a top contender. His appeal on the stump, his unique background, his opposition to the        Iraq war and the fact that he is a fresh face set him apart in a competitive race that also is expected to include front-runner Sen.        Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Other Democrats who have announced a campaign or exploratory committee are 2004 vice presidential nominee        John Edwards, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Ohio Rep.        Dennis Kucinich.

Obama's announcement was comparatively low-key, banking on the hype building up to his decision to drive the buzz rather than a speech or high-profile media appearance. He was in Washington on Tuesday but did not plan any public appearances.

Obama tried to turn his biggest weakness — his lack of experience in national politics — into an asset by criticizing the work of those who have been in power.

"The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place," he said.

"America's faced big problems before," he said. "But today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, commonsense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions."

He said Americans are struggling financially, dependence on foreign oil threatens the environment and national security and "we're still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never been waged."

Barack Hussein Obama was born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, where his parents met while studying at the University of Hawaii. His father was black and from Kenya; his mother, white and from Wichita, Kan.

Obama's parents divorced when he was two and his father returned to Kenya. His mother later married an Indonesian student and the family moved to Jakarta. Obama returned to Hawaii when he was 10 to live with his maternal grandparents.

Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first African-American elected editor of the Harvard Law Review. He settled in Chicago, where he joined a law firm and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago's Law School. He also helped local churches establish job training programs for residents of poor neighborhoods and organized a major voter registration drive in the 1992 election.

While working at the corporate law firm Sidley Austin in the summer of 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson, then an associate attorney at the firm. They married in 1992, and have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

In 1996, he was elected to the Illinois state Senate, where he earned a reputation as a consensus-building Democrat who was strongly liberal on social and economic issues. He backed gay rights, abortion rights, gun control, universal health care and tax breaks for the poor, but set himself apart from others by working with opponents to resolve policy disagreements and refusing to become a rubber stamp for his allies.

The retirement of Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois in 2004 drew a raft of candidates to the Democratic primary, but Obama easily outdistanced his competitors. He was virtually assured of victory in the general election when the designated Republican candidate was forced from the race by scandal late in the election. His GOP replacement — conservative gadfly        Alan Keyes, who is also black — garnered less than 30 percent of the vote.

Obama insisted during the 2004 campaign and through his first year in the Senate that he had no intention of running for president, but by late 2006 his public statements had begun to leave open that possibility.

Last month, he traveled to New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary state, and drew rock-star size crowds to a speech and book signing.
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I don't know if our president needs to be able to win the democratic nod based on a popularity contest...i'm very much up in the air about this guy.  i think it would be great if a person not fitting the ivey league, WASP male was able to sweep the white house, but where the hell did this guy come from? 
thoughts?

jedifunk

he's great.... but its too early for him... he's a fucking 1st termer for christ sake.  DO something first, then we'll talk..

he's riding his weird version of celebrity too much right now... i think he's good for america, but i'm just not sure america is ready for him yet..

personally, i'm interested in hilary clinton.  i really think she's the one right now.  sadly, it may be hard for her to get elected, but at the moment i think she's one of the better options for leading this country.
Much Respect
(the other resident mac guy) [macbook air]
"Good Funk, real funk is not played by four white guys from Vermont.. If anything, you could call what we're doing cow funk or something.."
- Trey Anastasio

antelope19

And I am not being a smartass here, but does anyone know if it is just a coincidence his middle name is Hussein?  Does he have any ties to the Middle East at all?  I just read a bit of background on him.  His Mother is from Kansas, his father is from Kenya?
Quote
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment

danje

If Obamamama or Hillary win the democrat primary, we will have another republican president. Its unfortunate because I'm sure they would do a good job, but if democrats know whats best for their party they will elect a white male to run for president.

jephrey

I would much rather have Obama than Hillary.  I think for 1, he has a better chance.  I, for one, like the inexperience.  Maybe he'd approach things from a fresh perspective.  The downside is that he could just become the mouthpiece for everyone else and have no personality of his own.

J
There are 10 types of people in this world.  Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

sls.stormyrider

as of now, charisma (and plenty of it), platitudes, some good general ideas. give me something firm and specific.

Edit: clarify - firm and specific ideas
"toss away stuff you don't need in the end
but keep what's important, and know who's your friend"
"It's a 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses."

susep

#6
Quote from: antelope19 on January 16, 2007, 03:54:38 PM
Does he have any ties to the Middle East at all?

I once read he was an Al-Qaida reformist now trying to penetrate the U.S. from inside :wink:

Quote from: danje on January 16, 2007, 03:55:23 PM
If Obamamama or Hillary win the democrat primary, we will have another republican president. Its unfortunate because I'm sure they would do a good job, but if democrats know whats best for their party they will elect a white male to run for president.

What we really have to worry about is the GOP manipulating the election w/ there electronic voting machines or by whatever means necessary :evil:

Quote from: jephrey on January 16, 2007, 04:08:46 PM
I, for one, like the inexperience.

I don't think having experience of any kind is a prerequisite, look at W :?

Quote from: slslbs on January 16, 2007, 09:16:16 PM
Edit: clarify - firm and specific ideas

He like many want to transform U.S. foreign policy from Cheney/Halliburton, Bush/Carlyle, Rice/Chevron, to something more realistic then a bunch of govt./corporate robber barons who choose individual gain over the rest of the nation and world.
Its sickening to see today's University bombing.
Also while we plummet deeper into this conflict we are sidestepping other major issues i.e. Climate Change, infrastructure maintenance/transformation and, most importantly regaining the critical credibility we have lost from the World since Jan. 2001. 

antelope19

Quote from: susep73 on January 16, 2007, 10:07:22 PM
I once read he was an Al-Qaida reformist now trying to penetrate the U.S. from inside :wink:


hahahaha, thats what I thought.  I was more curious than anything.
Quote
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment

gah

here's another interesting bump up from the past. its cool to see what people were thinking back then....
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own.

jedifunk

seriously... shows how much i have changed in 21 months.

i was still a hilary supporter, up until things started getting nasty.  then obama went clean, and kept up with the change & hope theme, and it really grabbed me from there
Much Respect
(the other resident mac guy) [macbook air]
"Good Funk, real funk is not played by four white guys from Vermont.. If anything, you could call what we're doing cow funk or something.."
- Trey Anastasio

nab


gah

Quote from: jedifunk on November 11, 2008, 07:52:06 PM
seriously... shows how much i have changed in 21 months.

i was still a hilary supporter, up until things started getting nasty.  then obama went clean, and kept up with the change & hope theme, and it really grabbed me from there

yeah, yours was one of the more interesting to read from that time. glad to see you made the switch.  :-D

and you're right, obama stayed consistent with his theme throughout and didn't get into the day to day news wars, which i think helped him.
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own.