Race will always be an issue cause people will always be racist. America is one of the least racist places in the world. The chinese are racist, Indian people are racist, go to europe and they are pretty racist. There is literally no diversity in any of these places. Diversity is one of the great things about America. All you can do is try to make sure you treat everyone the same.
Are you really this r****ded? You're preemptively calling out Obama because you think he won't compromise to get bills passed? One of Obama's problems is that he's already telegraphing that he'll compromise too much with the freak show that is the Republican side of the aisle in Congress. One Obama victory during the primaries and tj's already melting down, frantically posting about reparations and so on. Even though he's third or lower on my list of preferred Democratic candidates, I have to say this is nice fringe benefit of Obama's success.
Just stumbled across this- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy.../01/03/AR2008010303303.html?hpid=opinionsbox1 .....Consider a bill into which Obama clearly put his heart and soul. The problem he wanted to address was that too many confessions, rather than being voluntary, were coerced -- by beating the daylights out of the accused. Obama proposed requiring that interrogations and confessions be videotaped. This seemed likely to stop the beatings, but the bill itself aroused immediate opposition. There were Republicans who were automatically tough on crime and Democrats who feared being thought soft on crime. There were death penalty abolitionists, some of whom worried that Obama's bill, by preventing the execution of innocents, would deprive them of their best argument. Vigorous opposition came from the police, too many of whom had become accustomed to using muscle to "solve" crimes. And the incoming governor, Rod Blagojevich, announced that he was against it. Obama had his work cut out for him. He responded with an all-out campaign of cajolery. It had not been easy for a Harvard man to become a regular guy to his colleagues. Obama had managed to do so by playing basketball and poker with them and, most of all, by listening to their concerns. Even Republicans came to respect him. One Republican state senator, Kirk Dillard, has said that "Barack had a way both intellectually and in demeanor that defused skeptics." The police proved to be Obama's toughest opponent. Legislators tend to quail when cops say things like, "This means we won't be able to protect your children." The police tried to limit the videotaping to confessions, but Obama, knowing that the beatings were most likely to occur during questioning, fought -- successfully -- to keep interrogations included in the required videotaping. By showing officers that he shared many of their concerns, even going so far as to help pass other legislation they wanted, he was able to quiet the fears of many. Obama proved persuasive enough that the bill passed both houses of the legislature, the Senate by an incredible 35 to 0. (For the tj's out there, This means it passed with full bipartisan support) Then he talked Blagojevich into signing the bill, making Illinois the first state to require such videotaping. ...... Taken together, these accomplishments demonstrate that Obama has what Dillard, the Republican state senator, calls a "unique" ability "to deal with extremely complex issues, to reach across the aisle and to deal with diverse people."
And yet last night proved that Obama could win in a state that is 95% white. Obama doesn't make race an issue, but his opponents sure seem to try and do that. The mention of his race and if a black candidate can really win, usually comes from his opponents. Kerry was counting on the youth vote to help him win in '04. They supported him, but not enough to bother voting. Now Obama in a caucus and manages to bring them out, not to a general election, but to a caucus of all things. If he can energize new and first time voters to participate in a caucus, imagine what he can do in a general election. He is about change and building on what people have in common rather than the differences. If there was any doubt that the guy can win, it was answered last night. He's a winner, and he doesn't just pull voters from one race, or gender to do it. He reached out to independents, first time voters, women, everyone. When they go negative on him, Obama has the charisma to point out that those are the kind of divisive politics that we've seen for the past 8-16 years, and now it's time for something new.
to be fair, america has been ready for this for a long time. that most americans didn't support jesse jackson and al sharpton isn't a reflection on america, but rather a reflection on them as candidates. and speaking of racist, al sharpton is one of the most racist men in the country.
That’s a good question, but apart from specific policies like health care I think people are looking at who he his, what his values are, what his worldview is, and extrapolating. I would say that one if his most appealing strengths is his vision, the fact that he appears to understand and genuinely want progressive and inclusive change, and his ability to unify and mobilize large groups of people. What kind of promise did John and Bobby Kennedy bring? I wasn’t there to see it first hand but I think that the promise of change people saw in them is similar to what we’re seeing with Obama.
Kennedy brought real vision. Please don't compare the two. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aTyYM-dUgCI&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aTyYM-dUgCI&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mfhIjI_N1Pk&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mfhIjI_N1Pk&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
I’m not saying that they are the same, but I am saying that from where I sit I see some strong similarities. What are the differences that you see?
Democrats are so stupid, at least in Iowa that is. Vote for a guy with no tracking records and little experience. The reason why this guy rushed to the race is he doesn't have a lot of history and people can't see who he truly is. He wants to take advantage of it. A fresh face, a decent speaker, all talks about change. But is that enough to convince you that he can bring changes to this country? What has he done so far? And by the way what changes can he make and how exactly can he make it? Look like Dems are ready to roll the dice on this guy, just like Mr. Clinton says. You want go gamble, you may win big, but more than likely you will lose big.
Good Lord! One win by Obama and the crazies are coming out of the woodwork. Oh what will they do when he wins the persidency?
Dude,really, you just make it too easy... Federally funded boondogles make me sick. Don't lock yourself into a one employer industry if you can't afford it when things change. (as dumbass as it seems to me, a large percentage of the working poor in this country don't have the option of birth control thanks to that guy in the pointy hat)
No argument with that. This was a big win for Obama. Not so much the percentages in the victory, but the numbers he pulled into the Democratic caucus. Here's a graph I posted in another thread. (I haven't read all of this one, so if it's been used, forgive me!) A record number of Democrats turned out in Iowa last night — more than 239,000, compared with fewer than 125,0000 in 2004 — in a strong indication that opposition to President Bush has energized Democrats more than previously estimated. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/us/politics/04cnd-elect.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin Those are pretty staggering numbers. Of course, it wasn't all Obama, but he deserves the lion's share of the credit. Very impressive and very bad news for the GOP going into '08. Now we have to see if Obama can keep it going, or if this was his peak. Oh, and I don't think he's as liberal as some make him out to be. IMO, he's a moderate with liberal tendencies. Impeach Bush.
I saw Jack Kennedy give a speech at Rice Stadium saying we were going to the Moon by the end of the decade. He had the hair standing up on the back of my neck. The huge crowd cheered themselves hoarse. It was a heck of a moment. That, and I've always been a huge fan of SF and of humanity going into space. This is the one area I have a real problem with Obama over. I'll vote for him in the general, if he gets the nod, but I'm very unhappy about his apparent policies towards NASA and the manned space flight program. Which everyone knows. Impeach Bush!
Take this for what it's worth: When he first made national spotlight, I talked to a friend who lived in his district in Chicago (considers himself a moderate and voted for Obama the first time) about him. He said, "He's never met a spending bill that he didn't like, and he thought that every problem could be solved by the government." In my opinion, Obama's only redeeming quality as a Presidential candidate is that I think he will respect some of the limits on power placed on the Executive.
You are aware that in 2004, it took about 750,000 votes to win the state for Bush, correct? These numbers are a tiny fraction of that. Nice try. The libs once again prove to be bad with numbers...
That was a general election vs. a caucus. You are aware that general elections always draw a much larger turn out than other elections right?
