Senate candidate from Illinois in national spotlight at convention

[Snazzy]

Posted on Mon, Jul. 26, 2004



I M A G E S A N D R E L A T E D C O N T E N T

CHARLES OSGOOD / ChicagoTribune
Barack Obama, an Illinois state senator and candidate for U.S. Senate, January 2004.


Senate candidate from Illinois in national spotlight at convention

By Carl Chancellor

Knight Ridder Newspapers


SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Tacked to a back wall of a storefront, recently converted into a campaign headquarters, is a 3-foot-high map of Illinois topped with black lettering that declares: Obama Country.

The geographical pronouncement seems to be free of boast given that Barack Obama, a 42-year-old Chicago law professor and an Illinois state senator, is all but a shoo-in to become the U.S. Senate's only black member, and only the third African-American senator since Reconstruction.

Those who know Obama best say that after he concludes his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in prime time Tuesday night, he'll gain serious national attention.

"He is the embodiment of exactly what a 21st-century candidate should be. He crosses all kinds of lines, in part because of the person he is and in part because of his unifying message," said U.S. Rep. Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill., who represents most of Chicago's lakefront communities. "He is an extraordinary man who speaks in an ordinary voice."

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http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/election2004/9248145.htm

[Merlin]

1. I'm really looking forward to this.

I've never seen him speak before. What I've heard about this guy so far is very promising.

[Longhorn]

2. Wow, he's a looker!

Aren't we Democrats a handsome bunch?

And with that, my 400th post, I'm going to bed! See y'all tomorrow for another great convention day! :hi: