Obama lending star power to other Democrats

[DeaconBlues]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22660-2004Oct10.html

With Comfortable Lead In Illinois Senate Race, Nominee Hits the Road

By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 11, 2004; Page A02

MILWAUKEE -- Everybody wants a piece of Barack Obama. Ahead by a mile in his race for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, the youthful state senator with huge ambitions is taking his show on the road to help Democrats from the bottom of the ticket to the very top.

In the past week, Obama has mailed checks totaling $260,000 to Senate candidates in 13 states, including $53,000 to the do-or-die campaign of Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.). He donated $100,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $150,000 to party organizations in key states, including Florida, Wisconsin and Colorado.

Carrying his verbal assault on President Bush beyond state lines, Obama will fly to Los Angeles this week for a Democratic fundraiser and address rallies in Colorado and Nevada for John F. Kerry. In a close presidential race where turnout could prove decisive, Obama said in an interview that he is talking with Kerry advisers about where he can be most effective in the campaign's final days...(more)

I believe Obama has what it takes to be the next Clinton. He rocks!

[Larkspur]

1. Please no. I don't want Obama to be the next Clinton

I'm no fan of Clinton and he harmed the Dem Party more than helped it.

[Frances]

3. I don't understand.

Are you saying that you wish Bush Sr. had won in 1992? Or that Dole had won in 1996?

I don't think anyone without Clinton's star power could have defeated Bush Sr. in 1992.

[Larkspur]

4. I don't mind Obama lending his star power to others, but

Clinton didn't have the "star power" in 1992 that you mention. That's a 1996 concoction. Bush Sr. lost the 1992 election more than Clinton won it. Remember in 1992, none of the major Dems back then wanted to run against Bush Sr., who had high poll numbers due to successful execution of Gulf War I. Clinton got it because no one thought he'd win in 1992.

Also, remember Clinton's sex scandal that led to impeachment proceedings. That sex scandal did hurt Gore's chances for election in 2000. Bush Jr. ran on that implicitly.

My mother, back in 1992, saw Bill Clinton for the philanderer that he is. She voted for him in 1992 because Bush Sr.'s economic policies hurt her, but she didn't vote in 1996 because Clinton's sexcapades disgusted her.

[Frances]

6. Are you agreeing with me

that Bush Sr. would have won if Clinton hadn't been the Dem nominee? It isn't clear from your post.

I was at an outdoor Clinton rally in 1992 at a community college, but honestly, I couldn't get close enough to him to hear what he said so I don't know if he had star power at that time or not.

I did hear Clinton in a huge auditorium in 2002. About 6 politicians spoke before Clinton and the excitement kept building and building. When Clinton walked on the stage, people were cheering with all their hearts. I could feel the electricity in the air. Clinton was definitely a phenomenon.

Do I approve of Clinton's womanizing? No. I lived in a DC suburb when he was president. Had I known that Monica would try to seduce Clinton, I would have done everything I could to find someone who could get in touch with both Bill and Hillary Clinton so they could have gotten family counselling PRIOR to the "incidents."

I don't blame Hillary, but I do think she could have influenced Bill's actions had she known the personal and political danger that lay ahead. I also would have tried to get in touch with someone who knew Monica. For all the fame that the scandal brought her, I think Monica would be happier today if she had not flashed her thong at Bill Clinton.)

[Hell Hath No Fury]

7. I was up close and he HAD it!

All I knew about Bill Clinton was he was a Dem and running for office, and that he was appearing at a San Jose State University rally.

I went with a couple of friends out of curiosity.

It was a hot day and he was (surprise!) late for his appearance. I was just a few yards from the stage so I got to really hear and see him. As soon as he began to speak you could feel the crown paying attention and then getting excited at what they were hearing. He was a "star" who spoke in such a way that you couldn't help but be caught up in the vision he was proposing.

As someone who'd never had their candidate win a Presidential election, I walked away from that event actually feeling hopeful about a win AND what he was offering.

Did he disappoint me as President? Sure he did, but it wasn't the "sexapades" -- my name is not Hillary Clinton, therefore it is not of my damn business what he does with his dick. It was his return to the middle under pressure.

[Larkspur]

9. No, I'm not agreeing with you

What I said was that the major Democrats in 1991-2, like Cuomo, decided to not run because Bush Sr.'s poll ratings were very high due to the success of Gulf War I. They opted out because they thought that Bush Sr. would win regardless of who ran. They didn't forsee Bush's economic polcies sinking his poll numbers to where he would be vunerable.

1992 was the 4th Prez election I was eligible to vote and I wasn't impressed with Clinton but I voted for him, like my mom did, because Bush Sr's economic policies were terrible and it was good having a break after 12 years (2Reagan terms and 1 Bush Sr term) of Republican rule of the White House.

Monica wasn't the only woman looking to seduce Bill. There were quite a few.

[Nexus7]

8. Wake up & smell the coffee!!!

The repubs threw everything they had (and didn't) at Clinton. Remember "Whitewater", "Travel-gate", "Hilary (nationalized health care)-gate", Vince Foster, Susan McDougal... ad nauseum? None of it stuck because none of it was true. It is really sad that some people latched on to some of the trivial things that the repubs kept digging out or inventing, and one of them was Monica-gate. That it influences your opinion of Clinton to the extent you've posted above, says more about you than about Clinton.

[Larkspur]

10. Under Bill Clinton's 2 terms, the Democratic Party lost members

In my neck of Northeast CT, Dems once outnumbered Republicans significantly, now Independents outnumber both political parties.

The tax hike in 1993 started the exodus, and Clinton's pro-corporate agenda and sexcapades kept it going.

As far as the Party is concerned, except for his 2 terms in the White House, Clinton didn't help the party grow.

[Frances]

13. I think both you and I are speculating

because it's impossible to know how things would have turned out had Cuomo run against Bush Sr.

My guess is that Bush Sr. would have won because he would have made Cuomo out to be Dukakis II.

I think we needed Clinton because he carried Southern states that would never have voted for Cuomo.

When I canvassed in 2000, I found several Kennedy Dems who had moved to the Republican party with Reagan. These Catholics no longer felt any discrimination and they were comfortable financially so they identified with the people with the power. They felt they had arrived.

Now because Bush has been SO bad economically and in Iraq, some of the Dems who deserted Gore are coming back.

But that's just my take.

[demokatgurrl]

5. Clinton's contributions were great, and

will one day be fully appreciated. He gave the Democratic party something they hadn't had (ever? I'm a bad historian)- a two term Democratic presidency. Even with the REpublicans gunning for him from day one, and the spineless Democrats in congress sitting on their hands and giving him NO backup, he accomplished a lot. He connected with real, ordinary people and let us know he cared. Although there are many Clinton-haters, he is well loved.

And I do think Obama has the potential to follow in his footsteps. I can't wait for him to run for President.

[Larkspur]

11. You must have flunked history, FDR had 4 terms

Wilson served 2 terms, Truman 2, and LBJ 2. Truman and LBJ got their first term upon death of Prez but were both re-elected.

Clinton is the first Democrat since LBJ to serve 2 consecutive terms and the first since FDR to run and win the White House for his first term as President.

[Frances]

2. Great post!

Thanks so much for posting this story.

Obama has a real gift for putting ideas into words people can understand.

And he is exciting.

I am so glad that he is helping other Dems.

[cally]

12. Obama will be a great help

and also gain himself some influence in the party. His run is an amazing success.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. This is wonderful news!

Thank you Obama! :loveya:

[goodhue]

15. Obama rocks!

Very positive and inclusive.