A president named Hussein

[Say_What]

This ain't about who you think it is... ;-)

<clips>

During the 2004 Illinois Senate campaign, I asked a friend of mine in Chicago if he'd host a reception for a fellow talk-show host who was running in the primary. When he told me he was already supporting another candidate, I laughed out loud.

"Are you serious?" I wanted to know. "Barack Obama? Nobody could ever get elected with that name. Especially not after Sept. 11."

Needless to say, I was wrong then. As are those naysayers who insist today that Barack Obama could never be elected president because his middle name is "Hussein." President Barack Hussein Obama? Why not? I'd trust him more than George Walker Bush.

Even though Obama was greeted by 170 reporters on his maiden voyage to New Hampshire -- a reception not even John McCain enjoyed in 2000 -- the Illinois Senator still faces an uphill battle. On his way to the Democratic nomination, his middle name is the least of the hurdles he must overcome.

Inexperience is number one. How can he be taken seriously, critics ask, when he's only served in the Senate for two years? Actually, they've got it backwards. Running for president, the less time served in the Senate the better. Not only has no incumbent senator been elected president since John F. Kennedy in 1960, but -- as we learned with John Kerry -- the longer you're in the Senate, the more votes you have to defend or explain. My advice to Obama: Get out of the Senate as fast as you can.

Second big hurdle: Hillary Rodham Clinton. She's clearly the front-runner in this race and, I believe, invincible. But if anyone can derail her, it's Barack Obama. His candidacy is largely fueled, in fact, by Democrats who don't believe Sen. Clinton can win the general election. I think they're wrong. But as an alternative to Hillary, Obama has emerged as everybody's second, if not first, choice. And with good reason.

http://www.rprogreso.com/index.php?progreso=Bill_Press&otherweek=1166680800