What Was the Basis of Obama's Failed 2000 Primary Challenge Against Congressman Bobby Rush?

[tritsofme]

I looked around for a bit and really couldn't find a rationale for the campaign.

What was so objectionable about Congressman Rush that Mr. Obama felt the need to knock him out of the seat?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Prophet Obama felt that Bobby Rush was an interloper.

During the rectification of the voldranaii, Obama came in the form of a slow and moving tor. Bobby Rush knew what it was to be roasted in the belly of a Sloar that they I can tell you!

[LisaM]

2. Maybe 'cause he's a Baby Boomer?

And Obama thinks that the day of the Boomer is over, and they need to get over themselves?

http://www.house.gov/rush/bio.shtml

It looks as if he's a good enough guy - just pushed through a bill law fall on post-partum depression.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. The definition of a "baby boomer"

is supposedly those born post-WW II when the births shot up significantly - 1946.. until the release of the birth control pill - 1964. So having been born in 1961, Obama IS a "baby boomer".

The generational issue that some of the older boomers are seeing from the younger ones is primarily passage of time related... We younger boomers have throughout life, always been on the cusp of major change - born in the old and then suddenly shoved into the new, and always during key periods of our lives when many of these changes would prove to be most disruptive. Start off with "Dick and Jane" and then have that thrown out and replaced with "The Bank Street Readers". Start with math drills and then have that thrown out and replaced with "New Math". Start out with the "Iowa Tests" and have that thrown out and replaced with the "California Achievement Test" and on and on and on. We also often get tired of the repeated nonsense such as "Where were you on November 22, 1963", although we were around like the children of that self-same President who died. This doesn't diminish the day but it blows it out of proportion from so many other significant events outside of this era that get glossed over. Many of us remember what happened when MLK was killed in 1968 but again, through a child's eyes. Sometimes it IS time to move on just as the X-gens and later will eventually tell us to move on... That is life.

Bobby Rush was a Black Panther who decided to settle into the "establishment". And given that communities may want to see their legislators get entrenched if they are looking out for them (and this gives them seniority in the long run), the entrenchment often means they might drift into laziness and thus they need a good shake up. ;)

[griffi94]

10. good god stop

yer gonna make me have a flashback.......

[w13rd0]

3. Out of curiosity...

...has Congressman Bobby Rush endorsed anyone? And if so, who?

[tritsofme]

5. My scorecard puts him in the Obama camp.

http://thehill.com/endorsements-2008.html

So obviously it wasn't personal.

I'm just curious why he felt the need to make the challenge.

[democrattotheend]

17. Yeah, he endorsed Obama

Which was quite surprising, given that in the 2000 primary, President Clinton made a rare primary endorsement for Bobby Rush.

[elixir]

4. Simple. He thought he could win, he couldn't, he tried again later.

[madrchsod]

6. the only black panther to hold public office

[MADem]

7. Effort to increase his profile, and he thought he could win. Rush had some

integrity issues he thought he could exploit.

Rush had a relative who was murdered right before the election. Wave of 'sympathy for the incumbent' ensured his victory.

It was a No-Lose for Obama, though. He raised his profile, and everyone knew who he was. He was able to snatch victory from the jaws of that defeat later down the line.

[FrenchieCat]

9. read this....Clinton pal Bobby Rush: I'm supporting Obama

Clinton pal Bobby Rush: I'm supporting Obama

January 27, 2007
BY SCOTT FORNEK Political Reporter
Calling it "one of the most difficult decisions that I've had to make in politics," Rep. Bobby Rush said Friday he is backing Barack Obama for president -- despite Rush's long friendship with rival White House hopeful Hillary Clinton and her husband.

"Barack is a favorite son, and I'm going to be with Barack," Rush said of his fellow South Side Democrat. "I intend to work very hard with him and for him. And this challenge is going to be enormous, but I'm going to be with him. ... We come from the same neighborhood and represent the same constituency, and I'm going to be with my constituency and Sen. Obama."

In 1991, Rush was the first elected official in Illinois to back Bill Clinton's first presidential run. He went on to serve as national director of voter registration for the Clinton-Gore ticket in 1992.

<>
Rush's relationship with Obama has been more rocky. It soured when Obama waged a failed bid to oust Rush from his congressional seat in 2000. Clinton helped Rush in that race, giving a rare primary endorsement and cutting 30-second radio spots singing Rush's praises.
The incumbent congressman won with 61 percent to Obama's 30 percent in a four-candidate field -- an outcome a chastened Obama later laughingly called "a big spanking."

Rush wasn't laughing when he backed another candidate, millionaire M. Blair Hull, over Obama in the 2004 primary for U.S. Senate. Still, when that year's Democratic National Convention rolled around, Rush had already climbed on the Barack bandwagon. The day of Obama's now-famous keynote speech, Rush was promoting him as a potential 2004 vice presidential candidate before Obama had uttered a word from the podium.

"We buried the hatchet a long time ago," Rush said Friday. "We worked very closely together in Washington. He works very closely with the Congressional Black Caucus, and I look forward to his candidacy, and I'll be with him until the end."
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/231872,CST-NWS-obama27.article

[OzarkDem]

11. Let's be realistic about many of these endorsements

Many are simply an opportunity for career advancement.

[EffieBlack]

12. Unless they're for Hillary?

Bobby Rush doesn't need to endorse Barack Obama for "career advancement." His career has advanced quite nicely on its own, thank you.

[FrenchieCat]

13. Actually, that is not how that article reads......

as I posted that article with much being Bobby Rush's own words to ansewr the op.

[MADem]

15. Actually, more like APIL.

All Politics is Local.

Most Democrats from the IL delegation will endorse the Favorite Son. And a fellow member of the CBC from the same state has two reasons to vote for a colleague.

After all, if your guy makes it, it's good news for your state.

[MADem]

14. I know. I'm not the OP, I didn't ask the question. NT

[BeyondGeography]

16. Rush successfully painted Obama as an out--of-touch, not--black-enough Harvard elitist

and beat him by 30 some-odd points. What Obama did discover along the way was that white liberals would vote for him in a big way.

Obama laughed off the loss and now they're genuine friends.

Losing can be good for the soul, as Hillary will soon finally learn.