So if he were Bobby O'Bama from IL, he wouldn't be here?

[Drunken Irishman]

Bobby O'Bama, born to Irish immigrants, Harvard graduated, a community organizer on the streets of Chicago and as white as white can be. His speeches mobilize, his call for hope reminds many of another Irish-American politician by the name of John F. Kennedy. Bobby O'Bama inspires like Bobby, has the good looks of Jack and the grassroots of Howard Dean. He connects with blacks because he's worked for blacks. He connects with Hispanics, because he isn't black and reminds many of the Kennedy Boys. He's endorsed by Caroline and Ted, John Kerry too. And he campaigns across this country with a message of hope that rings throughout the ghettos of Los Angeles and the poverty stricken towns of the south. But he also has the support of Catholics and working class whites -- who are constantly reminded of a better time.

His speaking skills, work ethic and campaign do not change, only his color, with a tweak to his back-story. You're honestly telling me he wouldn't be successful? I highly doubt that. If anything, Bobby O'Bama would have wrapped this nomination up long ago.

[BeyondGeography]

1. I dunno, but he would be KILLING with the Catholic vote

[samdogmom]

2. I'm pretty sure that what came out of his mouth was the same--he'd still be here!

For goodness sakes, nay-sayers--those who support Barack Obama are actually LISTENING TO WHAT HE SAYS!

You can try to pooh-pooh it, or denounce/renounce/reject it...but the fact remains--he hits a chord with the masses! We love his outlook and optimism--and promise that he'll TRY to clean up the crap in Washington!!!!

[Hangingon]

3. I think the name was Barry, at least during high school.

When and why did he stop using Barry?

[candice]

10. Probably when he went to L.A. for college--it's his given name...

...and college professors don't use nicknames when they read the role. It is also a time when one begins to create an adult identity. Barack also sounds more exotic than Barry.

[stillcool]

14. I insisted people stop using my nickname...

when I was 16. Took a while. Every now and then it pops up and I still cringe.

[LisaM]

4. John Edwards was the candidate whose views are the most progressive

and his candidacy was stopped in its tracks. I don't think people are just listening to the message. They are compelled by the stories, by the groundbreaking nature of both campaigns.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

19. John Edwards was also a candidate who...

said one thing on the campaign trail and did completely contrary things in his Senate years. He was also a first term Senator (with absolutely no other elective office experience) at the time that he ran first in '04 and he got within a hair's breadth of Kerry...

[theboss]

24. John Edwards also can't get votes for free drugs in a crack house

I like Edwards. I voted for him in '04. He just doesn't connect with voters in any meaningful way.

[AlertLurker]

5. Sober up.

If Obama weren't black, he wouldn't have 90% of the black vote. They weren't voting for Biden, Richardson, Kucinich, Dodd or Edwards, they wouldn't vote for Bobby O'Bama, either.

That's just the way it is - get over it.

[Tellurian]

6. The name he's gone by is Barry.. not so far off the mark..

Kennedy was far more experienced than Barry Obama. Whose to say Barry didn't plagiarize from JFK, MLK and RFK... He's plagiarized from so many....Who is Barack Hussein Obama anyway?

[XemaSab]

8. The next president of the United States?

:shrug:

[jgraz]

17. Good Answer.

Though Tellurian and her Queen are doing everything possible to stop that from happening.

[Tellurian]

23. Yep, Hillary is the real deal..,

Just doing my job as any citizen should do for the good of the country.

[candice]

7. Especially if his father was Joe Kennedy and he had 16 years in Congress...

[twiceshy]

9. I gotta agree with you........

Words move minds and Barak's oratory is an order of magnitude better than anyone else in the race.

[Recursion]

11. I got some flak for posting this, but consider the converse

What if he were Barack Obama, dark-skinned, speaking African American Vernacular English, raised by a black single mother in Kansas City?

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. Well, of course he'd have locked it up long ago. nt

[theboss]

26. He would be on probation?

I dunno.

[PeaceNikki]

12. You know what's super funny about DU?

The beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating and beating of one comment to death.

I've seen every possibility, variation, up to and including disgusting and offensive pics posted correlating Ferraros comments to lynching.

I understand discussion of the comments, but for fuck's sake... enough already!

[rucky]

18. and beating n/t

[stillcool]

15. Obama is where he is ..

in spite of being black. I think that is an incredible accomplishment.

this moment brought to you by those who dared to dream

[1776Forever]

16. This outrageously intelligent man who knows the Constitution wants to be our President!

With Irish, African, American Indian ancestors, and growing up in Indonesia, Hawaii, and then moving the Chicago and visiting Kenya, he is really an amazing man. Let alone his teaching of the Constitution and then there is this:

Harvard Experiences Sculpt Obama Appeal

By GLEN JOHNSON
The Associated Press
Friday, January 26, 2007; 2:10 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

(snip)

In 1990, Obama became the first black president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, a position that usually falls to the student with the sharpest elbows. Obama won by convincing liberals and conservatives alike of the strength of his intellect, the soundness of his judgment and the merit of his vision.

"I can't pretend that I had any idea then that he would be a serious presidential candidate _ that would have been a crazy thing for anyone to project at that stage of a career _ but he was certainly the most all-around impressive student I had seen in decades," said Laurence Tribe, a constitutional scholar at Harvard for whom Obama served as a research assistant.

Obama analyzed and integrated Einstein's theory of relativity, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, as well as the concept of curved space as an alternative to gravity, for a Law Review article that Tribe wrote titled, "The Curvature of Constitutional Space."

Charles Ogletree _ a professor who has served as a mentor to countless black students at Harvard Law, including Obama _ said, "He was really a moderating influence on the campus by being mature, very much open to a variety of perspectives, but trusted by everyone to reach the right conclusions without some strong ideological link."

Obama, now 45, came to Harvard in 1988 after graduating from Columbia University and spending four years as a community organizer in Chicago. While most of the 550 students admitted each fall are on a trajectory toward high-paying corporate law firms or the judicial bench, Obama aimed for public-interest law from the outset.

"You can try to do things to improve society and still land on your feet," he told an interviewer in 1990. "That's what a Harvard education should buy: enough confidence and security to pursue your dreams and give something back."

...........

What a concept - This outrageously intelligent man who knows the Constitution being our Commander in Chief and replacing the most embarrassing man the Repub's could have picked as our President for the last 8 years.

I cannot wait!!!!!!!

:applause: :woohoo: :applause:

[Medusa]

20. Edwards was in the race, was chosen as a VP nominee 4 years ago

and had scant experience (what was it--one term in the Senate)? He seemed to do okay with a good speech or three.

[aquarius dawning]

21. Not if he were running against Barack Obama, the black/white, Muslim/Christian, Republican/Democrat.

90% of the black vote. That's why he is where he is.

[stillcool]

22. No! it's..

_BLACK_BARACK_SCARY_MUSLIM_HUSSEIN_REZKO_TERROTIST_OSAMA_OBAMA...that's why he is where he is!!!

[theboss]

25. I think you just described Bill Clinton minus the Irish roots

What the Clintons don't seem to grasp is Obama is essentially Bill Clinton minus a few years of executive experience and a ton of personal baggage.

1. Humble beginnings? Check.
2. Broken family? Check.
3. Great education? Check.
4. Political activism at a young age? Check.
5. Religious background? Check.
6. Uncompromising wife? Check.

[theboss]

27. At its heart, Ferraro's message is "Boy...whites sure do like a jive talking preacher"

That's essentially what I took from it.