two years ago, the vast majority of my coworkers had never heard of Obama

[Enrique]

the one guy whom I talked politics with came in on a Monday morning with a ridiculous story about how Obama had been killed in Cleveland over the weekend.

I laughed in his face (not in a mean way). I said are you kidding me, you're telling me that a U.S. Senator was just murdered and none of us had heard about it? Not just any senator, but a famous one who was getting tons of media attention.

The guy stuck with his story and I looked around at our coworkers, saying can you believe this? I really wasn't surprised when I was asked to "remind" them who this Barack Obama was.

Our supervisor who has internet access checked Google News and reported whatever senate business Obama was conducting that day, and it ended up a running joke for a while, checking in on what Zombie Obama was up to from day to day, until the original idiot (nice guy really) started getting pissed.

Anyway, the point of the story is just how amazingly fast Obama has risen.

The above scene took place in Illinois, which state Obama represented in the Senate at the time, now, just two years later, could that have taken place even in Germany?

[Ron Green]

1. Alas, most Germans know more about US politics than most Americans.

[Demobrat]

2. Two years ago I was at a different job.

I had an African American co-worker with whom I occasionally talked politics. I remember telling him all about Obama. He politely blew me off with the ever-useful "send me a link". A week later I asked him if he'd read it and he said he hadn't had time. We've lost touch, but I often wonder about him - and if he remembers where he heard it first! :-)

[zanne]

3. Last summer, I attended an Obama rally with about 100 other people.

It was in June 2007 and it was in a millyard in Manchester, NH. I could kick myself for not taking pictures. That's when I first shook his hand.

[DainBramaged]

4. I downloaded his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention

from Apple and still have it on my old IPod. EVERY time you get discouraged, you need to listen to it.

http://www.2004dnc.com/barackobamaspeech/index.html




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awQkJNVsgKM