Listening to Obama's NH speech now and his appeal is that

[Skidmore]

on a gut level people understand that he gets it. He really gets it. He gets race issues, poverty issues, health issues, labor issues. He understands what it means to be an immigrant and to start from the bottom. It's fresh in his experience and he can articulate it. Not a great mystery. He just plain gets it and communicates it without verbal gymnastics. The Obama lesson to the rest of the Dem candidates is to remember where you came from, apply that life experience to practice of governance, live it, and speak honestly to the people.

[WI_DEM]

1. he would be an impressive candidate

[malaise]

2. I did the same

He's an amazing speaker. He's mastered the art of keeping it simple.

[goclark]

3. Skidmore, that is a Bingo!

It's as simple as that, "he gets it!"

For a person of his I.Q. it is sometimes hard to break thoughts down so that the average person understands what you are saying.

The beauty of Obama is that he is so in touch with people on every level that he "GETS IT" and if they are of good will, even if they don't agree with his politics, they can "Get It."

Skidmore and Obama
Edit to Add: In that respect, he reminds me of Clinton, both brilliant and both "GET IT!"
:yourock:

[Ezlivin]

4. And have no baggage

One thing that is refreshing about Obama is that he arrives with no baggage. Hillary will always have Bill and the conservatives will latch onto that and run with it forever.

We really need a "man of the people" to run for office. How about an Barack/Edwards ticket?

[RevolutionStartsNow]

6. Being raised in Chicago politics, he has some baggage...

but show me a politician with no baggage, plus the positives that Barack has.

[Ezlivin]

7. Amended: His baggage is carry-on

Light, easy to carry and not a burden.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

11. LOL!

Agreed.

Everyone has baggage, even if they can just store it under the seat.

Of course the RW attack dogs will be sniffing all over it, but that's to be expected. If Barack can't handle it, we'll find out soon enough.

[jefferson_dem]

5. He started kind of shaky, with all the "thank yous and such but once he hit the policy areas...DAMN!

An inspiration. :thumbsup:!

[GymGeekAus]

8. No, Obama doesn't get it.

Remember the speech that catapulted him into the spotlight? The whole "there is no liberal America, there is no conservative America. There is just the United States of America" speech?

Nothing speaks of a poorer understanding of the struggles of politics and the people than his obliviousness to the division of America.

To me, it seems like he's nothing but a poll-following centrist without a political philosophy. Sure, he's a great public speaker. But politicians should be far more than that. They should be great political thinkers.

Attributing honesty to politicians has long been considered a sign of naivete, you know.

[Skidmore]

9. What I heard in that speech was that there is a nation full

of Americans bound by the same human needs that exists beyond the political labelling. There is truth in that. Freakin' call me naive if that's what gets you going, but I consider myself to be pretty liberal. Many people here know how I loathe the squishy middle. I don't hear a call for the squishy middle. I hear a call for the recognition of our common humanity--which exists in and of itself beyond the political realm. I have long argued that if the Democratic Party would adopt a populist platform, it would be better served and could serve better the nation. However, its politicians would have to be willing to live this platform as well.

One thing I do know is that we cannot endlessly repeat the past two decades, which some would prefer to do.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

13. My sentiments exactly!

I think people are way too quick to confuse Obama's appeals for coming together to solve problems as capitulation.

It CAN'T always be us against them. Yes there are evil neo-cons running the country and they should all be kicked out, and there are millions of idiots who voted them in, but there are also millions of Americans on both sides of the aisle who would like to end this war, treat our veterans right, fight poverty, fix the freakin' economy and address environmental issues. Yes the Democrats have a better agenda for doing this and I will vote for any Democrat over any Republican, every time, but it's also time to realize that the world -- not just this country -- is in a crisis (environmentally and socially) and we better get workin' on the solution.

[Mass]

10. I am confused by your analysis.

I like Obama. I think he is a great speaker and has the potential to be a lot more than a great speaker.

However, while he certainly gets race issues freom personnal experience, how does he get poverty issues, immigration issues, and all that any better than any other potential candidate? He is not an immigrant, his family was certainly not poor (probably not extremely rich either, but probably at ease), and he did not start at the bottom. It would be an error to compare his experience to the one of our governor, Deval Patrick, who was born in the poor neighborhoods of Chicago and succeeded thanks to his determination). Obama does not have this background.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

[Bucky]

12. His exposure to poverty was personal, just not his

From the ages of six to 10, he lived in Jakarta. He's talked about how his friends then were street kids and he basically was a street kid, too, from hanging out with them. You don't get more Third Worldy than being a street urchin in Jakarta. Yes, his background is a little exotic. But he's also from a background that helps him understand what it means to go without.

The more I read about him the more I see that his mom was a real hippie-intellectual.