Obama sack riders, please explain what I'm missing

[SpicyMcVoodoo]

Why are people calling him the rock star of the democratic party? I see this guy speak and I really don't see what the big deal is. What am I missing?

[JaJae]

Out of the blue and as a rather unknown politician he made an inspiring speech at the '04 DNC that lifted Democratic morale at a time when they were very confused and didn't have a clear message.

Ever since then the Dems are touting him as a brave young Senator. He's new so he doesn't really have any dirt. He's a fairly clean politician and very well liked and likable. He's fairly moderate in comparison to the other popular outspoken Democrats, yet he still receives plenty of good media attention.

If he had never given this speech nobody would know him or care about him. This is the speech that made his career:

On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln,
let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention.

Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this
stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a
small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof
shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant.

But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and
perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place: America,
which stood as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come
before. While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town
on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and
farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor he signed
up for duty, joined Patton's army and marched across Europe. Back home,
my grandmother raised their baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line.

After the war, they studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA, and moved
west in search of opportunity. And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter, a
common dream, born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable
love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation.

They would give me an African name, Barack, or "blessed," believing that in a
tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going
to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a
generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential.

They are both passed away now. Yet, I know that, on this night, they look
down on me with pride. I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my
heritage, aware that my parents' dreams live on in my precious daughters.

I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that
I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country
on earth, is my story even possible. Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness
of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our
military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise,
summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago,

"We hold these truths to he self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they
are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these
are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the
insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know
they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think,
write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door.

That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or
hiring somebody's son. That we can participate in the political process without
fear of retribution, and that our votes will he counted — or at least, most of the time.

This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and commitments, to
hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy
of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations. And fellow Americans —
Democrats, Republicans, Independents, I say to you tonight: we have more work to
do.

More to do for the workers I met in Galesburg, Illinois, who are losing their union
jobs at the Maytag plant that's moving to Mexico, and now are having to compete
with their own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an hour.

More to do for the father I met who was losing his job and choking back tears,
wondering how he would pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son needs without
the health benefits he counted on. More to do for the young woman in East St. Louis,
and thousands more like her, who has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but
doesn't have the money to go to college.

Don't get me wrong. The people I meet in small towns and big cities, in diners and
office parks, they don't expect government to solve all their problems. They know
they have to work hard to get ahead and they want to.

Go into the blue collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don't
want their tax money wasted by a welfare agency or the Pentagon.

Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone
can't teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can't
achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and
eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.

No, people don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense,
deep in their bones, that with just a change in priorities, we can make sure that
every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity
remain open to all. They know we can do better.

And they want that choice. In this election, we offer that choice. Our party has
chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer. That man is
John Kerry.

John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and sacrifice, because they've
defined his life. From his heroic service in Vietnam to his years as prosecutor and
lieutenant governor, through two decades in the United States Senate, he has
devoted himself to this country.

Again and again, we've seen him make tough choices when easier ones were
available. His values and his record affirm what is best in us. John Kerry believes
in an America where hard work is rewarded.

So instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he'll offer
them to companies creating jobs here at home. John Kerry believes in an
America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians
in Washington have for themselves.

John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren't held hostage to the
profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields.

John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country
the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith
as a wedge to divide us.

And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but
it should never he the first option. A while back, I met a young man named
Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid,
six-two or six-three, clear-eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd joined the
Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. As I listened to him explain
why he'd enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to
duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a
child.

But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us?
I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands
and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns.


I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's
full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves
shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists.

When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn
obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going,
to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return,
and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace,
and earn the respect of the world.

Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found.
They must be pursued and they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as
Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with
him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might
to keep America safe and secure.

John Kerry believes in America. And he knows it's not enough for just some of us
to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the
American saga. A belief that we are connected as one people. If there's a child on
the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child.

If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to
choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not
my grandmother.

If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney
or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief —
I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work.

It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a
single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.

Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin
masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes.

Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America —
there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America
and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.

The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States;
Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too.

We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents
poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue
States and have gay friends in the Red States.

There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it.
We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us
defending the United States of America.

In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of
cynicism or a politics of hope?

John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking
about blind optimism here — the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment
will go away if we just don't talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if
we just ignore it.

No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around
a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores;
the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of
a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a
funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.

The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock
of this nation; the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days
ahead.

I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a
road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the
homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and
despair.

I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right
choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America!

Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion
I do, the same hopefulness I do — if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt
that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine,
the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president,
and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president, and this country will reclaim
its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come.

Thank you and God bless you.

Midnightf

[ballz2wallz]

From what I understand, he's just spouting the same rhetoric as any other Democrats, with no clear idea or plan on fulfilling what he promises.

I think it has a lot to do with their desire to have a well-spoken, successful minority come into the ranks. He's almost a poster-child for them.

IMO (and his own), he's very inexperienced.

[hsmith]

He is a nobody and I don't understand the media's love affair with him.

[Scrum]

Originally Posted by JaJae

If he had never given this speech nobody would know him or care about him. This is the speech that made his career:

I would. I voted for him.

[Scrum]

Originally Posted by ballz2wallz

From what I understand, he's just spouting the same rhetoric as any other Democrats, with no clear idea or plan on fulfilling what he promises.

Oh please.

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by hsmith

He is a nobody and I don't understand the media's love affair with him.

He's charismatic and liberal. He props himself up on a proclaimed cinderalla story and the media just loves that.

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by Scrumtralecent

I would. I voted for him.

I would have too.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by hsmith

He is a nobody and I don't understand the media's love affair with him.

he does have a semi truck full of charisma

[Donkey®]

Funny. Republican's say he's a typical democrat with no plan...ignoring the fact that all Republican plans suck. I guess if he has charisma, that's good enough for me. He's a decent speaker, carries himself well and is scandal free.

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by hsmith

He is a nobody and I don't understand the media's love affair with him.

Actually, I do understand his popularity in a personal way. My first impression when I saw his 2004 speech was that I like this guy even if I don't buy his class warfare stick. I remember when he said that a "black kid reading a book is not acting white!" and I think that was bold and a slap in the face to the Jesse Jackson wing of the party, i.e. every black problem has a white fault.

But I suspect JaJae has it right. He dosen't have any "dirt" but he probably will if he runs. Like John Edwards (Big cash for crackpot jury awards) he may look good until you start to dig for the dirt.

[motivez]

He's someone who has a message of hope and inspires people similar to how charismatic politicians such as JFK did..

There's really not that many notable politicians out there telling us what we can accomplish and what good we're capable of because of everything else bad that's going on in the world.

People want to be inspired. He has the charisma and the message.

I still think he's too inexperienced to be President, though. Another term or two in the Senate and he'll be ready. I fully believe he'll be President one day barring any major scandal.

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

Funny. Republican's say he's a typical democrat with no plan...ignoring the fact that all Republican plans suck. I guess if he has charisma, that's good enough for me. He's a decent speaker, carries himself well and is scandal free.

I don't think the last bit has been tested yet? See what happens when he runs? Remember how Dean and General Dipshit would clean Bush's clock!

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by motivez

He's someone who has a message of hope and inspires people similar to how charismatic politicians such as JFK did..

There's really not that many notable politicians out there telling us what we can accomplish and what good we're capable of because of everything else bad that's going on in the world.

People want to be inspired. He has the charisma and the message.

I still think he's too inexperienced to be President, though. Another term or two in the Senate and he'll be ready. I fully believe he'll be President one day barring any major scandal.

I think he would be smart to wait this one out. It is not like he is old John Kerry or Gore (The huge BORE!) and this is his last shot! Let Hillary have her moment for better or worse. Worse being she gets elected!

Obama has a great deal of time to make a name for himself. My advice would be a strong record in the Senate and perhaps a run for Governor, then make the move to the top. Popular Governors hit the President mark more often than Senators!

[motivez]

Race still does play a big part in American politics though. It shouldn't, but it does.

[motivez]

Oh, you also might be missing that his middle name is "Hussein"

Expect that to be a somewhat big deal if he does decide to run or gets tapped for the VP

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by motivez

Race still does play a big part in American politics though. It shouldn't, but it does.

Yea I didn't want to turn this into a race issue. But it's not really him making up the race issues, it's the media. I've seen him in many interviews talking about the race hardships in politics and it's always the media bringing it up, not him. He needs to learn to step back and stop answering them in such a charismatic tone because it's gonna hurt him in the long run.

[RMNIXON]

Here is a test I can't answer:


Republicans run a black like Colin Powell or Condi (also the woman thing) ....

Democrats run a black like Obama....


How much does race play a role?

You know that both sides will take aim and fire!