Barack Obama's Viability as a Candidate
Wed, 01/17/2007 - 1:15pm
On January 16th, Illinois Senator Barack Obama announced the formation of an exploratory committee for President in 2008. So far he joins a field of candidates including former Senator John Edwards, Senators Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, and Mike Gravel, Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa, and Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich. Obama says he will announce formally in Springfield, Missouri on February 10th of this year.
Obama is already one of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination, along with John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. He might as well be Secretary of the Department of Charisma; his visit to New Hampshire indicated as much last month, and his appearance on Monday Night Football was well-received. Some questions have arisen over whether or not he could be a viable candidate due to his lack of experience. Some have cited Abraham Lincoln's sole two-year term in the House of Representatives as a counter-argument, asserting that legislative experience may not necessarily be a factor.
Another issue with Obama's candidacy is his race. Every other day an article appears in the mainstream media about whether or not America is ready for an African-American president. If he were to win, Obama would be the first. This factor is important to consider in his ability to win, as heavily Republican states in the South and Western portions of the country tend to take a candidate's ethnicity heavily into consideration when voting.
As a politician, Obama has offered an approach that would ameliorate the polarization of today's savage political climate. If he does not win the candidacy, it is my belief he would be a very effective vice-president.
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Reddit
Obama-Rama
By Patrick M McLeod
Wed, 01/17/2007 - 11:49pm
Our field looks right now like it's The Man (Obama) versus The Machine (Edwards) with a bunch of other folks trailing along behind in various stages of irrelevancy.
Here's my gut reaction: Obama's got the magnetic personal story, the benefit of being on all the right shows at all the right times and being the current darling of the media. Edwards, no slouch on the telegenic front himself, has a strong organization in place in Iowa and New Hampshire and a lot of institutional momentum and good will on the ground among Democrats.
I can't imagine that Hillary Clinton is going to pass up running, so let's say for argument's sake that she does run. I think that Clinton and Obama are going to end up duking it out at the top of the ticket since they're both Senators and they will both therefore benefit from having the political megaphone that is a high political office in an election campaign.
If nothing else, the fine folks in our mainstream media love nothing more than some Clinton-bashing (if you think they've been catty and snide about Nancy Pelosi, just wait...) and I think it's only a matter of time until some of the oppo work on Obama hits the mainstream press. Sooner or later, the bloom will be off the Obama rose; what's going to be key for him is gaining as much traction as possible before that hits.
Unlike the '04 Presidential election, though, I don't think that we're going to see the same level of slime-and-run from the Republicans until they get their own field whittled down a bit; all I can say is that I almost feel sorry for John McCain and Rudy Giuliani right now with Tancredo to their right on immigration and Brownback and Romney to their right on social conservative issues. Note that is "almost feel sorry"...in my opinion, the Arizona Flip Flopper (or is it the South Carolina Sell Out?) and New York's Live At Five Divorcee deserve all the hell they get.
All that to say that I think Edwards is going to shape up to benefit greatly from an Obama-Clinton snap fest. He's got a solid operation going, he can roast both Clinton and Obama for their votes while not having to worry about the same and so far he's been very sharp on the right rhetoric at the right time.
It's not even April (the first debates) and this is already fun!
You should write a blog
By Josh Berthume
Thu, 01/18/2007 - 10:53am
You should write a blog about this.
Race not a big issue
By WhosPlayin
Thu, 01/18/2007 - 6:39pm
I really don't think race is an issue in this any more. There will be folks who will vote against a black man, but these folks are already firmly in the hands of the Republicans.
Statements like "Is America ready for an African American president" are just another way of dragging up the issue so they'll have something to talk about.
I think the MSM would do itself well to READ HIS BOOK, "The Audacity of Hope" and talk about his views on substantive issues.
Steve Southwell
WhosPlayin? Blog: http://www.whosplayin.com
Race is not the issue
By Robin Orlowski
Sat, 07/07/2007 - 10:26am
It's the years of experience.
Obama went into the Howard University debate with a demographic home court advantage. People were cheering specifically when his name was called.
But that same audience later came away cheering for other candidates. The difference was because of their fact-laden presentations about how to solve the same issues which were being discussed.
Substance over style matters for the majority of voters.