That's Obama -- With a 'b'

[seemslikeadream]

Barack Obama celebrates his primary win with wife Michelle, far left, and Sheila Simon, far right. (Photo by Olga Lopez)

BY Jonathan Tilove
c.2004 Newhouse News Service

CHICAGO -- Meet Barack Obama.

With his smashing victory in Tuesday's primary to become the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, the 42-year-old state senator and University of Chicago law instructor stands poised to enter the national stage, and history. If elected -- and the odds now favor him -- he would be only the third black senator since Reconstruction.

"The moment he sets foot in the U.S. Senate he is going to be a national figure, not only national but international," says U.S. Rep. Janice Schakowsky, an early supporter, whose district embodies the "lakefront liberals" -- mostly white and Jewish -- who are part of Obama's base.

Tall, fresh and elegant, Obama is certain to be an overnight sensation in national Democratic circles.

He is their best chance to pick up a Senate seat now in Republican hands (the incumbent, Peter Fitzgerald, did not seek re-election). But he is also the candidate from central casting for a new generation of national black leadership, still moored in the values of the civil rights movement but in tone and approach more cool than hot.

http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/tilove031804.html

[Tempest]

1. I just sent him $100 this morning

He has a great platform and is very popular.

Illinois is ours!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

3. I sure hope the bush baby doesn't get confused and orders his capture

dead or alive. Watch out, they may also freeze your assets.
;-)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

2. He sounds like the right person at the right time.

[GinaMaria]

4. Cook Country

is his, no question. I think almost 500K voted for him in the primary. He needs help down state. People don't know him and haven't heard of him there. If you know anyone in central or southern Illinois, tell them about Obama.

[metisnation]

13. fIVE tO oNE bABY

GONNA WIN YEAH WERE TAKING OVER COME ON!1He will get what he needs from the collar counties. Democrats outnumber Republicans many times over. 5 TO 1 Republicans are done. Anyone with the name Ryan is a crook.

[rocktivity]

5. Know what he looks like to me?

The VP half of the 2012 Dem presidential ticket.

:headbang:
rocknation

[never cry wolf]

7. Why only VP??

He may just head the ticket!

I liked this bit from the article:

A few weeks ago, Schakowsky joined 18 members of the Black Caucus who met with President Bush about Haiti. On their way out, she said, the president noticed her "Obama" button and asked about it.

"I really do think he thought it said, `Osama,"' Schakowsky recalled. "I said, `No, Obama, Barack Obama, he's running for the United States Senate from Illinois.'

"He said, `Well, I don't know him." I said, `You will, Mr. President."'

What a moran we have in office!

[rocktivity]

9. Oh, but I AM thinking about him heading the ticket!

In 2020, when he'll be 58--not too young, not too old. You see, it will be a lot easier to get the VOTERS thinking about Obama if he's served as VP under whoever follows Kerry in 2012. (Hopefully it will be Kerry's VP Edwards, who will be 58 in 2012 himself!)

:headbang:
rocknation

[metisnation]

14. obama your mama

Mr. Prez Toolbox.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

8. DAMN! He looks like my dad, when he was skinny.

[Chicago Democrat]

10. Make that the TOP of the TICKET!!

Obama is truly presidential material!

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Since the article said his father was Kenyan

and you guys have him pencilled in for President, I thought I'd check where he was born. It's Hawaii - and since he's 42, and it became a state in 1959, he's definitely eligible. But that raises a question: is someone born in Hawaii before 1959 (or the equivalent for Alaska) eligible to be President, if their parents weren't American?

[seemslikeadream]

6. Obama a Heartbeat Away From US Senate

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

March 18, 2004
Posted to the web March 18, 2004

Mishael Ondieki
Illinois

Mr Barack Obama, yesterday convincingly won the Illinois Democratic nomination, a heartbeat close to becoming the only black man in the US Senate.

Obama, 42, a son of a Kenyan scholar, defeated six opponents, a move that may upset the US political balance come November.


Obama garnered 60 per cent of the total vote to beat his nearest opponent, Dan Hynes, who got 20 per cent.

The seat is currently held by a retiring Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200403180050.html

Voter turnout spotty in county
Without the drama of a presidential race to draw voters, the turnout for Tuesday’s primary election in Madison County was well below expectations.
In Madison County, Hynes beat Barack Obama – who led Hynes in statewide polls earlier in the week – by more than 6,000 votes.
http://www.goedwardsville.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11135682&BRD=%202291&PAG=461&dept_id=473648&rfi=6

Evanston voters back Obama

BY BOB SEIDENBERG
CITY EDITOR

Evanston Democrats lived up to their reputation for picking political winners Tuesday, piling up powerful numbers in support of endorsed candidate state Sen. Barack Obama, D-13th, in the U.S. Senate race, and also lifting former township Democratic Committeeman Jeanne R. Cleveland Bernstein to a win in a hotly contested judicial primary race.
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/ev/03-18-04-251593.html

Obama's appeal spans racial lines

Axelrod produced Obama's commercials, which featured images of Washington and live testimonials from U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky. In an especially effective spot, Sheila Simon described Obama as "cut from that same cloth" as her father, Paul Simon, who died last year.

"Barack Obama is a spectacular person, but I also think this was an affirmation of support for Paul," Axelrod said. "We could see it in focus groups where you say 'This guy is a protege of Paul Simon,' they'd say 'Well, that's all I need to know. I mean it was really phenomenal."

State Senate President Emil Jones, whom Obama calls "my political godfather," said Obama's "message is something that everyone can adhere to, and secondly he's comfortable in all settings, be it Downstate, be it Hispanic, be it white ethnics."

A first-time statewide candidate, Obama won a majority of 53 percent against six other Democrats, beating his closest competitor by more than 2-1. He did it with an outpouring of votes from his fellow African Americans in Chicago and the south suburbs. But he also won solid support in areas with larger concentrations of white voters, winning nine Northwest Side wards and swamping his opposition in all five collar counties.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-obama18.html

[wndycty]

11. Kick

:kick:

[KamaAina]

15. Obama: Hawai'i's Third Senator?

Strange but true...

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Mar/19/ln/ln14a.html

Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama, who made national news this week with his victory in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, is also a local boy from Hawai'i.

Obama, a former civil rights lawyer, was born and raised primarily in Hawai'i and graduated from Punahou School in 1979....

Obama, 42, could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday. He attended Punahou from 1971 to 1979. His campaign press secretary, Pam Smith, said Obama and his family spend every Christmas in Hawai'i, where his grandmother and sister still live.

"I know he loves to go back there," she said. "He still has fond memories."

If he somehow manages not to humiliate the Repuke millionaire in November, we would surely welcome him "back home" with open arms!
He'd be just what we need to deflate "vacuum bag" Lingle in '06 (sigh).

So, congratulations to Sen. Barack Obama, Mr. Brain Drain of 1979. If we can ever find a way to keep some of these outstanding people here in the islands, you won't be able to ignore us any longer...