Barack Obama 'the new Jack Kennedy'

[T_i_B]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/14/wdemo14.xml

Many Democrats are already eyeing him as perhaps their best hope for the White House in the 2008 presidential election campaign. Now Barack Obama, the charismatic senator with near rock-star status, has won glowing praise from another, more unlikely source.

Frank Luntz, the communications strategist who has helped mastermind a string of victories for the rival Republican party, has singled him out as the politician whose oratory puts him in pole position for next year's presidential election.

"His whole message is one of hope and opportunity," Mr Luntz told The Sunday Telegraph. "He comes across as a real person, and 'real' is in for 2008."

According to Mr Luntz - whose recognition of David Cameron's appeal was a pivotal moment in the last Conservative leadership contest - Mr Obama's oratory skills contrasts sharply with the Republicans' "pathetic" utterances, which helped to consign them to defeat in November's congressional elections. In a book published last week, Mr Luntz predicts that the party of Ronald Reagan, who was known as the "Great Communicator", will also lose the White House next year unless its leaders raise their game to challenge fresh voices like that of Mr Obama.

[illinoisprogressive]

1. Obama 08!!!!!!!!

I hear he may announce this week. Cannot wait!

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. Well, the current occupant is 'real' enough for me.

>>> "He comes across as a real person, and 'real' is in for 2008.">>>>

Let's hope Barack has more going for him than that.

What's encouraging about him ( I'm frankly just starting to take a closer look, having dismissed the Obama-buzz so far as just that: buzz) is his multi-national , multi-cultural roots and the hint that this may actually inform his worldview.

What a sea change from the 'in front of the tv with a beer can in the hand' world view of the barbarians now in control.

Also, what Lutz sees as a liability... 'naive' public observations like 'we're not going to baby sit a civil war'... contrasts favorably ( to *my* ears, anyway) with a certain Clinton's painfully premeditated, excruciatingly calculated pronouncements.

[beaconess]

3. Your perspective is very interesting

I think your evolving view of Obama is representative of many Americans who are just starting to take a look at him and beginning to appreciate how his background, training, and experience all contribute to a world view and approach that are very refreshing and could be very good for the country. The closer people look at him the more they like what they see - which is very different from Bush who looks worse the closer you study him. That doesn't mean everyone is going to turn into an Obama fan or even vote for him, but he's earning a lot of respect and recognition that he's much more than the fresh new flavor of the week.

I'd be interested in hearing more of your views as time goes on.

[Bullet1987]

4. I disagree...

...with the article when it says his inexperience shows when he said "baby-sitting." WE ARE BABYSITTING the war!!! There's nothing bad about saying that, because it's the truth!!

[beaconess]

5. I agree with the assessment that his blunt observation are a welcome contrast to Clinton's

sometimes tortured language.

He was recently asked about his admission that he used pot and cocaine as a teenager. Specifically, he was asked, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, whether he had inhaled. "Of course I inhaled," he said. "That was kind of the point."

Badup-BUM. Pretty much end of discusion about the drug thing.

I think people appreciate that kind of candor.