July 27, 2004
Meteoric Rise for Obama
Two weeks ago, the Democratic party selected Barack Obama as the keynote speaker for the Democratic Convention, which began yesterday in Boston. Tonight he will headline the “Lifetime of Strength & Service” night.
So who is Barack Obama and where did he come from? And what does he mean to the Democratic party?
A state senator representing parts of the South Side of Chicago, he seemed to be an afterthought in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL). However, helped by rival Blair Hull's divorce scandal, a strong showing in debates and major newspaper endorsements, Obama surged in the polls during the home stretch of the campaign and won with a staggering 53% of the vote in a seven way race.
He did so because he reached out to all constituencies -- inner city minorities, the educated, affluent "lakeshore liberals" who reside along Chicago's north side and North Shore suburbs, rural farmers, union workers and others. He won precincts that were long controlled by party bosses or that would "never vote for a minority." David Axelrod, Obama's political consultant noted, "He has the ability to walk into any room and connect with anybody. I think it's because of who he is - the many different cultural strands that are part of him."
Born to a Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, he spent much if his early life living with his grandparents in Hawaii. After attending Columbia University and Harvard law School, he settled in Chicago to practice civil rights law. He later became a constitutional law teacher at University of Chicago and in 1996 was elected to the Illinois Senate.
Currently without an opponent due to Jack Ryan's own divorce scandal, Obama's support and stature within the Democratic party continues to skyrocket. He has been the subject of a very positive New York Times profile and his appearances on the Sunday morning new programs got high marks, too. He deftly answered tough questions and laid out his views on the issues, as he will in tonight's keynote address.
Stephanie Cutter, Kerry's communications director, explained why they chose Obama, "We believe he represents the future of the party." And clearly, he has the opportunity to help shape the future of the Democratic party. While the party is able to rally around anti-Bush sentiments for the 2004 campaign, that is not the platform on which to build an ongoing legacy. The party's vision for the future needs leaders who have clear ideas and can bring the diverse constituencies together to see those ideas through. As Obama has done in Illinois already, he will be asked to do on a national level if elected to the Senate.
Obama seems to still be in denial of his status as the future of the Democratic party. "Next month, somebody else will be the story, and then I'll be able to just go back to my work," he said. "I think that the constant attention is ephemeral. It's something I'm flattered by, but tend not to take too seriously."
However, many will take him very seriously if he continues to attract voters and impress party leaders as he has done so already. Tonight, might we be watching the first candidate who can cross racial lines, who can appeal to the multi-cultural 21st century America, and become the first minority major-party candidate?
Posted by blipsman at July 27, 2004 11:43 AMMeteoric is right. This guy’s heading places.
Posted by: Stephen Daugherty at July 27, 2004 10:13 PMSaw his speech. Wow.
Can we inject Kerry with his stem cells? :)
Posted by: Woody Mena at July 27, 2004 10:44 PMI liked his speech a lot- the first one I have liked in this convention. While it did have some of the required “INSERT CANDIDATE NAME has great values and leadership” lines, the message he delivered was right on in many points. My favorite portion was this:
“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.”
Blipsman,
Full Disclosure: I have been a volunteer on the Obama campaign here in Illinois, since he announced.
I also have his pic and links proudly displayed on my personal weblog, which exploded with Google hits tonight, just as he began his address.
You perfectly described his crossover appeal that has driven his entire campaign. In fact, he came within a couple thousand Primary votes, of equally the vote totals of all the Republican Senate Primary candidates - combined!
His candidacy also reflects the progressive nature of Illinois voters as a whole, and why the Bush/Cheney campaign has already written the state off.
I knew two years ago, that Sen. Obama was going to run for Senate. And, I knew I was going to be involved in his campaign, somehow. He has sparked the kind of excitement in this state, that Howard Dean sparked in the party.
Posted by: Bert M. Caradine at July 28, 2004 01:04 AMObama will be competition for Hillary in 2012. Great speech!
That was a great speech. I am not sure if he consulted his notes once.
A very impressive individual. Head and shoulders above the rest.
Posted by: Bob Hope at July 28, 2004 06:37 AMCNN liked the speech, too. Take a look at the grades their pundits gave Obama.
Posted by: blipsman at July 28, 2004 08:27 AM
