July 30, 2004
THEIR BLAIR:
Barack Obama: A Republican Soul Trapped Inside a Democrat’s Body (Lucas Morel, July 2004, Ashbrook)
With unity as the mandate for the Democratic Convention, a little known State Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, took the ball and ran so far with it that this listener thought he was witnessing Obama’s conversion to the Grand Old Party. Remove all the references to John Kerry, along with the not-so-veiled digs against Bush, and the remaining speech would have fired up a Republican audience.Touting his home state as "the land of Lincoln," praising the Declaration of Independence as "the true genius of America," and repeatedly affirming that Americans "don’t expect government to solve all their problems," Obama sounded less like the Democratic Party and more like the current president. Even his comments on education, which emphasized parental responsibility and higher student expectations, were right out of Bush’s playbook. Add his concern that Americans couple their devotion to individualism with a belief that "I am my brother’s keeper," and Obama looked like a cheerleader for compassionate conservatism.
That Obama spent most of his speech singing the glories of America must have shocked the Democratic elite. Instead of mouthing the multicultural platitudes of Jesse Jackson’s Democratic Party, Obama pledged allegiance to "one American family." He went so far as to exclaim, "There’s not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America—there is the United States of America." Jackson stood up and applauded at all the right moments, but he was clearly sitting down and harrumphing on the inside.
With Hillary representing the New Deal/Great Society base of the Party in the '08 primaries there will be amble room for a serious Third Way candidate. A black candidate like Mr. Obama or Harold Ford, who could make a racial appeal but combine it with a true New Democrat message, could make the race interesting at least and, if he won, do what Bill Clinton failed to do, move the party in the direction of compassionate conservatism/Third Way solutions. That is if they stay Democrats after the November bloodbath. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 30, 2004 1:13 PM
Here's an idea: since the GOP doesn't have a candidate in Illinois anyway, Obama should run as both a Democrat and Republican. It would certainly help him get better committee assignments. (And this isn't as crazy as it sounds, as I recall, in one election Ed Koch was the Democratic party and Conservative party candidate for mayor of NY.)
Posted by: foos at July 30, 2004 2:00 PMLegitmiately, I believe Harold Ford, Jr. _could_ do this..he probably would require a couple tries to actually _get_ the nomination, but I believe he is the most electable Democrat right now--little or no negative baggage, moderate, black Southerner with tons of charisma.
Posted by: cornetofhorse at July 30, 2004 2:11 PMObama is a gun-grabber and a socialist. There's a site out there busting him.
It's called "The Combine." Our state is run by "The Combine."
Posted by: Sandy P at July 30, 2004 2:13 PMUntil Obama has a voting record on national issues, we don't know if what he said he believes, or if he's Clintonesque, and could see the social debate going, if not the Republicans' way, at least in the direction of Mr. Cosby, and presented himself as a man to fit the times before the votes are counted in Illinois. If that's the case then he'll just be Charlie Rangle with a slicker style and smoother voice.
Anyway, even t hough I don't see the need to have a political leader of America's blacks in the 21st Century (qucik, who's the political leader of America's Hispanics? Or how about America's Asians?) the media in general does, since they're trapped in a 1960s mindset. If that's the case, we could see Obama and Ford in their own political battle for the heart and soul of the African-American community, since whoever the media crowns as Jesse Jackson's successor would have a major leg up on any run for national office. Ideologically, the polls show most blacks are closer to Ford than they are to the average NAACP official, but for now, Obama is the media's annointed star, no matter what his politics turn out to be.
Posted by: John at July 30, 2004 2:26 PMObama is definitely someone to watch; he's shaping up as a charismatic politician and a rising star. He may very well be the next generation of Blacktivist.
Did anyone catch the Wall Street Journal editorial that mentioned Obama's speech and the cutaways to a sour-looking Jesse Jackson ("I don't remember passing a torch!"). Now let's see if Jesse sabotages Obama for daring to succeed him...
Posted by: Ken at July 30, 2004 5:06 PM"there will be amble room for a serious Third Way candidate...
Is "amble" luck, or intelligent design?
Either way, it won't be a cakewalk.
Posted by: Tom Maguire at July 30, 2004 5:34 PMObama, of course, is only half-black; but the black political community subscribes to the same 'one drop' policy the eugenicists did...
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