Decision ‘08

Candidate Profile Nine: Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the rising young star of the Democratic party. He is currently a senator for Illionois after a landslide victory against the laughably inept campaign of Alan Keyes. Obama’s presence was ubiquitous during the Dem’s 2004 convention; you couldn’t throw a brick without hitting a media outlet lined up to interview him. What’s all the hubbub? Let’s take a look.

Barack Obama - Official Biography

Resume - Junior Senator for Illinois; first African-American editor of Harvard Law Review; former Illinois state senator

Obama is an attractive candidate - good-looking, articulate, smooth, polite, intelligent - all of these adjectives can be applied to him without fear of contradiction (and keep in mind, I’m a staunch Republican!), so it’s not hard to see why the Dems get so fired up about him. He claims he will absolutely not run in 2008, but we’ve heard that before, right? Eric Zorn, columnist for the Chicago Tribune, thinks he’ll make the run; others disagree. Time will tell.

Obama is refreshingly direct - take a look at a couple of quotes from an interview with Rolling Stone:

What advice do you have for people who feel hopeless after the Kerry loss?

Get over it. Go to the movies, go to the park, go on a date — get some perspective. Losing an election is not a tragedy.

What would most surprise people to learn about you?

Probably that I’m a failed jock. I love basketball, but my love for the game always exceeded my talents. I was pretty good but never really good. Also, I’m a reformed smoker; I think that surprises people. I quit, but then during the campaign when you’re in a car driving through cornfields, occasionally I bum a cigarette or two. But I did all my drinking in high school and college. I was a wild man. I did drugs and drank and partied. But I got all my ya-yas out.

When’s the last time you heard a politician admit past drug use, and the occasional cigarette, or failure in anything? Contrast that with ‘I didn’t inhale’…

As always, there are negatives. Obama’s primary political message seems to be some sort of economic populism similar to that espoused by the much more boring John Edwards. Ask Bob Shrum how well that populist message goes over in national elections, Barack. We haven’t yet had much of a chance to evaluate his very young Senate career, either. Naturally, the self-destructive community of black ‘progressives’ oppose his non-radical style and association with the Democratic Leadership Council, apparently out of fear that the Democrats might actually win the presidency again.

Obama’s first real turn on the national stage in his new position was at the confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice, and he got good reviews from some conservative commentators. The fact that he voted to confirm the obviously qualified and imminently suitable Dr. Rice hasn’t won him any friends among the Radical Left, however - though it’s hard to imagine any responsible politician winning their support (or for that matter, even WANTING their support).

Barack Obama clearly has the qualities to make a run, but my gut tells me 2008 is a bit early for him. I would keep an eye on this guy in 2012.

CURRENT ODDS: 27-1

UPDATE 07/04/05 10:34 p.m.: Obama’s not really making any moves…I’m dropping him slightly.

CURRENT ODDS: 30-1

10 Responses to “Candidate Profile Nine: Barack Obama”

1 Clint Says:
May 29th, 2005 at 2:42 am
If Dems are worried that a XXX-Rice ticket might attract their black base, perhaps a XXX-Obama ticket might be the counter?
2 Mark Coffey Says:
May 29th, 2005 at 3:27 am
Obama is a very real threat somewhere down the road - and I thought his early admission of drug use in his younger days was brilliant…he effectively diffused any later controversy through a pre-emptive confession…
3 MBains Says:
July 8th, 2005 at 11:42 am
He was too new for me to pay him much attention during the ‘04 elections. Now I’m tracking his voting record to see if he can even be a contender come ‘08.

I wish Hatch or Voinovich would run (McCain???… {sigh}) so Hillary wouldn’t be my best alternative. ( ;P ) But I’m betting Obama doesn’t yet.

Thanks for the update.
4 Chris S. Says:
September 18th, 2005 at 8:11 am
Obama is way too young and inexperienced to be a candidate in 2008. I mean all he’s accomplished is a victory in Illinois (!) for a virtually unopposed Senate seat. He’s been in office for all of eight months; maybe the DNC should wait for him to actually DO something before nominating him.

I don’t have anything against Obama, other than that I disagree with him. But, let’s just say, that I like to refer to him as “Mr. Hype”. With the possible exception of Hillary, he’s the most-hyped potential candidate who has accomplished absolutely nothing to deserve it.
5 Mark Says:
September 18th, 2005 at 11:49 am
No doubt Obama has been the beneficiary of some hype, and I agree 2008 is too soon - he could be formidable somewhere down the road, though…
6 Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » What is Barack Obama Doing On The Daily Kos? Says:
October 1st, 2005 at 8:52 pm
[…] Hey, I’m a Republican, and I like Obama, but he’s turning me off quickly by his socializing in such strident confines…not to mention his vote against Roberts. Ironically, his post at the Kos that drew my attention (with the hat tip to Kevin Drum) is a call for un-Kos like civility: There is one way, over the long haul, to guarantee the appointment of judges that are sensitive to issues of social justice, and that is to win the right to appoint them by recapturing the presidency and the Senate. And I don’t believe we get there by vilifying good allies, with a lifetime record of battling for progressive causes, over one vote or position. I am convinced that, our mutual frustrations and strongly-held beliefs notwithstanding, the strategy driving much of Democratic advocacy, and the tone of much of our rhetoric, is an impediment to creating a workable progressive majority in this country. […]
7 john cinnamond Says:
January 20th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
A person can be articulate and say nothing, and Obama confirms this. For the highest office in the land, Obama simply doesn’t have the experience and political savviness. Being a “former” cocaine user and a smoker does not help in the national role model category. He comes up short when compared to Senator Hillary Clinton and former Senator and outstanding lawyer, John Edwards. Wake up voters, discard the hype and Hollywood mentality, and get serious about a candidate who can deliver on what they say. Obama has said nothing and done nothing.
8 Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » Biden’s Racial Condescension: The Left Reacts Says:
February 1st, 2007 at 10:17 pm
[…] No one has caught this yet, but I made the same gaffe Biden did (though, of course, to a much smaller audience) when I did my initial candidate profile of Obama. In fact, I nearly used the same words: Obama is an attractive candidate - good-looking, articulate, smooth, polite, intelligent - all of these adjectives can be applied to him without fear of contradiction… […]
9 debbie Royal Says:
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
is it possible that hillary could be appointed to, let’s say, attorney general, or secretary of state…and am i correct that the secretary of state is third in line for ‘the throne’ (i.e., president) ?? just curious, however i think that if she is not utilized in this administration, it would be a mistake, she is after all a brilliant woman, who almost edged obama out…i’m just sayin’…ya know?
10 Chris J. Breisch Says:
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:31 pm
She could be, but Speaker of the House is 3rd in line. SoS is 5th in line after President Pro Tem of the Senate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession

However, I don’t think Obama wants her in his Cabinet or in the White House at all. She’s a distraction, and power-hungry.