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Obama forms an exploratory committee...a run for the presidency next?

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Cheebs

Member
He made it official this morning.

As many of you know, over the last few months I have been thinking hard about my plans for 2008. Running for the presidency is a profound decision - a decision no one should make on the basis of media hype or personal ambition alone - and so before I committed myself and my family to this race, I wanted to be sure that this was right for us and, more importantly, right for the country.

I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago. But as I've spoken to many of you in my travels across the states these past months; as I've read your emails and read your letters; I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics.

So I've spent some time thinking about how I could best advance the cause of change and progress that we so desperately need.

The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place. Our economy is changing rapidly, and that means profound changes for working people. Many of you have shared with me your stories about skyrocketing health care bills, the pensions you've lost and your struggles to pay for college for your kids. Our continued dependence on oil has put our security and our very planet at risk. And we're still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never been waged.

But challenging as they are, it's not the magnitude of our problems that concerns me the most. It's the smallness of our politics. America's faced big problems before. But today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions.

And that's what we have to change first.

We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.

This won't happen by itself. A change in our politics can only come from you; from people across our country who believe there's a better way and are willing to work for it.

Years ago, as a community organizer in Chicago, I learned that meaningful change always begins at the grassroots, and that engaged citizens working together can accomplish extraordinary things.

So even in the midst of the enormous challenges we face today, I have great faith and hope about the future - because I believe in you.

And that's why I wanted to tell you first that I'll be filing papers today to create a presidential exploratory committee. For the next several weeks, I am going to talk with people from around the country, listening and learning more about the challenges we face as a nation, the opportunities that lie before us, and the role that a presidential campaign might play in bringing our country together. And on February 10th, at the end of these decisions and in my home state of Illinois, I'll share my plans with my friends, neighbors and fellow Americans.

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for your time, your suggestions, your encouragement and your prayers. And I look forward to continuing our conversation in the weeks and months to come.

Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Barack Obama

Video: http://www.barackobama.com/video/
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
If he goes far enough, I'll vote for him, not expecting him to win.
 

Cheebs

Member
Dice said:
If he goes far enough, I'll vote for him, not expecting him to win.
He has a very good shot at the nomination. He is second to only hillary in primary polls and his name recognition is only 59% and Hillary's is 99%.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
I back this man completely. He has all my hype behind him, as I rub my hands and pray feverently for a David Palmer alike in the oval office :p
 
As much as I'd love for him to be president...I still get the nagging feeling he might be jumping the gun ruining his chances by racing now. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but I just don't think he can win. Not yet atleast.
 

Pellham

Banned
If anyone is dumb enough to vote for Edwards instead of Obama or Clinton, please do not bother voting at all.

Let's make some history in this next election!
 

Dedalus

Member
Doesn't his name sound dangerously close to Osama? I mean, I'm just thinking about your average redneck who might not vote just based on that coincidence.
 

Cheebs

Member
WHOAguitarninja said:
As much as I'd love for him to be president...I still get the nagging feeling he might be jumping the gun ruining his chances by racing now. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but I just don't think he can win. Not yet atleast.
Running and losing the nomination rarely hinders future chances. Al Gore, Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon all ran and lost before winning nominatons/general elections eventually.
 
Dedalus said:
Doesn't his name sound dangerously close to Osama? I mean, I'm just thinking about your average redneck who might not vote just based on that coincidence.

You'll never guess what his middle name is
 

Cheebs

Member
jjasper said:
I think he has a better chance in the south than any other Dem despite what people say.
I say even if he doesn't get nominated he'll surprise people in the southern state primaries
 

ToxicAdam

Member
I'll vote for Obama. depending on who is running against him (I would prefer Pataki instead.)


I'm glad he announced this way, instead of ON The Oprah Show, like it was rumored.
 
This would be a truly remarkable thing were he able to even get nominated, but unfortunately I don't see even that happening. When it comes right down to it, America is too racist, and his name is Barack Hussein Obama.

Bottom line: people are stupid, and won't vote for him on color/name alone.
 

Cheebs

Member
ToxicAdam said:
I'll vote for Obama. depending on who is running against him (I would prefer Pataki instead.)


I'm glad he announced this way, instead of ON The Oprah Show, like it was rumored.
Yeah. It seems like he'll be on Oprah tomorrow but he got the official stuff done via traditional means.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
Dedalus said:
Doesn't his name sound dangerously close to Osama? I mean, I'm just thinking about your average redneck who might not vote just based on that coincidence.

Your average redneck wouldn't vote for a dem anyway, so I'm not sure what there is to lose.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
BigGreenMat said:
You mean multi-race president.

Doesn't matter, he'll be seen as black.

Everything I've seen read, heard, paints him as a decent guy.
 
worldrunover said:
This would be a truly remarkable thing were he able to even get nominated, but unfortunately I don't see even that happening. When it comes right down to it, America is too racist, and his name is Barack Hussein Obama.

Bottom line: people are stupid, and won't vote for him on color/name alone.

I agree. Personally I get the feeling Obama is seen as almost an experiment for progressives who want to see if they can elect a black man as president (an awesome black man at that, I agree). Progressives are usually pretty good at recognizing the problems America has, but here it seems like many are oblivious to the facts. Obama will not win the nomination, and if by chance he does he will not win the election. I'll certainly vote for him over Hillary or McCain/Rommey/whoever.

Maybe I look at things differently because I'm black as well. But when Obama walks into a room people don't see an aspiring politician or a person of mixed heritage - they see a black man. And I don't think America is ready at this point to put a black man into the highest spot of leadership in this country and make him the most powerful man in the world.

Cheebs :(
 

Cheebs

Member
DarienA said:
Doesn't matter, he'll be seen as black.

Everything I've seen read, heard, paints him as a decent guy.
Yes he is seen as black but isn't seen as black in the same light as a Jesse Jackson. He doesn't have the Jim Crow and slavery history being from Kenya. To whites he is a non-threatening black guy if you will.

PhoenixDark said:
? Is this about 4-6 months ago when I said Obama should run and you laughed and said there is no chance he'd run in 2008?
 

jjasper

Member
Cheebs said:
I say even if he doesn't get nominated he'll surprise people in the southern state primaries

Definately cause when people think south they think racist white men. Cities like Atlanta, Memphis, New Orleans (kinda right now), and Charlotte are majority black and will vote for Nashville is more a moderate Dem stronghold and would go for him over Hillary (don't know about Edwards) and FL is well... FL is FL and I have no idea what the hell goes on there.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
This guy seems like he'll be the change American politics desperately needs... his vote in the primaries and the election is a lock for me.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
Cheebs said:
Yes he is seen as black but isn't seen as black in the same light as a Jesse Jackson. He doesn't have the Jim Crow and slavery history being from Kenya. To whites he is a non-threatening black guy if you will.

..you mean like Bryant Gumbel?
 
Cheebs said:
exploratory committee = round about way of making it official. If you think on Feb 10th he'll say my committee decided not to run! Thanks anyway! You are insane.

Of course. But things still might change. If he finds that he has a significant chance of losing, I don't think he'll run.

I do hope he runs though. It's about time that we get a minority president and this guy just seems decent and honest.
 
Cheebs said:
Yes he is seen as black but isn't seen as black in the same light as a Jesse Jackson. He doesn't have the Jim Crow and slavery history being from Kenya. To whites he is a non-threatening black guy if you will.

I've never heard such a thing. He may be "non-threatening" in some ways, but he's attempting to become the president of the United States. That is going to be seen differently whether we like to admit it or not


DarienA said:
..you mean like Bryant Gumbel?

Non threatening or just complacient?
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
jjasper said:
Or Wayne Brady

Yeah I couldn't remember his name when I was thinking of non threatening blacks so I went with Gumbel.

PhoenixDark said:
Non threatening or just complacient?

I think some people see that as the same thing.
 

Cheebs

Member
PhoenixDark said:
I've never heard such a thing. He may be "non-threatening" in some ways, but he's attempting to become the president of the United States. That is going to be seen differently whether we like to admit it or not
But it is not out any civil rights ambition like Jackson and Sharpton's were. He has no involvement in NAACP or in the civil rights movement nor has he showed any sort of interest in them.
 

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
From what I understand this guy is the man for the job, which means he has lost and might as well not try.


The polls will make awesome threads though.

"Why Are you voting republican? 86% They have a white candidate"
 

Xdrive05

Member
I'm going to have to look into his stance on issues after watching that video. I probably don't agree with a lot of his ideas but I'm tempted to vote for him just because he's black (or will be seen as such). Generally speaking, we should have had a black or woman president before this century rolled around.
 

Mashing

Member
worldrunover said:
This would be a truly remarkable thing were he able to even get nominated, but unfortunately I don't see even that happening. When it comes right down to it, America is too racist, and his name is Barack Hussein Obama.

Bottom line: people are stupid, and won't vote for him on color/name alone.

As sad as this is, it's the truth. He has no chance.
 
Cheebs said:
But it is not out any civil rights ambition like Jackson and Sharpton's were. He has no involvement in NAACP or in the civil rights movement nor has he showed any sort of interest in them.

I agree with you there. But "non-threatening" doesn't just equal "not affiliated with Jackson/Sharpton/NAACP" here. It's more of a racial issue than affiliation with with disgraces like Jackson.
 

Cheebs

Member
PhoenixDark said:
I agree with you there. But "non-threatening" doesn't just equal "not affiliated with Jackson/Sharpton/NAACP" here. It's more of a racial issue than affiliation with with disgraces like Jackson.
Does it help Al Sharpton doesn't seem to like Obama much?
 
I feel like I'm the only person left in the world that doesn't have his panties in a bundle over Obama.

It's not his name or his color. I just don't see a junior senator who gave one decent speech as a solid presidential candidate. He hasn't proven anything to me yet and I was excited about him in the 2004 campaign season.

I dunno ... It seems like the whole platform of support for this guy is that he's new blood or he's "not white" or he's appealing "because he's a Washington outsider." But, he seems to be just another opportunistic politician, no distinction from the pack.

Not that I like anyone else more than him, I just don't like him. Or any of them.

Remind me again why I should care about this guy?

Edit: I'd also like to point out that I don't care if he gets elected or not. I don't think he'd be any worse than anyone else. However, I also don't really believe that anyone that manages to get elected president of this country could be the kind of person we need as president of this country.
 

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
It's not like Louis Farrakhan just threw his hat in the ring here, people. This guy IS liked and last I checked the electoral math shows that most of the states who wouldn't vote for him cuz of his color don't have a lot of electoral votes anyways. If he got the nomination I think his chances would be good. Really good.

He'd lock up New York, Michigan, Ohio, California, most of the northeast and a lot of the midwest. Indiana would still go red but they're farmers and it's expected. Pennsylvania would be a lock for Democrats. Actually, I think almost every swing state would go blue with the exception of Florida.

Obama is a horrible candidate for the Republicans to run against because the only guy that can get over him in face-recognition, McCain, doesn't have his religious credentials. They can't run smear ads without being outright called racist in the national media, so they really have to tip-toe there. Because as much as it may be a taboo for a black guy to be in a position of power, people who are seen as open racists are even more despised (look at Gibson for saying one thing about jews).

Truth be told, I think the only Republican that could compete with Obama Mitt Romney. a Northern republican with tested religious conviction... but even then he has no chance with the evangelical vote because he's mormon.

I'm not sure. I don't think he would have thrown his hat in the ring if he thought it was just gonna be a game. Black turnout will be phenomenal, too, if he gets the nomination.
 

castle007

Banned
Finally he announces it. It is not like there were any doubts about it.

He would make a good president in my opinion.

But are Americans ready??

The democrats are really taking a risk in the next elections. I mean, they take back the house and the Senate, and people are saying that the next president will probably be a Dem. So, why are their two top candidates, a woman and an African American?? It seems to me like they are taking a huge risk.
 
PhoenixDark said:
I agree. Personally I get the feeling Obama is seen as almost an experiment for progressives who want to see if they can elect a black man as president (an awesome black man at that, I agree). Progressives are usually pretty good at recognizing the problems America has, but here it seems like many are oblivious to the facts. Obama will not win the nomination, and if by chance he does he will not win the election. I'll certainly vote for him over Hillary or McCain/Rommey/whoever.

Maybe I look at things differently because I'm black as well. But when Obama walks into a room people don't see an aspiring politician or a person of mixed heritage - they see a black man. And I don't think America is ready at this point to put a black man into the highest spot of leadership in this country and make him the most powerful man in the world.

Cheebs :(

I'd disagree. Do you remember when powell was rumored to be running back in 1996/2000? (I forget which, sorry.) strongly considered to be the front runner with a good shot at the presidency.

Also Gave the bush administration some much needed credibility pre-iraq when he was secretary of state.

given the right candidate, race can be a non issue. I think Obama's achilles heel is more his lack of experience than anything else. On that, he's going to get flayed alive.
 

Cheebs

Member
whytemyke said:
McCain, doesn't have his religious credentials
The funny thing is Obama is more christian and acts more christian than any of the Republican front runners. Obama is probably the most christian democratic potential nominee since Jimmy Carter.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
Ghost said:
From what I understand this guy is the man for the job, which means he has lost and might as well not try.


The polls will make awesome threads though.

"Why Are you voting republican? 86% They have a white candidate"

:lol :lol
 
PhoenixDark said:
I agree. Personally I get the feeling Obama is seen as almost an experiment for progressives who want to see if they can elect a black man as president (an awesome black man at that, I agree). Progressives are usually pretty good at recognizing the problems America has, but here it seems like many are oblivious to the facts. Obama will not win the nomination, and if by chance he does he will not win the election. I'll certainly vote for him over Hillary or McCain/Rommey/whoever.

Maybe I look at things differently because I'm black as well. But when Obama walks into a room people don't see an aspiring politician or a person of mixed heritage - they see a black man. And I don't think America is ready at this point to put a black man into the highest spot of leadership in this country and make him the most powerful man in the world.

Cheebs :(

I am from Chicago and have been to a number of Obama events and I feel the exact opposite. Obama from my experience is not seen as a black man at all. I think Cheebs got the reason why correct in that Obama is NOT a black man the way most other people would define a black man. He is half-Kenyan and grew up in Jakarta and Hawaii. That is VERY different from, like Cheebs said, someone like Jesse Jackson Jr. (another Chicago guy) who most would see as a black politician. Coming from Chicago politics Obama is not a 'black' politician.

Now on a national scene that might not play in South Carolina or Louisiana, but those states hardly matter anyway since the chances of a Democratic Presidential candidate pulling them out is VERY slim. Obama has an incredible shot at being nominated and elected. The guy is as good a public speaker as you will find and he has charm and charisma up the ying yang. He will do great at any debate. His only weakness (and it may turn out to be his strength) is his lack of high profile politics.
 
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