==Ernie Schiller isn't afraid to make the ultimate comparison in the Democratic Party. Sen. Barack Obama, he said, reminds him of President John F. Kennedy. "I remember as a kid that John F. Kennedy was the first president who kind of brought people to their knees thinking about America," Schiller said last week. "I do believe Sen. Obama offers that hope."
Schiller is a Lee County supervisor and retired high school teacher. He's already signed on to serve as a precinct chair for Obama in the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses. The campaign keeps pushing him into the limelight, however, because of a past allegiance. It turns out that, until a few weeks ago, he was backing John Edwards.
Schiller broke with the former senator from North Carolina after watching Edwards' Iowa poll numbers take a hard downward turn. Now he feels it is important to let his neighbors know. "I had supported Sen. Edwards all along ...," he said, "but I'm looking for somebody who can take our nation to the next level without any cause for not getting elected, and I feel he's kind of flailing out there right now."
...Schiller can't quite believe his own prominence in this whole election process. Maybe it's because he's an elected official in a Democratic county. Or maybe it's his status as a former state teacher of the year. Whatever the reason, his endorsement was a prime target for the candidates.
...Forty-six years ago, he pointed out, Kennedy was the nation's first viable Catholic candidate. Today, it's Obama's political success as an African-American that's unprecedented. "There's an excitement that I see in his followers and among the leadership roles in his campaign committee," Schiller said. "Part of the news media get on him because, hey, he's the new guy. But it's OK to be the new guy...==
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/obama_112207
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