Raleigh (NC) News & Observer: It's Obama

[Faygo Kid]

Source: Raleigh News & Observer

It's Obama

Much has been made in this election year of Barack Obama's Ivy League law degree, of his smoothly written memoirs, of his supreme gift of oratory, of his calm eloquence under the pressure of debate. But, say his critics, he is an elitist. He is not, they say, one of us.

In fact, the junior U.S. senator from Illinois -- the son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, the product of humble beginnings and a raising by his extended family, the kid with big dreams, the young man with much ambition, the hard worker who made the most of his education and his opportunities and then went to Chicago to help others do likewise -- could not be more of an example of all that America is and all that it can be. Barack Obama has weathered the rigors of a long and difficult fight for his party's presidential nomination and now seeks to make true the biggest dream of all, to become the president of the United States.

Today, a little more than two weeks from this critically important Election Day, The News & Observer, with pride and hope, in the belief that Obama is exactly what the nation needs at a time when the hills are steep and the winds against us are stiff, enthusiastically endorses him for president. His time has come. And these times have come to him.

North Carolinians need to hear no extended litany of all the challenges that face them and their fellow Americans. The nation is in an economic crisis, with unemployment high, small businesses threatened, health care inadequate and too expensive for many, and the consequences of the reckless greed of Wall Street all too painfully apparent. . .

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/story/1260528.html

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North Carolina.

Sweet.

[elkston]

1. This is a HUGE endorsement for NC. Great News! n/t

[gizmo1979]

2. Couldn't of said it better myself!NT

[alsame]

3. Very nice. I love how they debunked the elitist meme. eom

[DFW]

4. More and more, conservatives and moderates are waking up to a truth they hate to speak

In inconvenient truth, if you will.

That truth is that the people who talked McCain into choosing Palin as his VP
were cynical and ill-advised. Had the election been held twp days after their
convention we might not all have had the chance to see her for what she really
is, and, more importantly, for what she really isn't. What she is not is ready
to be president if McCain should become incapacitated. The choice of someone so
incredibly unqualified is not just a slap in the country's face by the Republicans.
The country has endured more of those in the last 40 years than anyone can count.

But it is also a huge red flag shouting to the world that McCain's supposedly
sound judgment is maybe not so sound after all. In fact, it is so incredibly
unsound as to disqualify him for serious consideration for the presidency, more
than anything else. Now that it is too late, he will keep insisting (staying
the course, if you prefer) that Palin is, too, ready to assume the presidency
on day one, but we all know that McCain privately no more believes that than he
believes that Bush was the better candidate for the Republican nomination eight
years ago.

[Tarheel_Dem]

5. I couldn't be more proud to be a North Carolinian as I am today. (nt)

[blossomstar]

7. Me too, big smile and hug.

[Buzz Clik]

6. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill are in the bag. That isn't where the key NC areas are.

More work to be done.

[AlbertCat]

10. Indeed!

Down here in Wilmington, it's full of retired and wealthy people who just want to keep their money....and you know how they vote. They don't care about the Country.... they care about their boat! Add to that racist trailer-trash and you have the ONLY reason NC is not a fetching shade of Carolina blue right now.

That's the coast, then there's the mountains. Asheville is most likely blue, but what do you do with Madison County?

[Hope And Change]

8. K & R!

[bertman]

9. Excellent. I might have to renew my subscription to the N&O. They've really gone

CORPORATIST over the last seven or eight years.

For a paper that was disparaged as a left-wing tool by Jesse Helms, Liddy Dole and crew, they seemed to have lost their way after the paper was sold. Maybe now they are coming back to their senses.

Friday I was driving through Durham. The middle-class neighborhoods I drove through were a sea of blue Obama-Biden signs. I was amazed. And delighted.

Drive out into the countryside and the McCain-Palin signs are all over the place. Obama signs are fewer and farther between. I have a friend who lives in the "boonies" who says that most of the Obama supporters are not willing to show their colors even though they are going to vote for him.

It's going to be a tight race.

[mnhtnbb]

11. Hate to rain on the parade, guys, but Raleigh N & O endorsed Kerry in 04 Gore in 00

Yes, the paper has become more right wing since it was bought by McClatchy Group, but the editorial
board has remained somewhat more true to liberal tradition.

Here are the endorsements in '04 from major newspapers

http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/2004_Media_Endorsements

Still, I do believe we're gonna' turn NC blue. There have been more Dem new registrations
than Repubs, Dems significantly outnumber Repubs, and among the sizable military population
in the state there are a lot of disgruntled folks.

I do think we're going to see Obama take NC.

[Endangered Specie]

12. yay! has the Charlotte observer endorsed yet?

[Faygo Kid]

14. Not yet, but they endorsed Kay Hagan over Dole, which is a good sign.

[struggle4progress]

13. !

:bounce:

[Alcibiades]

15. Did anybody else read the letters to the editor today?

For some damn reason, out of a misguided sense of balance, perhaps, they published three, all pro-McCain, all repeating lies long ago debunked. No letters supporting Obama.

Not as big an endorsement as Powell's, obviously. Lots of folks mistakenly think the N&O is liberal, when it's moderate at best. It sickens me to think that, when I buy the N&O for coupons and the editorial section, some of that money goes to pay fucknuts such as George Will and Charles Krauthammer. The N&O needs to wake up to the fact that this is not Jesse Helms' North Carolina and carry a few syndicated progressives. They should also reconsider their decision to pare their sunday editorial section down to nothing. May I humbly suggest running a few less sections in color? What they would save on that expense could pay for plenty of actual reporting.

[ObamanationYes1]

16. NC Political Temperature

Glad the N&O made this endorsement,but this comes as no surprise. They always endorse the democratic candidate.

NC STATE FAIR REPORT>>
I went to the NC State Fair in Raleigh today. I went to the Democratic Party booth and there was medium traffic. I went to the Republican booth and it was very crowded. At first I found that concerning. Then I walked around the fair and paid close attention to the stickers folks were wearing (picked up at the political booths). The numbers were about even...maybe a slight edge for McCain. The puke sticker I saw many folks wearing said "Another Democrat for McCain". Not sure I trust that those were really Democrats, but in NC is very possible. Even our Dems are conservative. But Obama is in Fayetteville today and could very well strengthen his numbers here with that visit

If Obama does not win NC, it may be the old..."All Politics is local" theory. Our Sec. of Agriculture (D) just got out of prison for corruption. Our House Speaker (D) is in prison for corruption. A house member from Wilmington NC (D) was just expelled from the GA, tried, and sentence to prison for fraud and obstruction of justice.

I am glad Obama is paying attention to NC, but his efforts might be better spent in Virgina or Florida. Just my Opinion.