Obama's Profile Has Democrats Taking Notice

[kentuck]

Is Obama the "real deal" for Democrats? We will know when the Repubs start attacking him.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/17/AR2006061700736_pf.html

<snip>
Obama, a first-term Democratic senator from Illinois, seems to be hitting the right notes these days. During Senate recesses, he has been touring the country at breakneck pace, basking in the sudden fame of a politician turned pop star. Along the way, he has been drawing crowds and campaign cash from Democrats starved for a fresh face and ready to cheer what Obama touts as "a politics of hope instead of a politics of fear."

<snip>
"I think he is unique," said Illinois's senior senator, Richard J. Durbin (D). "I don't believe there is another candidate I've seen, or an elected official, who really has the appeal that he does." As for the 2008 presidential race, "I said to him, 'Why don't you just kind of move around Iowa and watch what happens?' I know what's going to happen. And I think it's going to rewrite the game plans in a lot of presidential candidates if he makes that decision."

<snip>
It is a homily that has left some fellow politicians swooning. "I haven't seen a phenomenon like this, where someone comes in so new and is so dazzling," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a 25-year veteran of Congress. Schumer, who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said Obama "is more requested than anybody else" in the party's hierarchy for fundraising and campaign appearances on behalf of congressional candidates. "Everyone wants him. He's lightning."

[pooja]

1. because he is a true american and what it means to be american

He knows immigration, he is well spoken, has a nice family, is young, and has great appeal. And he is rather neutral on issues... not too far out there either way.

[kentuck]

3. Is he the person to "unite" the Democratic Party ??

He could be the second "black" President... :)

[JAYJDF]

2. I just read this too.

Sounds like Obama is what we Dems need.  Someone fresh. 
Someone with charisma.  Someone who can get people excited
even if they don't know why.

[Benhurst]

4. Yeah, and they haven't attacked him yet.

The corporate media didn't even attack him during the 2004 campaign.

Tells you something, doesn't it?

[LoZoccolo]

14. What does it tell us?

I'm not sure if it tells us anything.

[Benhurst]

15. That they don't see him as a threat to the powers that be.

I hope he eventually proves them wrong.

[5X]

5. 'Some people say' ....

Obama, Hillary, Biden.

RW talking points all.

[xchrom]

6. i'm a long way from being a believer in obama.

[kentuck]

7. Everybody is a long way from being a believer in anybody...

But eventually, we will have to choose someone.

[hedda_foil]

8. Obama has what no other politician has matched since 1960.

Charisma -- the BIG C. Yeah, Bill Clinton had charisma, and so does John Edwards. But JFK's charisma was so HUGE and so compelling that the media had to resurrect a Greek word to describe it. (FDR had it, but I don't think the word was used to describe him.) I never thought I'd see that kind of massively attractive brilliance and magnetism again, but Obama has it. That doesn't mean he'll make a great president. He's very cautious as a Senator, and I'd like to see him be a lot more outspokenly progressive. But if any Democrat can win the presidency, it's Obama.

[BluegrassDem]

9. I thought Edwards had charisma too,

but for some reason, it doesn't pan out on TV or in his speeches. He's very personable and such, but I was a little disappointed in him being a politician. Obama and Clinton can electrify a room, while I think Edwards never really done that. I like Edwards a lot, but I thought it looked kinda corny when he kept putting this two thumbs in the air, over and over after speeches.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. Olieberman.

Yep.

[madfloridian]

11. MSNBC, Washington Post....already decided our candidate for 08?

What other media has suddenly decided this?

They could bring him down as fast as they could all the other Dems.

[Vidar]

12. He's a freshman senator who leans to the corporate right.

[LoZoccolo]

13. Document or retract. n/t

[Clark2008]

16. Same problem as Hillary, however: bigotry will prevent him

from flipping any red states.

Sad to say - but has to be said.