Philadelphia Inquirer Endorses Obama

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080127_Editorial__2008_Presidential_Primaries.html


"Change.

Democrats are so sure Americans want a change from the eight years they have endured under President Bush that the party thinks winning back the White House from the Republicans is virtually guaranteed.

But only if the right nominee is chosen for the office."


...."Given that, BARACK OBAMA is the best Democrat to lead this nation past the nasty, partisan, Washington-as-usual politics that have blocked consensus on Iraq; politics that never blinked at the greedy, subprime mortgage schemes that could spawn a recession; politics that have greatly diminished our country's stature in the world.

Obama inspires people to action. And while inspiration alone isn't enough to get a job done, it's a necessary ingredient to begin the hard work."

Chicago
San Francisco
Tampa
Philadelphia

I think some Big MO is comin out of South Carolina!

:wow:

Not a big paper, but what the hey?

Barack Obama: The possibilities of setting a new course

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The 46-year-old first-term U.S. senator from Illinois is audaciously challenging the Democratic Party establishment in his historic bid to become the country's first black presidential nominee.

With poise and assurance, he's reasserted a visionary agenda of hope, inspiration, dedication and commitment so eloquently expressed in his 2006 book. He's aiming his policies and programs in a new direction, expressing a determination to create unity, inclusiveness and bipartisanship that would make him a formidable contender in the Nov. 4 election.

Obama already has demonstrated the strength, resiliency and perseverance that leadership requires during his campaign against New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. She's been buttressed by the ongoing popularity of her husband, former President Clinton, and the well-calibrated Democratic machinery he helped construct.

Obama, an interloper who seems to have affronted the Clintons' sense of entitlement, has energized and mobilized young people, independents and first-time voters - expanding and diversifying the party's base while threatening the established protocols.

He's been bold and straightforward about his policies and increasingly defiant when challenged on his basic beliefs. He's tried to be tactful and thoughtful regarding race, attempting to transcend it while competing respectfully - despite some recent bickering - against the first woman to have a viable chance to be president.

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More: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080127/A_OPINION01/801270307/-1/A_OPINION06

Barack Obama: The new generation

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In the back and forth between Clinton and Gingrich and in the elections of 2000 and 2004, I sometimes felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of the Baby Boom generation — a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago — played out on the national stage.

Thus did Barack Obama, in his campaign book "The Audacity of Hope," touch on a fundamental problem in today's American politics: It's too much about yesterday's American politics. In too many ways, it's still about Vietnam. It's still about hardhats and hippies. It's about Watergate and Iran-contra and Whitewater. It's about the past.

Barack Obama is aware of yesterday, but he is about today and tomorrow and next year. In a strong field of Democratic presidential contenders, he offers the best hope of transforming the debate and moving on to what America can be in the 21st century.

He is unlikely in many ways: He is young, only 46. He is the junior United States senator from Illinois, only a little more than three years out of the Illinois state Senate — as unlikely a forest for presidential timber as ever was. His middle name is Hussein. He spent his boyhood in Indonesia and Hawaii. His mother was a Kansan; his father was a Kenyan.

Did we mention he is black?

If America can get past all that, if America can unload its baggage and get on with the trip, there is no telling far and how fast it can go.

It's true that Mr. Obama's legislative portfolio is slim, although he has been strong on ethics reform and the disclosure of lobbyist influences. He's never managed any organization larger than his Senate staff, and he admits a weakness when it comes to paperwork and organization. The nice thing is that a president has people to do those things, and Mr. Obama has surrounded himself with a cadre of seasoned professionals. Mr. Obama can do things that better managers can't.

The toughest part of any president's job is to inspire and to lead. Think of Franklin Roosevelt and fear itself, of John F. Kennedy challenging America to go to the moon "because it is hard," or Ronald Reagan after the Challenger disaster. Mr. Obama, by virtue of his life story and his compelling gift for oratory, has that kind of capacity.

Already he has energized thousands of voters who had written off politics or never bothered to get involved. It's exciting to think of what that might mean.

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More: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/story/121FA9A750C5E018862573DC0003A07F?OpenDocument

Especially that last line. Don't mean to steal your thunder. Great find!

:hi:

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4226847
:toast:

Obama for the Democrats

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After seven years of George Bush's failed presidency, after five years of unnecessary war in Iraq, America is ready to write a new narrative. All candidates favor the now-bromidic slogan: change. Only one candidate truly embraces the yearnings this word represents.

The Seattle Times endorses Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president. He has the grasp, temperament and skills to right our standing in the world. He has broad insight and specific ideas to assuage our own hardworking citizens' fears of an economy turning sour.

Obama has thoughtful plans to help citizens with everyday problems: middle-class tax breaks; elimination of income tax for seniors earning less than $50,000; health care for minors.

Critics ask a fair question about Obama's experience. He has been a U. S. senator for three years, Illinois state senator for eight, lawyer, lecturer, community organizer — a résumé some say is not executive enough for a president.

American voters tend to select governors rather than senators for president, President Bush being a recent example. Bush fit the mold — governor of Texas six years — but his résumé proved to be a failed indicator.

Judgment is more important. Bush's decision to invade Iraq was the most-wrongheaded decision of our time.

Voters this time have reason to focus on other qualities, such as the courage to tell people things they might not want to hear. Obama, for example, took his pitch for higher fuel-efficiency standards to the most-challenging audience, Detroit.

And in October 2002, when our country was horribly bruised by Sept. 11, he came out against the war in Iraq: "I don't oppose all wars. ... What I am opposed to is a dumb war. ... What I am opposed to is a rash war."

Such statements might sound unpatriotic — unless, of course, the speaker turns out to be correct. In an Obama administration, American troops have a chance to start coming home.

Americans have not selected a candidate for president directly from the Senate since 1960, when they elected Sen. John Kennedy, who offered similar charisma and hope.

Obama, more than other candidates, is gut-level inspiring. All candidates speak in platitudes that make us feel good. Sometimes their words actually move us.

"We want a politics that reflects our best values," Obama said early in the campaign. "We want a politics that reflects our core decency, a politics that is based on a simple premise that we stand and fall together."

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More: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004145661_obamaed27.html

Obama can unite nation

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This is historic. Savor it.

For the first time, a Black man and a woman are within striking distance of the U.S. presidency. That is a remarkable statement about how far this country has come toward the goal of equality. It is shining testimony to the world that the United States continues to move toward the "more perfect Union" our Constitution envisions.

These two candidates for president do not want their efforts to win the Democratic presidential primary to be defined by their gender or race. That, too, is significant, and it signals a level of national maturity that would have been unthinkable not so very long ago. So we will consider Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on criteria other than gender and race.

First, we need to acknowledge that there will be other candidates on Arizona's Feb. 5 Democratic primary ballot. The most significant of these is John Edwards. As the son of a mill worker, he also exemplifies the promise of America. But his populist appeal relies too much on demonizing big business, and his death knell for the middle class is premature. He doesn't measure up.

This contest is between Obama and Clinton.

Their Senate voting records and political philosophy about the role of government are not appreciably different. Both are intelligent and competent individuals who can be trusted to surround themselves with top-notch advisers.

What sets these two apart is the likelihood they can deliver on the promise of change.

We believe Barack Obama has the best chance of moving Washington and the nation beyond the poisonous partisanship of recent decades. He appeals to independent voters and Republicans, in addition to members of his own party. His promise to unite is convincing.

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More: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0127sun1-27.html

You just hadn't seen them.

Sweet to see.

Gobama!

Next Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday

and then half of the country votes!

You know the Super Bowl will overshadow politics next weekend