In Oregon's Embrace, Obama Strikes a Victor's Pose - WaPo

In Oregon's Embrace, Obama Strikes a Victor's Pose

By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 11, 2008



<snip>

BEND, Ore. -- Sen. Barack Obama probably did not need to make a surprise appearance Friday at the Twilight Meet at the University of Oregon. The liberal college town of Eugene is already his territory, and the subset of fleece-clad runners' families that filled the grandstand is probably even more reliably his crowd.

But such is this moment for Obama that it seemed natural to indulge in a little affirmation. As his bus pulled up, he strode onto the handsome old track just as the women's 5K was ending. A murmur went through the crowd, the public-address announcer confirmed his arrival, and the action came to a halt as 5,000 track fans rose as one to cheer the senator from Illinois who appears suddenly on the verge of claiming his party's presidential nomination. The javelin hurlers dropped their equipment, and the 400-meter hurdlers paused in their warm-ups as a waving Obama made his way around one of the country's most famous tracks bathed in late-afternoon sunlight -- a victory lap.

"You guys are just so fast. I congratulate you," Obama said as he reached the finish line, where the 5K runners still waited -- as if the applause was for anyone but him.

For weeks, Obama campaigned in a nerve-racking limbo, maintaining a seemingly insurmountable lead in delegates, yet unable to shake the threat that sundry controversies or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's critiques would yet convince Democrats that he was not their best standard-bearer. But after his strong performance in Indiana and North Carolina produced a marked shift in the narrative -- he finally surpassed Clinton in endorsements from party superdelegates on Saturday -- Obama is allowing himself, at long last, to breathe easier and savor his achievement.

Flying across the country, he made a rare extended visit to the back of his campaign plane to play the word-association game Taboo, cackling in delight as he and his aides twice defeated their foes in the press corps and making a joking analogy to the campaign. "At what point is this game over?" he asked the reporters. "When we win," one said. "That sounds familiar," he said with a smile.

At a taqueria in Woodburn, Ore., he beamed for the cameras as he dug into a chicken taco, a far cry from his more finicky culinary ventures in previous states. At the Eugene track, he gamely climbed over a high hurdle, pitched free T-shirts into the crowd and smiled through the public-address announcer's ribbing about his poor bowling in Pennsylvania.

He is officially on guard against seeming overconfident, saying at every turn that he is still running hard against a tough primary opponent. His campaign is well aware that he faces the prospect of a thumping in the upcoming primaries in West Virginia and Kentucky.

Yet here, in a state where he is strongly favored to win, his stump speeches seem less like bids for votes than a chance for fans to see their hero and hear his pitch one last time before he moves on to the next stage. At an outdoor rally on the university campus after his visit to the track, Obama declared that the state's May 20 vote could be the one that gives him a clear majority of pledged delegates.

And he adopted a retrospective tone, taking stock of the 15-month campaign that has brought him close to defeating a heavily favored former first lady backed by a powerful political machine. He expressed regret for having allowed his campaign to indulge in some of the tit-for-tats that he decries.

"There've been times where you get whacked so many times that after a time, you feel you have to whack back. You've got to go negative. You don't want to look like a wimp," he said. "The times . . . I'm most proud of is when we resisted the impulse, and the times that I'm least proud of is when we succumbed to that impulse."

<snip>

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002259.html

:bounce:

:bounce::woohoo::bounce:

:hi:

"Life is never more fun than when you're the underdog competing against the giants." I had a good laugh! ;)

That is perfect!

:woohoo:

K & R :thumbsup:

:)

Who has ever heard a politician making these types of comments in the midst of a campaign?

<snip>
And he adopted a retrospective tone, taking stock of the 15-month campaign that has brought him close to defeating a heavily favored former first lady backed by a powerful political machine. He expressed regret for having allowed his campaign to indulge in some of the tit-for-tats that he decries.

"There've been times where you get whacked so many times that after a time, you feel you have to whack back. You've got to go negative. You don't want to look like a wimp," he said. "The times . . . I'm most proud of is when we resisted the impulse, and the times that I'm least proud of is when we succumbed to that impulse."
<snip>

Obviously a very confident man, but even so he doesn't pretend to be perfect. Admitting vulnerability and that he might have succumbed to making a choice that wasn't exactly the best. Just acknowledging it for what it was and moving on... learning from his own mistakes. I just admire him so very much... he is everything (almost) that I dream of my own son becoming someday.

:kick:

:kick:

"There've been times where you get whacked so many times that after a time, you feel you have to whack back. You've got to go negative. You don't want to look like a wimp," he said. "The times . . . I'm most proud of is when we resisted the impulse, and the times that I'm least proud of is when we succumbed to that impulse."

He had to answer her attacks and he's been so good. The press was all over when he called her "Annie Oakley".. "bad Obama"

I'm so proud of him..everything.


I love this pic and wouldn't it be wonderful if it ended in Oregon?

:bounce:

:hi:

:bounce: :patriot: :kick: :party:

Especially him pitching t-shirts into the crowd. He must be exhausted.

I just love this man...:hug: And, even now, I still love you guys...and DU...:grouphug:

:bounce::hi::bounce:

:grouphug:

....if I weren't already supporting him. And I was born in WV, raised in Simi Valley, CA!

My seats at Hayward Field are right on the finish line, about 6 rows up. Just after the women's 5000 meter race, the Jumbotron put up a picture of Obama in the VIP stands. Then he trots down onto the track and congratulates the winner of the race as she finished her victory lap (the winner was from Virginia Tech and she was wearing a black ribbon to commemorate the shooting there just over a year ago) as the crowd went wild, both celebrating her school record time as well as Obama. The meet came to a stop for about 15 minutes.

I'm sending in my ballot today ... With a big filled-in oval next to Barack's name. :bounce:

"Flying across the country, he made a rare extended visit to the back of his campaign plane to play the word-association game Taboo, cackling in delight as he and his aides twice defeated their foes in the press corps and making a joking analogy to the campaign. "At what point is this game over?" he asked the reporters. "When we win," one said. "That sounds familiar," he said with a smile.
"

might finally convince a few hillary fans the word "cackle" is gender neutral...