Senator Barack Obama may run for president
 

I wonder how the voters who elected him would react if he went back on the promise to fulfill his term?

I always thought it was a detriment to him to be a "contender" so early. Once he starts talking about a 2012 run or whatever, that gives 8 years for critics to build up steam against him. It's easy enough for people to find faults in a regular election cycle.

Still though, a very new, junior senator running for President? I'm not sure what kind of response he'd get from the electorate.

The same response John Edwards got, I'd imagine. Very similar situations - junior senators who are long shots at getting the POTUS nomination from the party, but who are excellent VPOTUS candidate material.

I think Senator Obama could potentially make a good president, however I agree with the last two posts.

I say think because he hasn't been on my -- and perhaps the national -- radar screen long enough to really evaluate.

A partial term as a US Senator (much the same, in my opinion, as a term as a state governor) may not be enough experience to get my vote.

Unfortunately, what we seem to get for candidates in some situations are people with saleable personalities and a lot of money behind them.

As an Illinois resident, I wouldn't feel betrayed if Obama ran for president. I think he'd be excellent at the job. I don't know that he has enough experience to get elected, but I wouldn't want to see him as VP either... he would get tarnished in the eyes of those who didn't like the President (whoever that is) and get very little of the accolades if the President is well liked. He should come back to Illinois and run for governor. He'd win, hands down, and it's easier to get elected as governor than as a senator.

/I particularly like him because he doesn't accept lobbyist gifts/trips etc. Or hadn't as of the last time that information was disclosed.

I think it would be a poor move for him to run. I don't even think he should accept VP. The 2004 campaign greatly damaged Edwards, he went from All-American favorite son, to attack dog for Kerry. I don't think Obama could win in 2008, and I think he'd be much better served to stay out until he knows he'd be the frontrunner.

If Hillary runs he doesn't have a chance.

Yeah, I don't think there's any chance he wins either nomination in 2008, and it's a tad early to become damaged goods by losing a race.

Either way he's in a tough situation, because the longer his name is out there, the more likely there will be some negative attached to it. However, I think he's best served serving out his term and waiting for 2012, at least.

"talk only about 2012, or else."
 

From the link above:

"The Illinois Democrat said he could no longer stand by the statements he made after his 2004 election and earlier this year that he would serve a full six-year term in Congress."

Just as he waffles on pledging to serve a six-year term, soon he will be waffling on lobbyist gifts/trips.

And soon, if he continues to make 2008 presidential campaign steps, the Clinton war machine will put him in its sights, and a flury of anti-Obama stories and questions about his positions will be in the media.

The Clinton war machine has already knocked John Warner out of the 2008 campaign, and Obama will soon be told to "talk only about 2012, or else."

Riiiight, thank you psychic sock puppet.

The other thing I like about Obama is that he's very open and comes out and says things like "I know I promised, but I'm not sure I can hold up to that anymore" instead of "oh by the way, I'm running." He's a Democrat, so clearly his votes are left leaning, but I find that his opinions on issues are rather agreeable.

Just read part of a humor column on another website that said, paraphrasing now:

"If Obama can't keep even the first promise he made as a politician, he should be well qualified to run for President."

A sad commentary on our politicians and political system.

Just yesterday it was posted that the Clinton war room would be attacking Obama, and today it starts:

Dem Bill Would Force Obama to Share Charisma

by Scott Ott
(2006-10-23) -- Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive 2008 Democrat presidential nominee, came under attack today from his own party when Democrats in the Senate introduced a bill that would force him to share his abundant charisma with his colleagues.
READ THE REST AT...
http://www.scrappleface.com/?p=2366

And today Rush Limbaugh is accused of being the first to label him "Osama Obama" but recordings prove party-boy Ted Kennedy was first. Mary Jo could not be reached for comment.

Hey Ann, one thing I've always wondered - are you pre or post op?

this reminds me of family guy:)

Does anyone think he is or is not electable?

I'll be honest, I think he is charismatic and will eventually have a good shot at the presidency. That being said, I don't know that a minority with the name Barack Obama will be electable until he becomes very mainstream. I don't think 2008 gives him enough time

I agree that 2008 may be too soon, but I think his name actually works to his favor. Besides the "Osama" whinging (which isn't going to stop anyone from voting for him) the name is memorable and not hard to pronounce *cough*Blagojevich*cough*

I think you're giving Americans too much credit. If he continues to talk about running, we'll see some polling, and I think that'll be interesting. However, I also think there is a disparity, especially with minority candidates, between what a person will say to a person on the phone, and what lever they'll pull at the ballot box.

He won't make it for 2008. 2012 maybe. It's his first term as a senator. He needs more time to do amazing things in the senate and get some concrete behind his reputation.
I have that issue of TIME and I need to go read the article, I didn't get to it yet.

do i think Mr. Obama should be the next president? Well, yeah, I mean, I haven't seen anyone else who I would vote for.

do i think Mr. Obama will be the next president? No, no, not at all. Look at his name. Obama...sounds like....osama, and people will think that. People who haven't seen him will think he is arab, and probably won't vote in a president with an arab sounding name. This has nothing to do with his race, religion, positions, etc. His name sounds arab. He won't be president. If he is, then I'll buy you all milkshakes.

I'm sure there are some people who wouldnt vote for him because it sounded arab, but moreso I think its just because it sounds ethnic.

I think those people would never have voted for him anyway. I think there are probably 51% of people who WOULD vote for him, but it certainly depends on voter apathy, campaign, etc.

Shiner, I think you're exactly right here. I got to meet Obama during the primary campaign, and was totally blown away. I seriously did not expect to like/respect him; I'm a bit jaded when it comes to politicans as it seems that Illinois has had more than its fair share of corrupt politicians, (George Ryan anyone?) so the fact that most residents of this state trust him is amazing. I'd like to see him spend a full term in the Senate before he runs for a higher office. That said, I'd probably vote for him in 2008 if he does run. Do I think he's electable? Probably not in 2008. He's a relative newcomer to the national stage, and some people might think he's a little young for national office (I think he just turned 45). I think if the Republicans take the White House in 2008 Obama would be a solid choice for 2012.

Its not gonna happen, because Mitt Romney will get reelected in 2012. But yeah, he is charismatic, too bad he doesn't have good political leanings to go along with it.

Drole, I think you're incredibly unrealistic. The idea that an ethnic name would only affect voting from conservatives is ridiculous. I don't think people understand how much of an obstacle something like that can be.

Perhaps, I'm just going by the State of Illinois. To be fair he was running against an out of stater, but there were no issues with his name, not in Chicago or Central or Southern. As blue as the state leans because of Cook County and the surrounding area, it's a good mix. Maybe this doesn't reflect the Georgians or Texans or New Hampshirites... but i'm going on experience.

Besides, IL voters are jaded as hell...and even we like him. (I'm voting third party for governor because I just don't care about Blago or Topinka anymore... they both suck)

And something like that can be overcome with time and exposure. National campaigns are just an entirely different ballgame from statewide, especially when that state is one like Illinois.

Wait, Mitt Romney reelected for what?

Slight hijack...Do you think Romney's religion (Latter Day Saint) will hurt his chances at national office? Personally, I like what's he done to balance the budget in Massachusetts, and some of his educational reform ideas. I'd give serious thought to voting for him.

Yeah, it will hurt, but it'll depend on how its presented in the campaign. Thankfully for Romney, it hurts most among evangelicals, and I think they'll be swayed by his conservative nature.

No one thought that they'd ever elect a Catholic president...but it happened.

Bet he could come up with some catchy campaign slogans though.

"If you're not with Obama you side with Osama."

Or not.

I was thinking something along the lines of, "Barack Obama- America's Baby Daddy"

And it was a BIG issue to some people -- I remember comments like, "The Pope will be running the country."

He isn't going to run. He can't even get served at Cracker Barrel.

Yes, because he's a black man, that must mean he has lots of children fathered out of wedlock.

He's part white: should his slogan also be "Barack Obama - stringing people up since 1961", or "Barack Obama - unable to find a beat since 1961"?

Hahahahaha. Good one.

My sister teaches 9th grade Western Civ and when they were talking about Barack Obama, she asked them if they think he should run for office.

A student asked if it was even possible for him to do so because they thought he was born in Africa. More than half of those dipshits thought the same thing too.

What's sad is that Mr. Obama was born and raised here in Hawai`i and Punahou School, his alma mater (and one of the most exclusive schools here), is right up the hill from the school my sister works at. :mad:

Ummm, yeah...because guys who graduate from Hawai'i's top prep school, as well as Columbia and Harvard Law just have tons of babies out of wedlock. :rolleyes:

Actually guys, and I don't like madmax one bit, but I think he is referring to an event at which Obama's wife, Michelle, said while introducing him "Here he is, my husband, my baby's (not baby) daddy, Barack Obama". Pissed a lot of people off...mostly black folks. I didn't really care about that though. I like his wife. I like him as well. If he ran, I would vote for him. He's young, incredibly smart and makes a lot of sense when he approaches issues. I could care less how young he is or the time he has spent in the Senate. If you can do the job, you can do the job. Besides, we've put up with Bush, I'd say after him anyone can be the president!

Yeah kids, before you go off, you might wanna do some research.

I'd say there IS a difference between "baby daddy" and "baby's daddy" The second is not as low class or crass as the first. Poor choice of words, yeah, but emphasizing that he's a father as well.