News Obama Wins in Iowa: A Historic Day for America

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Obama's victory in Iowa is seen as a historic moment, signaling potential hope for change in American politics. The discussion highlights the significance of his win as a black candidate in a predominantly white state, emphasizing the possibility of uniting the country after years of divisive politics. Key issues like immigration and the Iraq war are noted as central to the election. There is skepticism about whether Obama can garner enough support nationally, particularly in the South, where historical voter suppression tactics may affect turnout. The conversation also critiques Hillary Clinton's establishment ties and her perceived lack of authenticity compared to Obama, who is praised for his oratory skills and directness. Concerns about negative campaigning and the potential impact of independent candidates like Bloomberg on the election are raised. Overall, the sentiment reflects a cautious optimism about Obama's ability to reshape the political landscape, despite challenges ahead.
  • #31
arildno said:
Well, what with Obama's disturbing connections to Odinga in Kenya?
http://www.aina.org/news/20080106002912.htm

As nearly as I can tell, this is an angelican driven agenda. First off, they seem to want to incriminate Obama for having been a Muslim. That makes them, let's see... what's the word...zealots? I'm not sure but it came off this way to me.

Note also this quote:

And here is the biggest non-surprise: Raila Odinga has, in his own words, a "close personal friendship" with Barrack Hussein Obama Junior.

So what? Barrack and I are old army buddies. Do you believe me?

I would imagine that this is nothing but a bunch of nonsense. Obama toured the area. As far as I can tell, that is the only connection.
 
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  • #32
Ivan Seeking said:
As nearly as I can tell, this is an angelican driven agenda.
Don't shoot the messenger.
I would imagine that this is nothing but a bunch of nonsense. Obama toured the area. As far as I can tell, that is the only connection.
Might well be.

But a politician merely "touring" is not your average tourist, you know.

At any rate, do you think that if it is proven that

a) Odinga's supporters have been upon a murder rampage

b) That Odinga is planning to endorse enforcement of sharia law

that Obama (or for that matter, any other politician) ought to distance himself from Odinga if questioned upon these matters?
 
  • #33
It's not that I'm shooting the messenger; I just don't trust the story as being accurate. I think their choice of quotes shows a clear bias. But sure; if Obama has inadvertently shown support of a murderous tyrant, then he needs to get that on the table and make his position clear. And I have no doubt that he will if required. One of the things that most impresses me about Obama is that he doesn't deny his past. He admits that he's not perfect and that he makes mistakes.

When he was attacked for his drug use in high school, the attack failed because he had already talked all about this in his first book.
 
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  • #34
He has seemed to me to be more forthright and sincere than Ms Rodham, at least, so I have had quite some sympathy for him.
 
  • #35
arildno said:
Don't shoot the messenger.

Might well be.

But a politician merely "touring" is not your average tourist, you know.

At any rate, do you think that if it is proven that

a) Odinga's supporters have been upon a murder rampage

b) That Odinga is planning to endorse enforcement of sharia law

that Obama (or for that matter, any other politician) ought to distance himself from Odinga if questioned upon these matters?

I do not at all understand what this has to do with US election. Your link is obviously christian evangelist propaganda.

And if one person support a tribe or group which seems to be oppressed in another country, and suddenly they go on a killing spree, is that person responsible because he supported them earlier?

Another note: it actually seems like obama has an interest in his roots, and has been concerned for the situation in Kenya for a while. Isn't it positive to see someone who may become the us president
which have interest in other countries, not because of economic interests, but humanitarian causes?

Concerning sharia law, I believe most certainly that Obama is against such a system.
 
  • #36
turbo-1 said:
believe that he would do a better job than Clinton, and I believe that he is more electable than she, especially if vote-rigging can be suppressed this year (unlike the past couple of elections).
It would be nice if this kind of side comment can be suppressed this year.

Seriously; you're asserting as fact one side of a contested issue, that's entirely irrelevant to the topic of this thread, and even to the points you were making. Why?
 
  • #37
I don't know what the latest in Kenya is. Is there going to be a recount, or even a repeat election? I doubt either will happen. The EU observers stated that there were several irregularities and the counting process was deeply flawed. The US State Dept. has still not (until a couple days ago) officially recognized Kibaki's victory. Meanwhile, there is a Rwanda-esque slaughter going on. If Obama has any money to spare, he should openly assemble a crack team of negotiators to talk down the situation in Kenya. I think that Kibaki and Odinga, both, will want to gain the favor of a possible future US President with strong ties to Kenya.
 
  • #38
Hurkyl said:
Seriously; you're asserting as fact one side of a contested issue, that's entirely irrelevant to the topic of this thread, and even to the points you were making.
How is the possibility of a suppression of the black vote irrelevant to Obama's prospects?
 
  • #39
Hurkyl said:
It would be nice if this kind of side comment can be suppressed this year.

Seriously; you're asserting as fact one side of a contested issue, that's entirely irrelevant to the topic of this thread, and even to the points you were making. Why?
It is not controversial that caging lists were used to knock black voters off the rolls in the last two elections. In the 2000 election, the names of registered voters were compared to the names of felons, and if the names were the same, the (usually innocent) voter's name was dropped off the rolls. In 2004 the Republicans went after blacks again (even targeting black service-members who often have to change addresses) and mailed them notices "signature required". If the person was not available to sign for the notice and the mail was returned, they notified the registrar that the voter's address was incorrect and got them dropped from the rolls. The voters generally didn't know that they had been disenfranchised until they got to the polls or tried to submit an absentee ballot. The Republican party (under Rove et al) has worked very hard to suppress turnout among minorities and cause them no end of wasted time and trouble as they tried to get re-registered so they could vote. This has been thoroughly documented by investigative reporter Greg Palast among others and it IS relevant to Obama's chances in the general election should he get the nomination.

It should also be noted that the 2004 election results differed from the exit polls by margins that were not only impossible, but that overwhelmingly favored Bush. Here is an article by Robert Kennedy Jr. with citations.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen
 
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  • #40
Ivan Seeking said:
Not black enough for you? :smile:

Deny deny deny!

A black man won in what is often called the whitest state in the union.

he's half black. I was making the observation that if he can be called black, he can equally be called white.
 
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  • #41
I would like to say that massacres, even though they happen to "mere" Africans, far away from the US, SHOULD concern those politicians who:

1. May come in a position of power where they can influence the events
and
2. Who already have good political ties with members of the elite where these tragedies and crimes happen.
 
  • #42
arildno said:
I would like to say that massacres, even though they happen to "mere" Africans, far away from the US, SHOULD concern those politicians who:

1. May come in a position of power where they can influence the events
and
2. Who already have good political ties with members of the elite where these tragedies and crimes happen.

Calling this a "disturbing connection to Kenya" would be like saying that Joe Lieberman has a "disturbing connection to Israel" because he hasn't denounced every shady Israeli politician. When in fact that would just be anti-Semitism.
 
  • #43
An old and former friend just sent me a bunch of garbage that tries to make a terrorist out of Obama. :smile: This guy's mind has been warped by too much Rush and hate radio. .

Considering that according to him, Hillary is the bride of Satan [I'm not kidding here: The religious extremists promote the idea that Hillary is pure evil], I wonder how it is that Hillary has missed this huge opportunity to discredit Obama.

If there was a real problem here, given her resources, you can be sure that Hillary would have found it.
 
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  • #44
Ivan Seeking said:
An old and former friend just sent me a bunch of garbage that tries to make a terrorist out of Obama. :smile: This guy's mind has been warped by too much Rush and hate radio. .

Considering that according to him, Hillary is the bride of Satan [I'm not kidding here: The religious extremists promote the idea that Hillary is pure evil], I wonder how it is that Hillary has missed this huge opportunity to discredit Obama.
Fox News seems to be going very easy on Obama during these primaries which suggests they see him as an easier target than Clinton come the presidential election. I suspect a lot of this crap about Obama will go mainstream once he secures the nomination.
 
  • #45
Art said:
Fox News seems to be going very easy on Obama during these primaries which suggests they see him as an easier target than Clinton come the presidential election. I suspect a lot of this crap about Obama will go mainstream once he secures the nomination.

This is precisely what will happen. Will the voters be turned off enough by it to vote against the hate? It's hard to say.
 
  • #46
chemisttree said:
This is precisely what will happen. Will the voters be turned off enough by it to vote against the hate? It's hard to say.

It may be noteworthy that the negative campaigning tactics failed in Iowa. I tend to think [hope] that only the extremists will buy into this nonsense. We have been Roved to death for eight years now! People must be wising up by now, one would think.
 
  • #47
Art said:
Fox News seems to be going very easy on Obama during these primaries which suggests they see him as an easier target than Clinton come the presidential election. I suspect a lot of this crap about Obama will go mainstream once he secures the nomination.
My take is that the extreme right viewed Hillary as their chief opponent. They had no reason to focus attention Obama because (a) that would have meant diverting energy from attacking Hillary, and (b) the Clinton machine was going to devour Obama, so why bother? Now that Hillary appears to be falling apart the extreme right is focusing more attention on Obama.
 
  • #48
Art said:
Fox News seems to be going very easy on Obama during these primaries which suggests they see him as an easier target than Clinton come the presidential election. I suspect a lot of this crap about Obama will go mainstream once he secures the nomination.
Obama doesn't have a philandering spouse, billing irregularities at a former law firm, a highly-placed former associate who committed suicide, nor a past association with the Whitewater development. Hillary would be a LOT easier to smear than Obama. The Republicans have been painting Hillary as the presumptive nominee because of her high negatives among voters, and the many opportunities they will have to drag her through the mud. Rove et al would LOVE to see Hillary nominated.
 
  • #49
In the end, what Obama has going for him here is the ablity to answer questions in a satisfactory manner. He is clear, direct, and seemingly honest. This is why I was impressed the first time that I saw Obama. What fails for me is when they won't answer the damned questions! For me, many times this counts negatively more than the answer; no matter what the answer might be.
 
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  • #50
Art said:
Fox News seems to be going very easy on Obama during these primaries which suggests they see him as an easier target than Clinton come the presidential election. I suspect a lot of this crap about Obama will go mainstream once he secures the nomination.
I don't consider Fox to be quite that clever even if they are actually trying to influence the election (which I don't accept). Hillary is what people in the military call a "sh-- screen". She's someone who distinguishes herself at attracting the wrath of her adversaries, allowing everyone else to fly low under the radar. It's a common occurrence in basic training.

And as Turbo-1 points out, I wouldn't even accept that she could be considered more electable than Obama. At best, she's more understandable and predictable than Obama, which may make Obama tough for Democratic and Republican opponents alike to know how to deal with and easy to attack.
 
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  • #51
On the other hand, does the conservative right need to actually do anything to discredit a black candidate?
 
  • #52
Gokul43201 said:
On the other hand, does the conservative right need to actually do anything to discredit a black candidate?

That sentiment may actually come from the Hillary camp in the coming weeks. I think we can expect a veiled reference to his race in the form of the question from the Hillary campaign, "Is now the time that America will elect the first black president? Do you want to risk losing the Presidency on such a gamble?" At least, Dick Morris thinks so.
 
  • #53
CNN was just running a story about right-wing commentators who are impressed with Obama and who speak favorably of him. He also got some kudos from Colin Powell who is seen to be flirting with backing Obama. I have never seen anything like this!

It seems that the message of unification is faring well. I know that I for one am sick of being intolerably angry.
 
  • #54
Gokul43201 said:
On the other hand, does the conservative right need to actually do anything to discredit a black candidate?

...named Hussein Obama.

That was the gist of the email that I received - mindless racism and fear mongering.
 
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  • #55
chemisttree said:
I think we can expect a veiled reference to his race in the form of the question from the Hillary campaign, "Is now the time that America will elect the first black president?
Unlikely since you only need to change one word to bounce it back on her.

You could of course save a great deal of time/effort/money by just permanently alternating a Clinton/Bush in the White House while leaving the lobbyists to get on with running the country.
 
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  • #56
Something else that is amazing here: Everyone, dem and reps alike, are forced to defer to Obama. The reps have even adopted his message of change!
 
  • #57
Ivan Seeking said:
Something else that is amazing here: Everyone, dem and reps alike, are forced to defer to Obama.
First Sony win a format war and now this - it will be burning skies and four horseman I tell you ...
 
  • #58
Yes, in fact the sun seems to have disappeared.

Oh yeah, I live in Oregon; the sun is never out. Whew, that was a close one.
 
  • #59
Looks like Obama is going to lose in NH whilst McCain is winning by a mile. Seems the pollsters were way off the mark.
 
  • #60
Hillary "the devil" bush seems to have won the entire nomination.. One can pretty much forget about obama now.
And all because of a tear in her eye.. Completely bogus.. Where will the world end?
 

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