Obama Offers More Than Rock Star Persona

L
ast spring, a story about presidential contender Barack Obama appeared below this headline in The Washington Post: "Is Obama All Style and Little Substance?" The candidate, a Harvard Law School graduate and former professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago, is clearly highly intelligent. On the stump he is articulate and, when at the top of his game, capable of inspiring crowds and filling them with hope. But is there, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein, any "there" there?

Obama met for nearly two hours Tuesday with the Monitor's editorial board. That meeting cleared up any question of whether the 46-year-old senator was a man of substance. He is.

Rather than answer queries with slices from stump speeches, Obama paused to weigh the heft of each, then answered thoughtfully and in full. He conveyed his knowledge of issues clearly with no need to cite studies or recite statistics. He wanted, he said, not to make a speech but have a conversation.

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Obama's calm demeanor leaves one wondering whether, in the parlance of basketball, a game he still plays, he has elbows sharp enough to mix it up with the bad boys, and girls, bent on preventing him from scoring. That remains to be seen. The next presidential campaign, especially if Democrats nominate Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton, promises to descend to new and scurrilous lows.

Asked what he says to those who wish he would gain more experience before running for president, Obama says voters should consider three more important things: whether he has the vision, the skill and the judgment to lead the nation.

Obama clearly has the first quality. Voters in New Hampshire's Democratic Party still have a few more months to decide if he has the other two as well.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071011/OPINION/710110319/1217/NEWS98

:thumbsup:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12461951@N03/

priorities means making choices!

After 8 years of Bush-boy, what a breath of fresh air he would be.

Good article and thanks for posting, you are the best.:thumbsup: :kick:

:dem:

Obama has substance that goes far deeper than the usual drive-by politics. I hope more people take the time to listen.

Rock stars" is ridiculous.

This kind of rave review almost never comes out of the command performances candidates have to do for editorial boards in key states. To get this kind review from a major NH paper is absolute gold to any campaign. Amazing.