Coleman becomes an Obama supporter

Despite phone calls from both Clintons -- Bill and Hillary -- Mayor Michael B. Coleman will endorse Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination at an Obama campaign rally today in Columbus.

Comparing Obama to two Democratic icons, Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, Coleman called the Illinois senator "a one-of-a-kind who comes along only every few generations."

"Every once in a while, a figure comes in history who is a galvanizing and uniting force, an inspirational person who lifts up peoples' hopes, and I think that person is Barack Obama," Coleman told The Dispatch.

Coleman, who is challenged by Republican Bill Todd in his run for re-election on the Nov. 6 ballot, will introduce Obama at an 11 a.m. rally and fundraiser today at the Columbus Convention Center. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students; doors open at 10:30 a.m.

Two Democratic mayors of cities bigger than Columbus, Richard M. Daley of Chicago and Adrian M. Fenty of Washington, D.C., also have endorsed Obama.

In 1999, Coleman became the first black mayor of Columbus and, if elected, Obama would be the nation's first black president.

"Leaders like Mayor Coleman paved the way for this campaign to be possible," Obama said in a statement. "Mayor Coleman is a trailblazer who has made Columbus a model for cities across the country."

Coleman said he had received calls seeking his endorsement from Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, the Democratic presidential front-runner, and from her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

"I do like Hillary," Coleman said. "I have huge respect for her, and if she does become the nominee, I will work feverishly for her. But I view Barack as a generational leader, the first time in a long time this country has seen such a transformational figure."

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/10/26/barack.ART_ART_10-26-07_B1_L089N1T.html?sid=101

The Obama campaign should make a slogan out of that.

even for people with college degrees to warm up to. It is a good concept(though with a disquieting Nietzschean connotation), but it needs a simpler word and a loud sell. The variations on the "new deal" slogan have petered out, its connotations as a new social contract regressively lost. Someone who can synthesize, sincerely, what the people ARE looking for with the most inner passion and need might touch a spark. it has to simply encompass all that reality within immediacy and promise.

You'd think the geniuses of Madison Avenue with a pocket dictionary could do this were their search not edited for corporate interests.

I think Edwards is definitely trying to do this too. Good luck to one and all because the people want to hear the word.

Kayandar...

Go Obama! :patriot:

You made a very wise decision to support the VERY best this country has to offer the American People!!!:patriot:

I thought you meant Norm Coleman. :rofl:

Talk about scary