Obama, McCain: By their offices ye shall know them

McCrabby's been snipped; he's at the link, as is a bit more about Obama.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OFFICE_POLITICS?SITE=CONGRA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Obama, McCain: By their offices ye shall know them

By NANCY BENAC
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- By their offices ye shall know them.

The personalities and personal histories of John McCain and Barack Obama are as evident in the artwork, books and mementoes in their Senate offices as in any words they may utter.

snip//


OBAMA

Obama has been a senator only since 2005, and his office in the Hart Office Building has a fresh, clean look to it.

"He played a big part in putting it all together," said Ashley Tate-Gilmore, the Illinois senator's executive assistant - right down to selecting the straw-colored tint of the walls and carpeting. When the office was due for new carpeting, he wanted exactly what he had before. That particular carpeting had been discontinued, but Senate officials scrounged around to find an identical replacement.

The decor is carefully choreographed. When an assistant shifted the location of one painting while Obama was away, the senator had it moved back.

"He's tidy. It stays tidy," Tate-Gilmore said.

Obama has a "wall of heroes" containing historic photos of those the senator admires. Abe Lincoln is there, as well as Gandhi with his spinning wheel, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy. The arrangement includes a framed original program from the 1963 March on Washington where King delivered his "I have a dream" speech. There also is a framed copy of the Life magazine cover from 1965 showing civil rights marchers in Selma, Ala. It is signed by John Lewis, a protester who was bludgeoned at Selma and now is a member of Congress.

Another of Obama's office walls displays a more personal collection of photos taken by his former personal assistant, David Katz, an amateur photographer. The photos, hung five tiers high, show Obama in various political settings, such as the Democratic National Convention and a Rainbow PUSH event, but also in more intimate encounters with his wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia, and at home in Chicago.

snip//

Perhaps the most powerful piece of artwork in the office is a towering portrait of former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, an oil on canvas by Chaz Guest on loan from the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago. Obama has spoken often of his admiration for the nation's first black Supreme Court justice.

Fellow Sen. Edward Kennedy supplied his colleague with one of Obama's favorite pieces. Obama had visited Kennedy's office and admired a painting by the Massachusetts senator of a beach scene on Cape Cod. A few days later, a framed copy of the artwork arrived at Obama's office, inscribed by Kennedy: "To Barack - I love your audacity. With great respect and warmest wishes."

more...

By their PLATFORMS shall ye know them.

By their PRIORITIES shall ye know them.

By their PLANS shall ye know them.

By their PAST VOTES shall ye know them.

I'll even tolerate the character card. But you don't elect a president based on how his office looks!

Sheesh!!!!

could find one. How 'bout that? At least this one wasn't demeaning him. And I don't mind reading about how different they are; this speaks to their different characters.