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Edited on Mon Mar-31-08 02:06 PM by mntleo2
...and knows the scene far better than Clinton could ever know. Since the poor are often the "canary in the mine" for the rest of this society, I am for anyone who "gets it" when it comes to the plight of the poor. I do not care about gender, race or creed and I am over 50 and a woman. I was just saying what I know. As an advocate for low income women for many years I am connected with those women in NY whom I deeply admire for their tenacity. I am also knowledgeable about women and poverty. I can tell you a man who chose to work on the South side of Chicago actually cares about the poor. He could have worked in high powered law offices but instead chose to be a grassroots organizer instead.
Having known a few here in Seattle like Obama, most notably a psychiatrist who chooses to work with the homeless mentally ill, a few lawyers who stand up for low income women and the homeless, a math doctorate who runs a homeless newspaper, and some legislators who are also making poverty their main work, I can tell you I know people like Barak Obama. They are often brilliant, they have deep insight and they are people who have chosen to dedicate their lives to social justice. Few of them become politicians and even fewer still are not almost immediately corrupted once in office and almost all of them forget their roots, except the people I have mentioned.
Barak Obama appears to have kept most of his integrity intact in spite of the buzz saw of politics ~ which in itself is a phenomena. What I mean about "corruption" is that many politicians and so-called "successful" people become enamored with the money and power and enmeshed in the process, they forget why they are there. None of them come out of it unscathed ~ or at least few of them do. I do not think Barak Obama forgets why he is there. and while he is most likely corrupted by the desire for power and money, he is still calling attention and shows deep insight with issues few other politicians have, such as the plight of the low income worker. He knows because he has lived, worked, defended and been neighbors with the people of whom he speaks.
One cannot expect someone like Hillary Clinton to understand such things, born into a rich family, reared in private schools, never having gone hungry one day in her life. I am not surprised at her inability to "hear" my friends who stand below her window, she would BE a phenomena if she did hear them and be moved by them. Which to me is why people like John Edwards and Barak Obama who do not forget where they came from are phenomenas and Hillary Clinton is not.
My 2 cents
Cat In Seattle
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