Barack Obama Is No Jesse Jackson

Bill Clinton's latest "trick" has been to try and explain away Barack Obama. So Barack Obama won South Carolina, so what? Jesse Jackson also won South Carolina in 1984 and 1988.

And I had been suspecting the Clintons are trying to take us back to the 1990s, a little bit of time warp, a little bit of time travel. Wrong. They are trying to take us back to the 1980s. Or why mention Jesse?

If Bill Clinton had given a solid convention speech in 1988, I would have compared him to Barack Obama who gave a solid convention speech in 2004, but Bill did not deliver. He was an object of ridicule in the aftermath. The speech was so lousy it was widely predicted he would never run for national office.

Jesse Jackson is a great guy, a historic figure. He was prominent in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. And I am personally thankful for the two runs for president he made in the 1980s. If it were not for those two runs, Barack might not have been able to run today. I have that same sense of thankfulness for Dean 2004. Dean 2004 did the early, hard work. Obama 2008 built on it.

So no doubt Jesse is a great guy. But Jesse never ran for president. He just ran to make a statement. And he ran hard.

Barack is not running to make a statement. He is running to be president. He is not running to become the first black president. He is just running for president.

Jesse is black. Barack is biracial. That is an important distinction.

Barack became Senator. Jesse always thought he was too big to be merely a Senator. MLK never became Senator. He was above Senator. And so Jesse was not going to be Senator either.

Jesse fought the hard battles that Barack did not have to fight, but battles Barack benefited from.

Bill Clinton said fairytale. Hillary said slum. She went ahead and belittled MLK. And the Clintons are now paying the price. Black America is coming of age and a second place is no longer acceptable.

It is entirely possible Bill Clinton just does not get it. He does not get the gist of the Barack candidacy. He does not get the new kind of politics. He only knows slash and burn. Decades after world war two there were Japanese soldiers on remote Pacific islands still fighting the war: noone ever told them it was over.

Barack just took over from Bill Clinton the top spotlight in the Democratic Party. And that taking over will be official on February 5 when Barack will be anointed the nominee, the day when it becomes official.

Barack Obama Kennedy

After the endorsements by JFK daughter and brother, my guy might as well add an additional last name.

Take South Carolina Bill Clinton Out To California

Tell the women in California, Hillary is not the woman they think she is. She let her husband take over.

Give 10 States To Bill Clinton

Hillary should focus on the other 12. Give 10 to Bill. Oh, how I would love that.

Florida

Florida does not count. Why is Hillary going against party rules and campaigning in Florida?

A McCain-Romney Ticket

Looks like that is what we will have for fall. I like the idea of a Mormon on a national ticket. We will defeat him, but he will have broken a glass barrier in the process for the non-Christians.

Rudy Is Available

I think Rudy should be made Secretary of Homeland Security by President Obama.






In The News

Races Entering Complex Phase Over Delegates New York Times a potentially protracted scramble for delegates Congressional district by Congressional district ...... 52 percent of Democratic delegates will be chosen. ...... complex delegate-allocation rules .... Arizona, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico. ....... The possibility of a long-term slog is real for Democrats, given that Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama appear evenly matched in resources and political talent. ...... If the polls were wrong in New Hampshire, where Obama seemed to be ahead only to lose narrowly to Clinton on the night, they were more wrong in South Carolina. ....... Bill Clinton tried to do just that on Saturday night, instantly reminding reporters that the last major African American candidate, Jesse Jackson, had also won South Carolina in 1984 and 1988. ....... In Iowa he demonstrated he could win white votes; in South Carolina he showed he could win African American ones ....... If Obama can rely on similarly solid African American support in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee ....... delegate-rich California where she is thought to have an advantage, especially among Hispanic voters. ....... the intensity of voters' feelings ..... "voters kind of recoiled" from the Clintons' apparent racialising of the contest ........ feminists who wonder why a powerful woman such as Clinton cannot fight her own battles.
Kennedy Chooses Obama, Spurning Plea by Clintons Mr. Kennedy had become increasingly disenchanted with the tone of the Clinton campaign .... He and former President Bill Clinton had a heated telephone exchange earlier this month over what Mr. Kennedy considered misleading statements by Mr. Clinton about Mr. Obama, as well as his injection of race into the campaign. ....... Mr. Kennedy, a major figure in party politics for more than 40 years, intends to campaign aggressively for Mr. Obama, beginning with an appearance and rally with him in Washington on Monday. He will be introduced by Ms. Kennedy. ........ bolstering Mr. Obama’s credibility and helping him firm up support from unions and Hispanics, as well as the party base. ..... assertions that Mr. Clinton’s campaigning on behalf of his wife in South Carolina has in some ways hurt her candidacy. ...... he was intrigued by Mr. Obama’s seeming ability to inspire political interest in a new generation ...... when he learned that his niece’s endorsement would appear as an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times on Sunday, he decided to bolster that with his own public embrace of the campaign ...... two years ago, Ms. Townsend’s mother, Ethel Kennedy, referred to Mr. Obama in an interview as “our next president” and likened him to her late husband. ....... He’s not selling you. It’s just him.
Now Obama has momentum as race heads for long haul Guardian Unlimited
Obama vows to write 'new chapter' in US history Edmonton Sun
Clinton Adjusts Obama Tactics in Run to Super Tuesday (Update1) Bloomberg early indications that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will be less visible ...... Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, who described Bill Clinton as the U.S.'s ``first black president'' a decade ago, announced her support for Obama. ..... Clinton made two campaign stops in the state yesterday. ...... ``Whoever prints the placards for them must be a busy person,'' said Robert Gibbs, an Obama campaign adviser. ``To get the printing contract for their signs might amount to a full economic stimulus plan.'' ...... Hillary Clinton said it was ``human nature'' to get carried away and also spoke of ``sleep deprivation.'' ....... Caroline Kennedy informed Obama two weeks ago
Obama and Clinton go nationwide with less face time, more air time Chicago Tribune will make the past town hall gatherings and one-on-one meetings seem like quaint and distant memories. ...... big-stage, tarmac-to-tarmac phase of the fight, which some expect may drag on into March or even April. ...... Obama told reporters aboard his new campaign plane -- a Boeing 737 -- that this phase would present greater challenges for him. ...... "It's not a black or white issue. It's not a young or old issue. It is a past issue versus a future issue." ..... media coverage and advertising ..... Obama is focusing on six states that hold caucuses Feb. 5 -- Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota and North Dakota ...... Even before his South Carolina victory, Obama beamed himself via satellite into Missouri, New York, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Connecticut through local TV interviews Saturday.
Ironically, Toni Morrison is for Obama Yahoo! News
Toni Morrison Endorses Obama New York Times
Jackson: Not Upset by Clinton Remarks New York Times
Clinton’s Camp Seeks Gentler Role for Ex-President New York Times Mr. Clinton had injected himself clumsily into the race ...... Mr. Clinton had upset some of the central themes of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, including her appeal to women ..... her husband’s recent prominence may have dampened her appeal as a strong female leader ..... Obama won 54 percent of the vote from women in South Carolina, including 22 percent of white women and 78 percent of black women .... “Voters don’t like the idea of a co-presidency ..... looks like she either needs him to fight the big battles for her, or she can’t keep the big dog on the porch ..... Mr. Clinton’s visibility has dented her argument that she has the best experience for the job.
Will Clinton bounce back? Independent Online joking about the warm weather and positioning herself so photographers had a palm tree for a backdrop. ...... "I will try to persuade my delegates to seat the delegates from Michigan and Florida," said Clinton. "Democrats have to win Michigan and have to try to win Florida and I intend to do that. The people of Florida deserve to be represented in the process of picking a candidate for president of the United States." ...... Romney, a former venture capitalist, cast himself as a business-savvy economic turnaround artist amid recession anxiety, while McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, portrayed himself as a courageous wartime commander in chief in a dangerous world.
Clinton to Campaign in Florida The Associated Press The minister, Samuel Kyles, was with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. when he was assassinated nearly 40 years ago.