Obama: Our Moment is Now [NEW TV AD]

Barack Obama might not have the answers to all of America's questions.

He may not have the solutions to all of America's problems.

But a President Obama will force this country to look at itself anew, to strive for something better, and, hopefully, to work again to form a "more perfect union."

If this ad doesn't make the hair on the back your neck stand up, then I'd have your pulse checked:

Thoughts?  Reactions?

As an aside, looks like South Carolina is a dead heat.

And that's before Oprah comes to town for a rally at an 80,000 seat stadium!

AND WOW--Check out this trend line!  Looks like Hillary's national lead in Rasmussen's poll is crumbling, too!

•  Tips

  for authenticity!

  by DemDog on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:08:24 AM PDT

  •  I have to admit it is a good ad!

    by humphrey on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:11:23 AM PDT

  •  Damn I love that ad

    In all my adult life, (I'm 54), I've never felt so strongly about a candidate as I do for Obama.  

    by pamelabrown on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:13:08 AM PDT

  •  It's such a pretty ad

    I know that sounds strange.  But it's really really pretty.  Not slick - but "It's Morning in America" pretty.  I liked it.

    by CeeusBeeus on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:20:26 AM PDT

  •  America, the time is now!

    Are you listening, America?  Pay attention!  The time is now!  Do the right thing!  
     Powerful ad!

    by dotster on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:25:20 AM PDT

  •  Good ad. The "time is now" concept

    reminds of Edwards ad for NH back in the summer.... America your time is now.

    The only thing I don't like per se about Obama's approach is the bipartisan argument. There are some fights to be had before we get this train wreck back on track. And I'm on of those people who disagree strongly about starting from a position of compromise. I just don't like it. Especially compromising up front with a bunch of people (republicans) who are ALWAYS WRONG.

    Good ad still. Oh I found the old Edwards NH from June...it's pretty too.

    by cosbo on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:14:05 AM PDT

    •  Compromise

      Yeah, the principle of compromise in negotiations -- as generally understood -- is a lose-lose principle. It invites extreme positions, inviting distrust, posturing, and misleading behavior. Sometimes quick compromise agreements leave better solutions ignored. Historical concessions tend to be ignored, which angers people who have been wrestling with the issues longer.

      That said, professional negotiators and academics in negotiation understand to emphasize underlying interests that other-wise opposing parties share. "Interests" are needs, hopes, fears, concerns, desires that inform the "positions" (what we say we want) that people often to stress to their detriment.  

      Obama exhibits a myriad of behaviors that suggest to me he has had formal academic training in negotiation. He knows how to achieve otherwise partisan goals by framing issues in bi-partisan terms. He builds golden bridges for independents to cross, bridges that not only help otherwise-opponents save face, but help them feel good, too.

      His bi-partisan emphasis does not mean compromise, as too many people assume.

      by Akonitum on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:48:11 AM PDT

      •  We already had that we Clinton...

        and look where we are. I myself think Obama is probably very good at cutting deals. But that's not what we need right now. We need someone who is strong enough to aim for the stars. We are THAT demolished as a democracy. And I just don't see it in Obama. I don't the fire of Edwards. I see intellectualism and hope, both of which are very good but not always effective. Sometimes a fight is completely necessary to shake up the lay of the land.

        Right now there is a narrative out there on the candidates.

        Clinton - she's connected and knows how to play the game

        Obama - likes being bi-partisan and working across the aisle

        Edwards - uncompromising, fighter.

        I really truly believe that we have epics fight with corporations that are stagnating coming and I trust John Edwards to be aggressively tough on them, more than any other democrat running.

        by cosbo on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 10:19:07 AM PDT

        •  No...

          We did not have that with Bill Clinton.

          The model of a merely "uncompromising fighter" that comes to my mind is Bush. The description you've chosen only partially fits.

          On issues like global warming, global peak oil production, environmental destruction, etc., we need someone who can re-shape a political landscape. That more likely will be Obama from my perspective, a coalition-builder; no less uncompromising; effective.

          by Akonitum on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 04:48:49 PM PDT

•  Brilliant ad!!! n/t

  by State Department on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:12:23 AM PDT

  •  Crowd shots => white women aged 35-64

    Six of them.  No one else.

    That's going to leave a mark...

    by Mogolori on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:44:12 AM PDT

•  Got me a bit teary eyed.

  Why do I support Barack Obama?  He gives voice to all the hopes and fears we have had built up inside for so, so long.

  Obama 2008!!!!!!

  by El Yoss on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:12:51 AM PDT

  •  Yeah, it's good to know that I'm not the only one

    who gets sappy every time he makes a speech.  I'm supposed to be a big strong man and all....

    by magi on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:14:42 AM PDT

    •  that caucus video - wow - I had tears streaming

      down my face when I watched it on Sunday.

      here it is again:

      by MadAsHellMaddie on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:56:48 AM PDT

  •  I thought no one could excite me like Gore '08

    My dream was the inauguration of President Gore in 2009 but Obama has me just as excited. I will do what I failed to do in 2000: work my ass off to make it happen.

    by Better Days on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:19:35 AM PDT

    •  I hear ya'. Kinda gets one fired up and ready to

      go

      by magi on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:23:13 AM PDT

•  Awesome ad

  But I have to admit I chuckled at the use of a Joe Klein quote.

  by Daaaaave on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:14:09 AM PDT

  •  I know...

    But Joe Klein gets something right every thousand or so tries...

    And this was the one in a thousand!

    by DemDog on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:15:35 AM PDT

  •  Which quote?

    Thanks...

    by DraftChickenHawks on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:13:11 AM PDT

•  This is mudd

  mudd I tell you!  He is maligning Hilary's character, this is completely untrue!

  Okay, kidding.  Good add.  

  by nisleib on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:14:47 AM PDT

  •  He did make her look bad that night

    But just because he spoke right after her and it was obvious who the better candidate is.  Obvious.  

    by Sun dog on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:41:11 AM PDT

•  what this ad does

  ...may or may not convince likely caucus-goers to switch from another candidate.  But what it is likely to do is inspire irregular/first-time caucus-goers to trudge out into the cold on the evening of January 3 to caucus for Obama.  

  I sense the campaign is happy with the state of the race twenty-eights days out.  The ad feels like a close-the-sale pitch...and a good one.

  by Nuisance Industry on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:15:30 AM PDT

  •  Good point

    It may not change minds, but it gets supporters inspired to show up and be counted!

    by DemDog on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:16:04 AM PDT

  •  I kinda had the opposite reaction

    I thought the ad, will strengthen his No. 2's.  So, that if the goer is already at the caucus and his/her candidate doesn't meet the threshold, this ad will re-assure him/her in their second choice of Obama.

    So, I guess it's an effective ad, since it effects people differently, but still positively.

    by CeeusBeeus on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:18:42 AM PDT

  •  great point

    While we hear a lot about Obama dominacne among the 17-29 demo , he hear very little about the fact that he's leading among independent voters in Iowa who would be able to causus for him.

    This ad is an ad that would expire someone who never voted before..Someoe who has to affiliation with neither party and if Obama can get a few thousands of those voters , he'll be in good shape.

    by BlueStateLiberal on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 10:09:59 AM PDT

•  From one speech

  in '04 comes the hype. From another speech in '07 comes a speech to the DNC, and a commercial. It's going to take more than a speech and holding hands with the rupugs.

  They'll work with as long as it's on their terms.

  by LaEscapee on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:18:39 AM PDT

  •  Ridiculous

    "...holding hands with the rupugs."

    Yes, this is exactly what Obama plans to do.

    Whatever.

    by sunbode2000 on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:24:02 AM PDT

  •  You miss the point.

    The false coalition of power that the Rethugs have built and are abusing under Bush is crumbling.

    The moderates who aren't foaming-at-the-mouth crazy or single-issue zealots are looking for a place to turn to with their support after the betrayal they have suffered in the last seven years.

    Those people will not only work with Obama, they will support him in the general election. His unifying of America doesn't begin after he's elected, it will begin to take place the day we are smart enough to nominate him.

    by QuestionableSanity on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:47:58 AM PDT

  •  Good thing Obama's DONE more...

    ...than speak and hold hands with the Republicans.

    He's achieved progressive change throughout his career - as a community organizer helping some of the poorest in America, as a constitutional scholar arguing and teaching law students about our rights, as a state Senator putting in place meaningful death-penalty reforms and improving health care, and as a US Senator pushing ethics reforms and disarmament.  He has workable plans for the foreign and domestic challenges we see for our country, and more importantly he's continually demonstrated the kind of judgment to deal properly with the challenges we don't see yet.

    If you look at Senator Obama's record and plans, and listen to his judgment and reason, you'll see that he's the best candidate for the office.  Won't you join us?

    by mistersite on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:49:47 AM PDT

  •  Did John Edwards come

    out this week saying he would put repugs in his cabinet?

    I thought I did hear that... how could that be?

    by Hawkjt on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:12:43 AM PDT

    •  He actually said

      the same sort of thing months ago. When he suggested a law called "Brownies Law", saying people have to be qualified, whether they be Dems. or Reps. Not a bad idea actually.

      Did Obama say he wants to sit around the campfire with repugs? I thought I heard that.

      by LaEscapee on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:44:30 AM PDT

•  Who believes in Obama?

  Rasmussen's SC poll officially released.

  Obama’s showing has improved significantly among black voters. He now attracts 51% of the African-American vote in South Carolina while Clinton picks up just 27%

  by Daaaaave on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:19:04 AM PDT

  •  I knew that would happen

    African Americans are our most important and loyal base. The Rethugs knew that it 2000. Obama is going to give the Rethugs nightmares next year. And this old white guy will riot if they try to steal it again.

    by Better Days on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:22:26 AM PDT

  •  Rich Miller predicted it 10 months ago

    When he told the national media that polls showing Clinton leading Obama among African-American voters were irrelevant several months out:

    n Illinois, at least, large numbers of black voters tend to take their time making up their minds. In political parlance, they ''break late.''

    Ten months before the March 2004 U.S. Senate primary (about where we are now before the Iowa caucuses), Obama's own polls showed him winning just 34 percent of the black vote. About a month before the primary, African-American voters began ''breaking'' in large numbers to his candidacy. As they began focusing on the campaign, black voters saw he was viable, liked his message and a significant percentage finally realized he was African American. He ended up winning just about all their votes.

    This same pattern has been repeated time and time again during the past 25 years here. Harold Washington didn't start off his campaign with the majority of black support against a white female with a huge war chest and the powers of patronage and incumbency, but he certainly ended that way.

    Like Byrne, Hillary Clinton is almost universally known and has a strong record of backing issues important to many Democratic African-American voters. Obama is far less known. It's perfectly natural that, right now, many black voters are siding with Clinton. But, if Obama's candidacy remains viable through early next year, I'd bet that the vast majority of African-American voters will end up with him.

    That was February 2007, just after Obama announced his presidential run.  Miller stands a good chance of collecting on that bet if anyone took him up on it.

    by Nuisance Industry on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:31:38 AM PDT

  •  I'm becoming a believer.

    I hadn't latched on to his campaign early, primarly because I didn't know if he could gain traction.  Wasn't sure if there would be enough meat to his policy positions.  Wasn't sure if his campaign was going to make early mistakes to take him out of it.  Wasn't sure if he could compete with Hillary.

    But now, he's looking to close the deal.  And I'm very close to jumping on board.

    by wmtriallawyer on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:37:14 AM PDT

    •  Me too

      I find myself visiting more and more Obama diaries and becoming more and more sympathetic with their arguments.  I think I'm getting close too.

      I'll keep you posted.  We could make a powerful impact on this campaign if we announced our endorsements together!  :)

      by TheC on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:40:35 AM PDT

      •  Ha!

        Sounds like a plan!

        by wmtriallawyer on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:41:54 AM PDT

        •  Jump in already!

          The water is fine.  

          Can you even picture what this candidate can do with the weight of the nomination and the full support of the core party that now opposes him?  This is the best shot we've had at a genuine movement candidate in our lifetimes.  

          by Sun dog on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:43:58 AM PDT

          •  Oh, I've pictured it for a long time.

            I've always argued that Obama had the potential to be the transformational candidate we are looking for.

            I just wanted to see some of that potential fulfilled.

            And I think I'm beginning to see it.

            Just don't want to be the kiss of death, either.  Every candidate I've supported in presidential primaries has lost. :P

            by wmtriallawyer on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:45:58 AM PDT

            •  Time to win one wmtriallawyer

              by Sun dog on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:47:47 AM PDT

      •  Hmmmm...

        We could make a powerful impact on this campaign if we announced our endorsements together!  :)

        Did we just find out the handles Al Gore and Ted Kennedy use on this site?

        by Nuisance Industry on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:49:54 AM PDT

      •  Please jump in already :-)

        See my reply above to your co-vacillator :-)

        I used to be thrilled with Dean for just one thing -- his outspokenness.

        With Obama, it is the entire package -- it is a pleasure to see a candidate like him, really...

        by DraftChickenHawks on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:24:26 AM PDT

        •  Reply below, actually!

          :-(

          by DraftChickenHawks on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:27:56 AM PDT

    •  Please do!

      Of all the candidates running, he has the best combination of intelligence, life history, experience getting things done, empathy, ideology, philosophy, charisma and impatience (with this dysfunctional landscape).

      Above all else, he has the excellent sense to see the historic and world-changing potential that he embodies -- I have always appreciated a robust sense of self.  Some can evince this without seeming self-aggrandizing, he has that...

      by DraftChickenHawks on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:21:35 AM PDT

•  Best Ad

  So far f or him. Thanks for the heads up!

  by Populista on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:23:12 AM PDT

•  As an undecided Iowa caucus voter

  it said very little to me, content or issue wise.  I'm not really too sure what it was aiming for, other than "feel good."

  I already feel good about Obama.  Just haven't made up my mind yet.

  I hope you understand I'm not trying to bash Obama, I just don't think it's that great a commercial.

  by prodigal on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:23:39 AM PDT

  •  The ad won't impact everyone....

    by sunbode2000 on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:24:52 AM PDT

  •  TV ads are never about policy substance.

    They're about themes and values.  

    by Geekesque on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:49:49 AM PDT

    •  You're right . . .

      and not being a regular TV viewer, I forget that about TV ads.  

      by prodigal on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:06:11 AM PDT

  •  check the video I posted up stream

    you might glean more out of it.

    by MadAsHellMaddie on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:08:29 AM PDT

•  Mumbo jumbo

  Contentless mumbo jumbo.  Like Clinton, Obama's campaign is about the candidate, not a philosophical model, or approach, to public policy.  In Clinton's case, it's her last name.  In Obama's case, it's his bio.  In Edwards' case, t's economic populism and breaking the corporate stranglehold on Washington.  Which is why I'm supporting Edwards, and why he would make the best nominee for the party.

  by Paleo on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:27:32 AM PDT

  •  I disagree

    I tend to think there are different types of voters.  There is the minority of voters like many on this site who care not about the candidate and their campaign, but care about their content and what it means with regards to what they will do once they have the job.  We want policy details.  
    We want to hear new and bold ideas.

    But I think the majority of voters respond to the candidate.  And the key is to deliver a simple message more than a series of policy statements.  I thought Dean had a great message in '03, which was simply "You Have the Power" (I can still see my one and a half year old going around our apartment saying "You Have the Power!), but it got redefined by his opponents and the media as "I'm angry and crazy!!"  I don't know what Hillary's message is other than pick me because I'm Hillary Clinton, goddamit!  Edwards has a strong populist message and I think we might finally be in an era where that will resonate with enough people to work.  But Obama has a simpler message that, though certainly not original, he delivers quite well.  I think this ad will be a winner with a lot of people.

    by TheC on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:38:15 AM PDT

    •  I can live with Obama or Edwards

      I think they both have similar potential to do great things if they get in the White House.

      I favor Obama because he personally seems better suited to the job and to where our country is right now as a nation, and also because he doesn't carry the downside risk that would be used against Edwards of being attached to a losing ticket in '04, along with all the trial lawyer muddying of the water the other side will try to exploit from people's biases.

      by QuestionableSanity on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:54:07 AM PDT

  •  I think you're selling Obama short.

    (And Hillary too, but she's not my candidate, so I'll let someone else make that case.)

    If you watch Obama in town-hall meetings, in interviews, in moments where you're seeing him think through something and really take the time to explain his reasoning, I think you'll see that his approach to public policy is incredibly deep.  He's a real systematic, intense thinker, and seems to take everything into account when making a decision.

    That's the source of his record of the things he's stood for, the viable and workable plans he has for the challenges we know this country faces, and most importantly of his judgment in dealing with the challenges we can't anticipate.

    by mistersite on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:29:58 AM PDT

  •  But this ad has nothing to do with his bio

    It returns to some of his best issues: restoring trust in government, honest politics, ethics reform.

    by psericks on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 10:20:58 AM PDT

•  This message matters.

  The "common destiny" frame is inherently optimistic and positive about the progressive agenda.  It equates justice and a more activist government with being a better American.

  Democrats tend to sell our agenda as a problem-solver, which gets us earnest policy types or firebrands and I think Americans only want to consume so many of those kinds of Democrats.

  Selling our agenda as almost a patriotic duty strikes me as the way to build a long-term progressive realignment.

  by Femlaw on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:27:34 AM PDT

•  Honet Opinion

  I have wavered between the different candidates (Hillary, Edwards, Obama).  Over the past couple of weeks, I have really started to become motivated by seeing and hearing Obama.  If I had to vote today, I would vote for Obama.

  The time is now.

  by egarratt on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:30:23 AM PDT

  •  Honest Opinion

    Such the keyboard nerd.

    by egarratt on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:31:02 AM PDT

•  Yeah baby

  Barack was on fire that night.  The bigger the stage, the bigger he brings it.  Get him the nomination, put the weight of the party behind him instead of against him as so much of it is now and watch this thing catch fire.    

  by Sun dog on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:39:09 AM PDT

  •  I have said that to my husb so many times!

    The bigger the stage, the bigger he brings it.

    He really comes alive and grows in humongous settings...fun to watch...

    by DraftChickenHawks on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:30:28 AM PDT

•  That's a dynamite ad

  I'm counting down the days to Iowa.

  by Skulnick on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:44:50 AM PDT

•  Where is this airing?

  by sacca28 on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:45:53 AM PDT

  •  Iowa, I believe. (n/t)

    by wmtriallawyer on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:47:14 AM PDT

  •  Iowa, and then if he wins there you can

    bet it'll be all over NH.

    by Geekesque on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:48:38 AM PDT

•  Well It's a Great Ad

  It's deal closing time. Only about two weeks left of actual convincing before the mind shifts to holiday mode.

  by sacca28 on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:48:35 AM PDT

•  Obama's entire camapign stategy

  is proving to be perfect, he had to pace himself during the long summer/fall months. That was about building the organization, now it's closing time!

  by nevadadem on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 08:50:49 AM PDT

  •  That shouldn't be a surprise

    He seems to be following the same trajectory he did in his Senate primary campaign...spend most of the race stuck in third place in the polls then leapfrog over competition in the last month or so.  The guy is a closer.

    by Quiet1ne on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:30:38 AM PDT

  •  Amazing process really.

    He first took the pulse of the country as he campaigned for other dems in '06 (he is said to have been the most in demand campaigner of that cycle) -- I don't think he did that explicitly, but as he saw the reception to him, the idea must have entered his head at least a few times.

    Then he introduced himself to the nation, just the facts ma'am kind of way.  I think he deliberately did not let the excitement and hoopla about his candidacy get out of hand for fear of peaking too early (and for more serious concerns?).  Then he ratchets up the drawing distinctions phase just in time.  All the while organization on the ground is steady and deadly methodical.

    Then at the JJ dinner, pack in the final punch and capitalize on the momentum that generated.  Perfect!  

    by DraftChickenHawks on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:36:34 AM PDT

•  Wow...just WOW!

  Now that's a closing argument.

  by Prince Georges for Obama on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:08:46 AM PDT

•  was that JOE KLEIN'S name on one of the blurbs??

  "...that's why telling the American people what we think they want to hear..."

  Joke Line's name goes up on the screen.

  That's not good.

  by arubyan on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:11:16 AM PDT

•  FYI: obama

  will be on the Ed Schultz radio show at 11:30 cst..today. in about 14 minutes..

  In case anyone wants to hear more from Obama.

  by Hawkjt on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:17:11 AM PDT

  •  How was he?

    by lapis on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:57:47 AM PDT

    •  He was his usual

      calm poised self... when ed asked him what he would do if with Iran now after the NIE if he was president.. obama; '' I would do what I have said all along... talk to them. After the groundwork has been done, engage them directly.''

      Ed asked about the muslim rumors and the HRC person..

      Obama, '' all campaigns can have volunteers that go astray...but I do think the pros should refrain from this silliness like the kindergarten comments. I refuse to engage in the silliness, and will remain focused on the issues that affect americans and iowans like healthcare,jobs,Iraq,and the environment.''

      Obama handled it well.. all softballs from Eddy..

      by Hawkjt on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 10:09:05 AM PDT

      •  thanks!

        Good answer about the volunteer and the "silliness." I can't imagine what the Clinton people were thinking with that kindergarten bit. Even Wolfson today acknowledged it was a mistake to include in the release. (Ya think?)

        by lapis on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 10:17:18 AM PDT

•  Proud to Call Barack Obama my Cousin!

  Distant cousin (8th cousin once removed).  But still!

  This is the moment people!  Let's change history for the better!

  by teenvote on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:27:46 AM PDT

•  Now, not 2009 when a GOP President is sworn in

  if Obama is the nominee.

  by framecop on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:28:01 AM PDT

  •  Because

    he's black, right? How typical...

    by Prince Georges for Obama on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 10:41:41 AM PDT

    •  Yes but not totally. Colin Powell could still win

      and he's black.

      Barack Obama's problem is a combination of being black and looking VERY YOUNG.

      I suppose you think the "inexperienced" characterization, even from Democratic voters, only comes from him being in the Senate for 3 years (next month)?

      When you see polls where 80-90% of voters say they would vote for a black candidate, and then they barely muster 45% on election day, what you don't see reflected in those polls is the subtle racism in the backs of people's minds that RATIONALIZE not voting for "THAT" black candidate.

      Q: Would you vote for a black candidate for President?

      A: Always 70-90% say yes, and then don't.

      Rationalization: "Not THAT black candidate."

      Would they vote for Colin Powell?  Yes.

      Will they vote for the "YOUTHFUL" Barack Obama who they think is "green (inexperienced)"?

      No way in a General Election.

      Two states (Illinois & Massachusetts)...Three black U.S. Senators by popular vote in the history of the country (Obama & Mosely-Braun, and Edward Brooke).

      Odds that enough states would vote to send Barack Obama to the HIGHEST OFFICE IN THE LAND...extremely low.

      by framecop on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 03:10:52 PM PDT

•  That last line is what got me

  The "red vs. blue" one...

  Yep, he's inspiring, all right.  I like him.

  by Diana in NoVa on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 09:34:00 AM PDT