It's funny, right after I read this
article on Barack Obama, I clicked over to DailyKos to write a diary on whether or not Obama is looking to run for anything and low and behold, there was Markos' final straw poll for the year. Hmmm, coincidence? I think NOT.
Anyway, I've been noticing that since Obama became Senator, he's been hooked up with some pretty influential people and appeared at a lot of major events, starting with his helping Byrd's fundraising efforts to visiting with Katrina survivors with party heavy-hitters Bill and Hillary.
The article I linked to details the many other people who have sought out Obama themselves, including Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Ethel Kennedy and Markos Moulitsas <----(The last one is a TOTAL lie, but our man Markos IS quoted in the article regarding 100 percent positive response to Obama's diary here a while back.)
Here are some of the more interesting quotes. The first one from Warren Buffett, aka Mr. Supreme Gut Feelings, who invited Obama to hang out and introduced him to a couple of nobodies:
I've got a conviction about him that I don't get very often," Warren Buffett explained later in an interview. "He has as much potential as anyone I've seen to have an important impact over his lifetime on the course that America takes.
Buffett, who at 75 still runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc., was captivated by Obama's speech last year at the Democratic convention. After the election, Buffett wanted to meet Obama, so he and his daughter, Susie, invited him to Omaha for lunch.
Occasionally, Buffett tears out a newspaper article and sends it to Obama, accompanied by a note or comment. But he doesn't flood the senator with thoughts, saying: "I am not one of these guys that thinks that every thought in the morning I have I must convey to the U.S. Senate."
Still, their friendship has provided Obama entree into at least a slice of Buffett's vast and influential circle, including a dinner this year with Bill Gates, a close Buffett friend.
And among those in the Omaha living room was Donald Graham, chairman of The Washington Post Co. Graham and his wife were visiting Buffett (a major shareholder of The Washington Post Co.), and they seized the opportunity to hear one of Washington's newest politicians speak--1,150 miles west of the capital.
His PAC is called Hopefund, btw...hmmm where'd he get the idea for that?:
By year's end, Obama will have collected about $1.2 million as he builds a coast-to-coast army of backers. At a seafood lunch in Beverly Hills, Calif., a dinner in Austin, Texas, or through events in more than a dozen other cities, Obama is creating a network unlike any other freshman senator since Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Oprah adores him and refers to him as "American's favorite son":
If Buffett sits atop the class of his financial investors, Oprah Winfrey leads the class of emotional investors. When Obama appeared on her talk show earlier this year, she delivered a tacit endorsement, telling millions of her viewers: "He's really more than a politician. He is the real deal."
"He is the man of the moment and a man for our time," she said. As the audience of women erupted in applause, she added: "He is fast becoming America's favorite son."
And RFK comparisons from Ethel herself!:
There were no such concerns one morning last week when Ethel Kennedy invited Obama to deliver the keynote address at a ceremony commemorating the 80th birthday of Robert F. Kennedy. She said she had carefully followed the career of the Illinois senator, whom she referred to as "our next president."
"I think he feels it. He feels it just like Bobby did," Kennedy said, comparing her late husband's quest for social justice to Obama's. "He has the passion in his heart. He's not selling you. It's just him."
Ruh-Ro, here's the part about those feisty Kossaks--it wasn't me!!
The chatter isn't always as kind, though, for other senators. So when some liberal enthusiasts were harshly criticizing other Democrats, Obama posted an essay of his own on the popular political Web log Daily Kos, challenging the activists to tone down their rhetoric and not "exaggerate or demonize."
"It generated a lot of attention," said Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the site. "It was because he actually challenged the community to act differently."
See--even the writer thinks Obama has "higher aspirations":
A freshman senator without higher aspirations isn't likely to be stepping out of a black sport-utility vehicle on the Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles. He walked inside to meet prospective supporters, after finishing a fundraising lunch at Crustacean restaurant, only steps off Rodeo Drive in nearby Beverly Hills.
He's even a big draw in Nebraska!
After inviting [Obama], Susie Buffett said she searched for smaller venues, not sure how big a draw an out-of-state senator would be in [Omaha] where Republicans strongly outnumber Democrats. She hoped to draw 700 people, but when word spread that Obama was the speaker, 1,500 tickets sold out within days, and a waiting list began.
"People all across the country are starting to know who he is and paying attention to him," Susie Buffett said. "It's all about him."
Suffice to say, I would be beyond thrilled if Obama ran. Yes, I am one of those 100 percent, kool-aid drinking fans. In fact, the idea of him running, much less occupying the White House is sort of like one of those dreams you don't dare to dream becasue given everything that's happened in your life, it just seems like nothing that good could ever happen to you.