Excellent profile on Barack Obama in today's Chicago Tribune

[wndycty]

Of course the Obama haters will use this article as another platform to attack him, however I think this is a great piece and it shows the pragmatic approach he is taking.

New man on the Hill

By Jeff Zeleny
Washington Bureau

March 20, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama was determined to get to the White House, if someone could just show him the way.
-snip-

"Over the next six years, there will be occasions where people will be surprised by my positions," Obama said in an interview on a winter afternoon as he rode through central Illinois. "I won't be as easy to categorize as many people expect."

That's not to say he anticipated or had much experience with criticism. When he supported Condoleezza Rice's nomination for secretary of state, his office telephones, still without voice mail, rang and rang.

For the first time, Obama's motives were questioned on Democratic Web sites and in letters to the editor: How could such a critic of the Iraq invasion who had taken time to call family members of fallen servicemen and women side with one of the administration's leading architects of the war?

If not Rice, Obama replied, who would Bush nominate? The president must be given some latitude to make his appointment.

For someone with as liberal a record and reputation as Obama, it's hardly detrimental to be occasionally at odds with by-the-book Democrats. But when he supported one of Bush's top priorities, reducing big lawsuit payoffs, criticism intensified.

On the Senate floor, several Democrats circled Obama as time ticked away for votes to be cast on legislation designed to limit class-action lawsuits. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the man who elevated Obama's profile by tapping him as the convention's marquee speaker, engaged the new senator in an animated conversation.

A few minutes later, when asked what the two senators had been talking about, Obama replied with a smile: "He was curious about my vote and trying to make a persuasive argument against it."

As Kerry left the chamber, he said: "I wasn't trying to change his mind. I promise you!"
-snip-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0503200529mar20,1,2735097.story?coll=chi-news-hed

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. I understand his Pro-Rice vote.

She's not the worse of them. His "Tort Reform" vote was very discouraging however. On the up side, he did oppose Gonzales and the Bankruptcy "Reform" bill.

[Pithy Cherub]

2. Obama is creating his own legacy which

will provide some hard to fathom votes. His true aim is to be seen as fair and not easily led by his peers. That said, I don't like the votes on class-action, Gonzales or the January 6th aye vote. But I do understand.

Senator Obama is doing something interesting though: He is becoming a person who needs to be lobbied and not taken for granted. Overall, he is building up a base of influence in much the same way a very prominent junior Senator from New York did (plus prestigious Committee assignments). Senator Barack Obama didn't just fall off the turnip truck. Very Smart!

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. if he wants to be president

he should have run for Governor. If he wants to be a senator, just be a party-line liberal senator because he'll have that seat for as long as he wants it.

He's acting like a fool taking a pragmatic approach. Senators don't become president and if that's what he wants, he's going about it the wrong way.

[wndycty]

4. You are assuming a lot. . .

. . .maybe he may run for Governor someday before running for president. He is only 43. You bash his pragmatism but do you realize that outside of Chicago, Illinois is a red state? He is doing what he needs to do to be effective in the senate and to get re-elected. A US Senator has a more diverse constituency than a US Rep and has to keep that in mind.

[EST]

6. Uh, can you give me a source on that?

I'm downstate and it seems pretty blue around here.

[wndycty]

8. HERe is a PDF from the Tribune. . .its not pretty

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/elections/chi-041105map-graphic,1,6871186.graphic?coll=chi-elections-utl

[EST]

18. Thanks, so much.

n/t


On edit: the link led me to a national chart but I could not get any Illinois demographics out of it. Can't figure out what I might be doing wrong.

[mantis49]

19. I'm in the western part of the state,

and believe me, it's red here! (Lane Evans notwithstanding.)

[wndycty]

5. Kick

:kick:

[cestpaspossible]

7. According to this article, his voting record shows

"a glimmer of independence ".


It doesn't say from whom. The voters who elected him?

[wyldwolf]

9. No Obama bash here....

For someone with as liberal a record and reputation as Obama, it's hardly detrimental to be occasionally at odds with by-the-book Democrats.

I think the point is being missed here. "By the book Democrats" have always been pragmatic and thoughtful on issue by issue. It's the rightwing who typically marches to the party boss's drum.

[Walt Starr]

10. At this point, I no longer support Obama

:shrug:

I have a long memory, too.

[wndycty]

11. Well. . .

. . .I never expected you to support him. You were always looking for a reason not to like him, I remember when you turned on him before he did anything wrong and then went back to supporting him. I'm not at all surprised by your position.

[Walt Starr]

12. I turned on him when a statement he made was taken out of context

Once I saw the entire statement, I altered my view.

I donated to his campaign and worked for him.

The Condaleeza vote was the kicker, though. I'm sorry if you don't like it being said, but he fucked up royally on that one.

[wndycty]

13. Yeah he alone could have prevented her confirmation. . .

. . .Obama is going to do a hell of job, however he will never live up to the expectations of some who expect him to be partisan at every turn. He was my state senator for 7 years and I know what he is about, but I know there are a lot of DUers who will never accept the pragmatic approach he will take to be an effective senator.

[Walt Starr]

14. He alone could have made a strong statement

He could get me back in his camp, but after his first few votes it's an uphill battle with me. I'll give him one thing, he hasn't appeared in my DU Democratic Senators Hall of Shame lately.

[Elidor]

15. So why did he vote in favor of "tort reform?"

[JI7]

16. kick

[Wilms]

17. kick n/t

[JI7]

20. kick