Obama to announce candidacy in Springfield
Sen. Barack Obama will formally declare his presidential candidacy in Springfield on February 10th.
From the D/A:
Also, one of Sen. Obama's main themes is unity across party lines, and the fact that President Lincoln was a Republican and he's a Democrat subtly points at that, Mr. Saboto said.
Gene Callahan, a Milford native, who was an aide to former U.S. Sens. Paul Simon and Alan Dixon, said Sen. Obama has been very loyal to Springfield since his days in the Illinois Legislature.
"I'm very proud of Obama's candidacy, and I think this feeling is shared on both sides of the aisle here in Illinois," he said.
Springfield is a good move because the Democrats' challenge is to do well in smaller cities and rural areas, and he needs to show he's not just a city candidate, said John C. Fortier, a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute.
According to Terry Michael, a former press secretary for the Democratic National Committee, a common strategy is for candidates to announce from their hometown, especially if it's a small community.
Bill Clinton chose Little Rock, Ark., to make his announcement, but as a man of the legislature, Sen. Obama reflects many different homes and settings, he said. Springfield represents his current roots and is a way of splitting the difference.
posted by The Inside Dope @ 1/29/2007
21 comments
21 Comments:
According to Terry Michael, a former press secretary for the Democratic National Committee, a common strategy is for candidates to announce from their hometown, especially if it's a small community.
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But Obama isn't from Springfield.
Boy, nothing gets by you, does it.
I think they meant "as a rule" candidates announce from their hometown especially if it's a small town, and Obama was trying to get a bit of that cache, seeing as he served in Springfield for seven years as a state senator. In a respect, he's trying to mark Springfield as his "roots", and no doubt trying to draw a link to ... well.. Lincoln.
The Lincoln compare/contrast is brilliant on Obama's behalf. They have so much in common it's eerie - both are/were new to the national legislature.. both served in the Illinois legislature.. both have lost an earlier election badly.. both well-spoken lawyers who moved to Illinois from somewhere else.. And neither can win one damn state in the south but can win the whole election. :)
Dubya has been trying out the "comparing myself to Lincoln" business the last year or so. It will be interesting to see if he drops that shtick or if we get into a pissing match to see who is more like Lincoln..
I truly believe Obama has the potential to be a great president like Lincoln and I am very, very happy (and relieved) that he is running.
Obama '08
Hey, the guy is from Illinois, represents Illinois, why not announce in the seat of state government - Springfield. Great move on Obama's part.
It's too bad our illustrious governor doesn't recognize Springfield as the seat of state government and where he should be governing from.
Announcing in one's hometown is a no-brainer. Why is that newsworthy?? Oh I forgot...everything Obama says or does is newsworthy. Everything Obama does, every sentence he utters, every time he breaks wind...it is innovative and brilliant and must be widely reported. Forget that I asked.
By the way, is this the same Obama who told Tim Russert that he would serve out his entire 6-year term as US Senator? I guess he can't be taken at his word. He's no Lincoln.
Nico,
I'm not sure if you voted for Bush (but I suspect you did, at least once), but a "lie" like that from someone trumps the literally thousands of lies from Bush, which by the way, has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths with more to come.
Just in his State of the Union address alone, he lied through his teeth several times, including the fact that of his 5 instances where he'd supposedly thwarted terrorist attacks, none of them were true. One resulted in one guy being charged with possession of materials to make explosives in England, and the others amounted to overhearing someone saying they had an idea.
Bush lies nearly every time he opens his mouth. With that in mind, I think Obama saying at one point he intended to serve out his term in the senate is light years of progress compared to the fraud we have now.
I think that Obama comparing himself to Abe Lincoln is very disrespectful and arrogant.
Anon 11:10.
It might be.... if he had. But I don't think he has, other than simply the fact that they both served in Springfield and D.C.
Of course, he's hoping the connection is implied, but I'm certain that he's never compared himself literally to Lincoln.
I'm afraid you're making it up.
And secondly, even if he had, how is it disrespectful? Because he has African blood?
Not only did Barack compare himself to Lincoln, he did it in writting. The following exerpt comes from the June 26, 2005, Time Magaizine story entitled, "What Is See in Lincoln's Eyes," penned by none other than Barack Obama.
"In Lincoln's rise from poverty, his ultimate mastery of language and law, his capacity to overcome personal loss and remain determined in the face of repeated defeat -- in all this HE REMINDS ME NOT JUST OF MOY OWN STRUGGLES. He also reminds me of a larger, fundemental element of American life -- the enduring belief that we can constantly remake oursleves to fit our larger dreams."
For good measure read the rash of criticism that ensued by googling: Barack compares himself to Linclon.
If you are going to run a politcal blog, at the very least you should know what you are talking about. This episode makes me yearn for a better, brighter, more informed blog master.
You making up facts to suit your own purposes has grown rather thin!
Dope, this is where I suggest your ignorance or lack of effort to do any research of any kind is evident. I stand by my assertion that Obama comparing himself to Abe Lincoln is very disrespectful and arrogant.
As stated about Obama's comments by Peggy Noonan.
The Abe Lincoln vs. Barack Obama Smackdown
An excerpt from Peggy Noonan:
This week comes the previously careful Sen. Barack Obama, flapping his wings in Time magazine 2005 and explaining that he's a lot like Abraham Lincoln, only sort of better. "In Lincoln's rise from poverty, his ultimate mastery of language and law, his capacity to overcome personal loss and remain determined in the face of repeated defeat--in all this he reminded me not just of my own struggles."
Oh. So that's what Lincoln's for. Actually Lincoln's life is a lot like Mr. Obama's. Lincoln came from a lean-to in the backwoods. His mother died when he was 9. The Lincolns had no money, no standing. Lincoln educated himself, reading law on his own, working as a field hand, a store clerk and a raft hand on the Mississippi. He also split some rails. He entered politics, knew more defeat than victory, and went on to lead the nation through its greatest trauma, the Civil War, and past its greatest sin, slavery.
Barack Obama, the son of two University of Hawaii students, went to Columbia and Harvard Law after attending a private academy that taught the children of the Hawaiian royal family. He made his name in politics as an aggressive Chicago vote hustler in Bill Clinton's first campaign for the presidency.
An appology is in order. Your desire to play the race card shows your mental capabilities.
Have a nice day.
To the bozo who wrote the two comments above.
I do know what I'm talking about. You, on the other hand, have such a deep-seated and bizarre yearning to find fault with any Democrat or liberal that you play tricks in your own mind to find it.
You're also lead by the nose by whack jobs like Noonan, who firmly believed that dolphins guided Elian Gonzalez to safety, among other similarly goofy notions.
You take the huge leap in your mind of thinking Obama writing, "... in all this he reminds me not just of my own struggles. He also reminds me of a larger, fundemental element of American life -- the enduring belief that we can constantly remake oursleves to fit our larger dreams." as Obama essentially saying he's just as great as Lincoln.
One word: Bullshit!
You have to be pretty dim to imagine that. If you'd settle down and start thinking, and thinking for yourself more importantly, you'd realize like the rest of us that Obama did nothing like you and the rest of the right wing loons imagine.
He drew a comparison between some elements of Lincoln's life and his own. Is that somehow offensive or taboo?
I believe some have even written the nauseating suggestion that BUSH is somehow like Lincoln. Now that is truly hard to explain. I can't think of one thing Bush has in common with Lincoln other than they both got to the White House and they occupy opposite ends of the best/worst president scale.
Obama feels that Lincoln and he share a few things in common. No doubt there are many people who share those same things with Lincoln as well.
You provide the quote in context. For that I'm grateful, as it shows clearly that Obama simply drew a few comparisons between his life and Lincoln's to make a larger point, that, "the enduring belief that we can constantly remake oursleves to fit our larger dreams." is a fundamental American trait.
And you and the others get all frothed up and start rubbing their thighs, and write in your two wrongly triumphal comments as if you really have me now.
But the facts are what they are. The passage shows it. Obama wasn't as poor as Lincoln. Few people are these days. He likely didn't overcome as difficult hardships as Lincoln either.
You cite the top-flite universities which Obama attended and excelled at as if these were given to him. Wrong again. He had to earn the right to attend these schools and excelled even among that elite student body.
Yet you have a coniption fit, even getting so high on your horse as to "demand" an appologie.
Why? Apparently because Obama wrote something as a premise to making a point that some elements of his life parallel's Lincolns, and a couple of these things weren't exactly, precisely, pristinely parallel to Lincoln's life.
Get a life. Please.
No one owes anyone an appologie, other than you to yourself for being so easily jerked into making a mountain out of a molehill.
As always, the right wing is apparently continuing it's domination as the perpetually "outraged" and offended party to whom nothing is too small, too niggling, and too obscure to try to act like it's a huge offense to humanity itself.
What a crock.
Barack isn't the only Illinois politico to "compare himself to Lincoln." The following qoute from the August 11, 2006 Pantagraph News story came from statehouse reporter Kurt Erickson of Lee News, "Later, however, Gov. Rod Blagojevich compared himself to Lincoln during the Civil War, saying there have been "ups and downs" as he's attempted to reverse 26 years of Republican dominance in the governor's office.
At the time the governor was discussing "serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" within the administration.
"Not every military initiative from the Union army was successful. It took a while to get that together and get it right. But the whole purpose of what they were trying to do was absolutely right, keeping the country together and then emancipating the slaves and providing freedome for millions and millions of people," Balgojevich said.
Dope, shouldn't you have know about these two polecats (Obama/Blago)comparing themselves to Lincoln and his plight?
The time has come for a new blog master!
Now I'm supposed to be aware of every newspaper article ever written anywhere?
Get real and get bent.
Frankly, I don't give a damn about anyone else comparing themselves to Lincoln. Why should I? (or you for that matter, but thanks for the tip.)
Congratulations on being able to use google though. Very impressive.
Wanna be my researcher? The hours suck, but at least it doesn't pay anything.
This Sen. Obama is as arrogant as Sen. Mike Jacobs refering to himself as being like Lincoln is very disrespectful. Obama will lose the primary election because of this. When Clinton releases this info to the country they will have the same reaction which almost cost Jacobs the election. This is a disrespectful and arrogant way to do business.
I have noticed that you are protecting the arrogant Obama for comparing himself to Lincoln. Sen. Obama and Jacobs are both guilty of these arrogant charges. It almost cost Jacobs and will keep Obama from the Presidency after Clinton and the gang get through with him. You cannot be so arrogant and disrespectful if you want to be the President of the USA.
Quit protecting Obama and Jacobs these men do not deserve a pass on their behavior.
To the anonymous freak who desperately wants someone to agree that it was shameful for Obama to "compare" himself to Lincoln.
Earlier in a comment I allowed that perhaps Obama compared himself to Lincoln in a few narrow respects and that perhaps it wasn't a perfect comparison, though the things he mentioned are hardly worth getting freaked out about as you have.
But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I was wrong.
Obama didn't even do that much. He didn't compare himself directly to Lincoln at all.
He said, as you quoted, "In Lincoln's rise from poverty, his ultimate mastery of language and law, his capacity to overcome personal loss and remain determined in the face of repeated defeat -- in all this HE REMINDS ME NOT JUST OF MOY OWN STRUGGLES. He also reminds me of a larger, fundemental element of American life -- the enduring belief that we can constantly remake oursleves to fit our larger dreams."
Obama said that Lincoln's life story reminded him of his own struggles.
Does that mean he's saying he's just like Lincoln?
HELL NO.
I could say that the guy setting the world land speed record at the Bonneville salt flats reminds me of the time I had to get to Chicago in an hour and 15 minutes.
Does that mean that I think I'm just like the guy who went 600 mph sitting in front of a damn rocket motor across a dry lake bed?
I don't think so.
Obama didn't compare himself to Lincoln directly. He only referenced the struggles in Lincoln's life as something which they both shared in common. So what?
You're just frothing at the mouth trying to grasp and grope for something... ANYthing you can cling to in order to take a shot at Obama.
I think you're right to be frustrated and feel stupid for the fact that your attempt to stir up some outrage here rightly failed utterly.
So you and Peggy Noonan and the rest of the loons can rail at how horribly arrogant Obama is, and the rest of us will calmly go on knowing that's a bunch of nonsense.
Go back to the drawing board. Trying to pin the arrogance tail on Obama just ain't going to fly.
How is Obama shamfully comparing himself to Lincoln any different than Jacobs comparing himself to Parks? They are both the same things.
Obama compared himself to Lincoln in the same way that Lacobs compared himself to Parks. Jacobs never directly compared himself to Parks. What is the difference? Obama is arrogant and disrespectful to Lincoln. You can not have it both ways. "Rosa Parks was the mother of the civil rights movement, and she was one of the most important citizens of the 20th Century. Parks, a seamstress from Montgomery , Ala., refused to give up her seat to a person of power. Like Rosa, my community refuses to ride in the back of the bus." -- "Like a determined Rosa Parks, I, and the members that surround me today, refuse to ride in the back of the bus. We will stand up and we will fight."I'm standing up today telling the Illinois speaker that, yeah, you run the Illinois House, but you know what, you don't run the Illinois Senate. And, you know, I take great pride in someone like Rosa Parks who had courage to stand up for her convictions. Even if she felt she was wrong or right."
Not even close.
First of all, Obama didn't say he was "like" Abraham Lincoln while the blood was still wet on the chair in Ford's theatre, secondly, Obama called the memory of Lincoln in a much more artful and tactful way, and thirdly, Obama wasn't comparing himself to Lincoln in his efforts to defend gambling interests in the state, rather, he was invoking Lincoln to state his beliefs in the spirit of America that is the nation's strength.
Need I go on?
It's this amazing inability to make distinctions like this that constantly amazes me. I'm sure you're well aware of the difference, but you simply choose to ignore it or simply not give it much thought.
At least I hope that's the reason.
Your bias tword Jacobs burns bright. Jacobs was protecting my rights as a resident of Rock Isalnd. He was protecting my tax base fromn the Chicago Madigan strongarm. He did not compare himsefl to parks if you could read he did the same thing as Obama and in a artful and tactful way. Parks was not shot down and was being remembered for her courage and honored for her strenght to stand up to the man. Parks did not hide behind anonimity. She did not wear a mask, she stood up to the man with everyone watching. You my friend are not even in the ball park. I feel that this is and always has been a jelousy issue with your new found hero and a Jacobs old friend.
Nothing like jumping on a bandwagon and pretending you know something. You do not. Watch for your hero and your hate filled enemy on the same stage Saturday. I will be looking to see if you are on the stage. I suppose hat you will not.
What a moron.
Parks had just died and was barely buried when Jacobs made his infamous remarks.
And you can allege jealousy as long as you want, but you'll still be dead wrong.
And why in the hell would I be on stage with Obama? Why would I want to be?
Get it through our thick skull, I'm not a politician, nor do I ever want to be. Is that simply impossible for you to imagine?
Give it a try.
If you or Jacobs feels some sort of power boner by standing on stage with Obama, then good for you. Whatever tickles your pickle.
I could care less. Sorry.
And where did I say Parks was shot down? You're really grasping at straws or are stupid... or likely both.
And exactly what "bandwagon" am I supposed to be jumping on? Is there some anti-Jacobs bandwagon now?
I wasn't aware of that.
Get real, and try not to make stuff up.
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