Saturday, September 23, 2006
One trustworthy politician
Having found myself in Joliet on Friday, I had the opportunity to see Barack Obama speak in a small gymnasium at the University of St. Francis. I know that the "rock star" superlative is employed far too often when describing public reaction to Obama, but damned if it isn't true. Case in point: he received a standing ovation merely for entering the room. He hadn't spoken a single word and everyone was on their feet, clapping wildly and whistling. Once the applause dissipated, the Junior Senator from Illinois gave a brief opening speech and then opened up the floor to questions. He discussed health care and labor unions, government spending and Medicare. My favorite moments: when speaking of labor unions, he mentioned that some middle class people like to forget that many of the workplace luxuries they now enjoy (a forty-hour work week and the weekend, for instance) came as a result of organized labor; while discussing the new Medicare prescription drug plan, Obama used the phrase "I don't want to go off on a tangent"; and when someone tried to compare government corruption in Africa to that in Chicago, Obama made the guy look like a fool, albeit in a suave, somewhat friendly way, by basically saying that there's absolutely no similarity between the two.
In summary, yes, Obama is extremely polished. He is media-savvy, and, to drudge up an unfortunate word from 2004, he oozes Electability. The good news is that his substance outweighs his style. The guy is intelligent, articulate, and simply likeable. More than one person I talked to compared him to either Bobby or John Kennedy. He is that seemingly too-good-to-be-true populist that progressives have been waiting for. I only hope that he has the chance to meet all of the expectations that have been placed upon him.
My guess is that he will not run for President in 2008. He's got too much to take care of in Congress before he can do that.
This week's question: In 2015, when Obama and Bono go head to head for World Chancellor, will we refer to the latter as 'Bono' or 'Paul Hewson'?
I now have a job. I will refrain from writing about it until I know that it doesn't suck and/or involve selling killer robot insurance to frightened old people.
Finally, I saw Alpana Singh, host of Check, Please at the Borders on State Street. She is stylish and short.
In summary, yes, Obama is extremely polished. He is media-savvy, and, to drudge up an unfortunate word from 2004, he oozes Electability. The good news is that his substance outweighs his style. The guy is intelligent, articulate, and simply likeable. More than one person I talked to compared him to either Bobby or John Kennedy. He is that seemingly too-good-to-be-true populist that progressives have been waiting for. I only hope that he has the chance to meet all of the expectations that have been placed upon him.
My guess is that he will not run for President in 2008. He's got too much to take care of in Congress before he can do that.
This week's question: In 2015, when Obama and Bono go head to head for World Chancellor, will we refer to the latter as 'Bono' or 'Paul Hewson'?
I now have a job. I will refrain from writing about it until I know that it doesn't suck and/or involve selling killer robot insurance to frightened old people.
Finally, I saw Alpana Singh, host of Check, Please at the Borders on State Street. She is stylish and short.
# posted by workplex @ 17:27 
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