Barack Obama wins Wisconsin; Wis. exit poll: Obama with broad backing

[pacific breeze]

What is he bringing people together to do, specifically? Just to vote for him? Bill Clinton came from a single parent, poor background, too. Much poorer than Obama's. I still don't think a candidate should be judged on anything other than their policies and track record, if they have one. I don't care if someone is rich or poor if they have a sound plan/policies and can do the job. All the rest is window dressing.

[crackho]

Originally Posted by pacific breeze

What is he bringing people together to do, specifically? Just to vote for him? Bill Clinton came from a single parent, poor background, too. Much poorer than Obama's. I still don't think a candidate should be judged on anything other than their policies and track record, if they have one. I don't care if someone is rich or poor if they have a sound plan/policies and can do the job. All the rest is window dressing.

Well, yeah, voting for him is step one, I guess. The rest of the details can be ironed out after he takes office.

[witchcurlgirl]

^^Don't bother me with details

[Cali]

Originally Posted by pacific breeze

What is he bringing people together to do, specifically? Just to vote for him? Bill Clinton came from a single parent, poor background, too. Much poorer than Obama's. I still don't think a candidate should be judged on anything other than their policies and track record, if they have one. I don't care if someone is rich or poor if they have a sound plan/policies and can do the job. All the rest is window dressing.

He's bringing people together: those who dont usually vote, those who were disenchanted, Republicans who feel betrayed by their party, Independents who haven't had a unifying figure to rally around, black, brown and white. He's bringing a new generation into the political process: both Clinton and McCain are Baby Boomers and Obama is not.

Andrew Sullivan, a conservative Christian writer for Time and The Atlantic wrote an article where he all but endorsed Obama, and the following is a passage from it, that relates to the 'what is he bringing people together to do' question:

""What does he offer? First and foremost: his face. Think of it as the most effective potential re-branding of the United States since Reagan. Such a re-branding is not trivial—it’s central to an effective war strategy. The war on Islamist terror, after all, is two-pronged: a function of both hard power and soft power. We have seen the potential of hard power in removing the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. We have also seen its inherent weaknesses in Iraq, and its profound limitations in winning a long war against radical Islam. The next president has to create a sophisticated and supple blend of soft and hard power to isolate the enemy, to fight where necessary, but also to create an ideological template that works to the West’s advantage over the long haul. There is simply no other candidate with the potential of Obama to do this. Which is where his face comes in.

Consider this hypothetical. It’s November 2008. A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this man—Barack Hussein Obama—is the new face of America. In one simple image, America’s soft power has been ratcheted up not a notch, but a logarithm. A brown-skinned man whose father was an African, who grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, who attended a majority-Muslim school as a boy, is now the alleged enemy. If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the demonization of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obama’s face gets close. It proves them wrong about what America is in ways no words can.

The other obvious advantage that Obama has in facing the world and our enemies is his record on the Iraq War. He is the only major candidate to have clearly opposed it from the start. Whoever is in office in January 2009 will be tasked with redeploying forces in and out of Iraq, negotiating with neighboring states, engaging America’s estranged allies, tamping down regional violence. Obama’s interlocutors in Iraq and the Middle East would know that he never had suspicious motives toward Iraq, has no interest in occupying it indefinitely, and foresaw more clearly than most Americans the baleful consequences of long-term occupation.

This latter point is the most salient. The act of picking the next president will be in some ways a statement of America’s view of Iraq. Clinton is running as a centrist Democrat—voting for war, accepting the need for an occupation at least through her first term, while attempting to do triage as practically as possible. Obama is running as the clearer antiwar candidate. "
Goodbye to All That: Why Obama Matters

[kingcap72]

^^Great article. And Sullivan is definitely endorsing Obama. He was on Real Time With Bill Maher last week and declared his support for Obama, and mentioned some of those reasons in that article.

[Cali]

Originally Posted by kingcap72

^^Great article. And Sullivan is definitely endorsing Obama. He was on Real Time With Bill Maher last week and declared his support for Obama, and mentioned some of those reasons in that article.

Wasn't it? I read that article on a plane and I was having trouble restraining my outbursts. I agreed with it so much. It was an AMAZING article. And I greatly respect Andrew Sullivan, I've been reading his articles in Time for the past few years and agreeing with everything but his Republican stances. So to see that he has endorsed Obama, to me, is a very important endorsement. Way better than Oprah.

I'm watching MSNBC and they've said a few more exciting things:
- 60 out of the 72 counties in WI will likely go for Obama!
- Obama beat Clinton by a larger margin than McCain beat Huckabee, and Huckabee is supposed to be a joke candidate in the Republican party.

[kingcap72]

Originally Posted by Calimoonchild

Wasn't it? I read that article on a plane and I was having trouble restraining my outbursts. I agreed with it so much. It was an AMAZING article. And I greatly respect Andrew Sullivan, I've been reading his articles in Time for the past few years and agreeing with everything but his Republican stances. So to see that he has endorsed Obama, to me, is a very important endorsement. Way better than Oprah.

I'm watching MSNBC and they've said a few more exciting things:
- 60 out of the 72 counties in WI will likely go for Obama!
- Obama beat Clinton by a larger margin than McCain beat Huckabee, and Huckabee is supposed to be a joke candidate in the Republican party.

Over the years, Sullivan has gotten on my nerves with a few of the things he's said. But once he stopped backing George Bush, I started to respect him a lot more.

And it's amazing how McCain can barely hold off Huckabee, but he thinks he's going to be a match for Obama.

[*DIVA!]

Originally Posted by kingcap72

Over the years, Sullivan has gotten on my nerves with a few of the things he's said. But once he stopped backing George Bush, I started to respect him a lot more.

And it's amazing how McCain can barely hold off Huckabee, but he thinks he's going to be a match for Obama.

For a while there Andrew Sullivan use to get on my nerves also, but once he became enlightened about Bush..I opened my mind to his conservative views. McCain really is pushing the fear, and experience speaking points...Yeah scare me into voting for you, then think I am stupid enough to follow you following in Bush's foot steps!! 100 years in Iraq, you lost already on that alone!!

[kingcap72]

Originally Posted by SSDiva

For a while there Andrew Sullivan use to get on my nerves also, but once he became enlightened about Bush..I opened my mind to his conservative views. McCain really is pushing the fear, and experience speaking points...Yeah scare me into voting for you, then think I am stupid enough to follow you following in Bush's foot steps!! 100 years in Iraq, you lost already on that alone!!

McCain probably thinks that since he's old enough to remember when Iraq was still known as Mesopotamia he's an expert on the region.

[Cali]

Man people, I came across this video of one of my fellow volunteers who was holding space in front of the Kodak Theater at the last debate. He was interviewed and he was very informed and insightful despite being put on the spot by the interviewer. And from that, it led to the second video. Take a moment to watch them. This young man has very compelling reasons for supporting Obama and his second video is incredible.

YouTube Video

Follow up on his on-the-spot interview:

YouTube Video

[*DIVA!]

He is truly remarkable. His background, his determination is amazing. The fact that he held his ground, new why technically yet emotionally shows that this isn't about fluff speeches.

I am always appalled when someone calls a black person who speaks well intellectual or intelligent, it's like they were surprised. I am sorry, but you never hear things like that when someone of another race speaks.

[Cali]

Originally Posted by SSDiva

He is truly remarkable. His background, his determination is amazing. The fact that he held his ground, new why technically yet emotionally shows that this isn't about fluff speeches.

I am always appalled when someone calls a black person who speaks well intellectual or intelligent, it's like they were surprised. I am sorry, but you never hear things like that when someone of another race speaks.

I didn't mean it that way at all, I promise. I was impressed with how well he expressed himself despite being put on the spot. I know my facts, but if it were me, I wouldn't have come across even a tenth as well as he did. I have to gather my thoughts, I'm terrible on the spot, so that impressed me.

[*DIVA!]

Originally Posted by Calimoonchild

I didn't mean it that way at all, I promise. I was impressed with how well he expressed himself despite being put on the spot. I know my facts, but if it were me, I wouldn't have come across even a tenth as well as he did. I have to gather my thoughts, I'm terrible on the spot, so that impressed me.

No, I didn't mean you, Suga. I knew what YOU meant, and that YOU meant it in a good way. I was commenting about the comments he received saying he spoke well, and was so intellectual. Just like some people said about Obama in the beginning.

[Grimmlok]

that article wasn't great, it was just more obama cocksucking.

Still no actual PLANS or STRATEGIES to read! Hello!

HOW IS OBAMA PLANNING TO DO ANY OF WHAT HE SAYS??

Why is this question so hard to get an answer for, i swear every time someone asks, more fluff and opinionating comes up in the place of a detailed explanation of how the guy is going to accomplish anything.

[crackho]

^^You want to spoil the surprise is all. We'll find out the how, if there is a how, after the election. And while I'm not privy to inside information, it appears that he is going to use his face.