Obama Opens the Door to Presidential Run, Could Receive Wide Support in Maryland
On Meet the Press this morning, Senator Barack Obama admitted that he was considering a run for the Presidency. It's not a huge surprise given his Time magazine cover and all the buzz that has been swirling around him.
His running would vault him into the short list for Maryland's support in the '08 election, including support from important donor communities in the Washington and Baltimore suburbs. To start with, Obama would likely garner massive support from the 25% of Maryland that is African-American. But he will also have a serious shot at getting support from the progressive activists in the state who have not yet aligned behind any of the '08 candidates. There's simply no doubt that he has generated more excitement on his few visits to Mayrland than any other local or visiting politician.
Of course, he'll have some serious challenges in the state. Maryland's labor movement will likely be leaning towards Edwards, especially given his speech a few years ago at the Progressive Maryland dinner (if I'm remembering that correctly). John Kerry still maintains a dedicated group of partisans in the state. The anti-war activists in the inner DC suburbs and Baltimore City might lean towards long-shot candidate like Russ Feingold. And, of course, there's Hillary. But in any case, his few lines on TV just made the next couple years a lot more interesting.
Link to AP article here.
posted by Eric Luedtke at 11:46 AM
7 Comments:
Approximately the same thing that makes Feingold, Hillary or Edwards qualified - experience in the Senate and not that much else at the personal level.
I would be interested in a comparison of the committee assignments of the various Senators seeking (or probably seeking) the nomination.
Robert, what makes him not qualified to be President? I'm not sure that the presidency is something you can be prepared for. I mean, Clinton was a small-state governor, and he was pretty successful.
Bob, is there anything the national Democratic Party (a) has done this year, (b) proposes to do if it takes over one or both Houses of Congress, or (c) has suggested ought to be done, that you approve of? Just wondering.
Speaking only for myself, I wish that Obama were a little less willing to praise Bush and to pander to theocratic constituencies. If I wanted that I would seek out a nice moderate Republican.
Washington Post's "The Fix" weighs in: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2006/10/president_obama.html
RE: "I am not saying that obama is not qualified, but I dont see anything in his record that would entice me to vote for him."
Bob, what was it again that should have enticed voters to elect you County Executive?
I generally agree with your thought that we should be able to show the alignment of our positions with those of religious teachings as long as we do it without the swaggering judgmentalism of the Christian right and speak to all of the mainstream religious, not just the evangelicals.
Still, this kind of talk gets people, including myself, nervous. The secularly political, and I consider myself a part of that group despite my weekly church visits, see all religious political activity through the actions of the Robertsons and Falwells. I'm old enough to remember the civil rights marches and how important churches were in that movement, however.
My point is that that ground should be trod on carefully, we need to not be hostile, but at the same time avoid the phoniness which occurs when we require every candidate to discuss his/her "deep faith". Show how much our positions are in line with the individual's beliefs; do not wallow in fake religiousity. We should not be theocrats; neither should we be hostile to those who are religious.
Interestly, I heard a woman on the Ron Smith Show on WBAL yesterday making the case for secular conservatism, because political position (my add-she only stated conservative positions) should be based on thought and reason.
Maybe, one day, the two parties will actually be back in the same place on this issue.
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