Obama Addresses Students

From AP:

"It was a student rally typical for a winning basketball team. This time, though, they came to see Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

Hundreds of students filled a building atrium at George Mason University Friday at a "Yes We Can!" rally, turning out to hear from the man many want to be their next president.

"I'm fired up! This is unbelievable," the Illinois Democrat said, gazing at students who even lined the railings in the upper floors.

Some were exuberant, squealing and shouting, "I love you."

"Settle down, you all. Settle down, Settle down," Obama said. "You're too fired up."

During his speech, the freshman senator introduced himself as a politician who never planned to be one and a man born in Hawaii and raised by a single mom.

The only black in the Senate, Obama recalled how his father was a native of Kenya, how he himself had been active in the U.S. in opposing apartheid in South Africa and how he was a $13,000-a-year community organizer in Chicago.

He might have found some recruits to work on his campaign.

"This crowd is not about me. it's about you," he said. "I've been a receptacle for your hopes and dreams."

Some of the students said Obama set the right tone.

Law student Ryan Woodberry, who described himself as an undecided Democrat, said he found Obama's talk uplifting.

"I think it'll probably move a lot of people to act," he predicted.

• Students for Barack Obama

Barack's DNC Speech

Click Here to Watch

Obama Stands Out With Most Somber Tone at DNC

From the National Journal's Hotline.

** Every candidate sans one peppered the crowd with buttons and bumper stickers. But Sen. Barack Obama, befitting his sober speech, had none of that. His display table outside the main ballroom was spare, expcept for a few sign up sheets and photocopied black and white signs. All the candidates sans one entered to music. But Obama had none. Every candidate packed the hall with supporters. Obama didn't do anything in advance.

** Slogans: HRC: "I'm in it to win." Vilsack: Courage to create change." Kucinich: "Strong leadership for America's future." Edwards: "Tomorrow begins today." Clark: "Securing America's future." Dodd: :"Proven Leadership. A record of results." Gravel: "Let the people decide." Biden: no slogans.

Iraq the Central Theme for Obama, Others at DNC

Here's CNN's Queen of the campaign trail Candy Crowley on the winter meeting of the Democratic National Convention.


They all talked Iraq - but there was one noticeable difference. The theme music. From AP via (FOX News):

"_John Edwards: "This Is Our Country" by John Mellencamp.

_Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut: "Get Ready (Cause Here I Come)" by the Temptations and "Reach Out," also by the Temptations.

_Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York: "Right Here, Right Now," by Jesus Jones and "Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

_Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio: "America the Beautiful"

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois decided against using any music in keeping with the somber tone he sought to convey. Wesley Clark, who hasn't indicated whether he will run, entered to Johnny Cash's "I Won't Back Down."

Soros, Susman, and Smoot...Seen This?

Obama's finance team has it's work cut out for it.
AP (via MSNBC) reveals what some of the Democrats eying the White House in '08 had on hand in their Senate accounts. (No word yet on what's in their 'I'm running for president" accounts.)

On top...Hillary Clinton with 11 million dollars.

"The $11 million in her Senate account gives her a clear advantage over her Democratic rivals. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama had about $500,000 in his account, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut had some $5 million that he could transfer and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware had about $3 million."

Obama Best at Juggling Duties

...which include running for president (o.k., o.k. exploring a run for president) and keeping his day job.
According to the Associated Press (via the San Ho Mercury News) Barack Obama has not missed a single vote in the Senate this year. On the other hand -

"Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., have missed two votes each. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., has missed nine votes, and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has skipped six."

And the dubious award for most votes missed? (drumroll please...)
Kansas Senator Sam Browback, who has -

"missed more than half the votes taken in the Senate last month as he ramped up his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Brownback skipped 20 of the 39 roll call votes in January, or 51 percent, according to Senate voting records. That's a higher absence rate than any other member of the Senate except Democrat Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who is recovering from a brain hemorrhage he suffered before the new session of Congress began."

Democratic Pols in Hill's Back Yard Side w/Obama

Bronx politicians line up for Barack Obama

By: Anne Michaud
Published: February 1, 2007 - 3:00 pm

"Bronx Assemblyman Jose Rivera and Borough President Adolfo Carrion are planning an event for presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a direct slap at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
A source close to Mr. Carrion says Ms. Clinton always calls to march with him in the Puerto Rican Day parade but has never sat down to hear his thoughts on policy, urban issues, Latino affairs and working together. By contrast, Mr. Obama met with Mr. Carrion last February to discuss his concerns."

full story at newyorkbusiness.com

The Nation: Obama's Strong Iraq Stance...

positions him as major anti-war candidate instead of John Edwards.

From (The Nation) :

"Obama's move could be devastating to John Edwards. Edwards has enjoyed greater netroots and (arguably) overall grassroots left support than Obama due to his economic populism and call for 40,000 to 50,000 troops to come home. But now Obama has become the first top-tier candidate to set a definite timeline for the withdrawal of the troops. And let's not forget this not-so-small fact-- he's also the only major candidate who opposed the war from the get-go.

Kos is impressed:

This isn't a wussy "stop the escalation" measure, nor some half-measure like "withdraw some troops but not all" (which appears to be the Edwards position).

Even Sirota is pleased, and that's saying something:

The fact that he's doing this is a big deal, and he should be congratulated.

Some pundits will call Obama's move a "gamble," but it seems like common sense to me. After all, American voters made it clear in 2006 that they wanted a real change in Iraq, not Stay-the-Course Lite and certainly not Stay-the-Course On Steroids."

Wisconsinites Want to Draft Obama Too

From the Fond du Lac Reporter:

MILWAUKEE — "A group of Wisconsin residents announced today the official launch of the Wisconsin DraftObama.org chapter.

The group’s goal is to send a message that a grassroots army of Wisconsinites exists to encourage and help Illinois Sen. Barack Obama run for and become the next president.

Wisconsin is the latest state to officially join the national DraftObama.org movement by formally organizing a state group. Wisconsin organizers have kicked off an all-volunteer effort to gather thousands of signatures from like-minded citizens urging Senator Obama to run."

Who's Winning the Web War?

"Obama's clicking - but not on the web"(MSNBC)

"Obama had better get a move on. When Hillary announced the other week, her campaign went live with a website they’d been working on for quite some time. It had been kept under wraps, with key players having secure access to tweak it into a state-of-the-art enterprise - which it is. Edwards’ site, with its video-based approach, is also first rate"

The Anatomy of Biden's Blunder

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy..."
Senator Joseph Biden (D) Delaware.

• Biden enters race deals with controversial comments about rivals (AP/Intl. Herald Tribune)
  
• Biden Blasts, Clinton, Obama, Edwards (Newsmax)
• The Biden Tapes (New York Observer)
• Biden Unwraps His Bid for '08 With an Ooops! (New York Times)
• Biden starts White House run with controversy (Reuters/ABCnews.com)

INSULT TO INJURY

• Bush says Obama has a long way to go (but at least he's articulate!) (New York Times)
• Bush says rising star Obama still far from White House (AFP)
• Biden says comments taken out of context (CNN)
  

THE REACTION

• Obama not offended by comments but called them "historically inacurate" (CNN)
• Fox hyperbole over Biden blunder (News Hounds)
• Defending Biden's blooper, Matthews ignores "clean" crack (News Busters)
  

THE APOLOGY

"I deeply regret any offense my remark in the New York Observer might have caused anyone. That was not my intent and I expressed that to Senator Obama." Senator Joseph Biden (D) Delaware.

• Articulate Obama forgives Biden (Chicago Sun Times)
• Biden Apoligizes to Obama for Remarks (AP/Christian Broadcasting Network)

THE SPIN (from The Daily Show)

Presidential Aspirations Even for Baby Barack

The Voice of America says :

"...he declared his goal of becoming president when he was in grade school in Indonesia more than 35 years ago.

In an interview with VOA's Indonesian Service, Obama's third-grade teacher said he wrote in a class assignment that he wanted to be president. The assignment was called, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

White Man at the New Republic Explains...

(via CBS)

Peter Beinart begins the breakdown with analysis of the black man who got the most pre-Barack White love.

"No one was blunter about this than (Colin) Powell himself. Asked in 1995 to explain his appeal to whites, he volunteered that "I speak reasonably well, like a white person," and, visually, "I ain't that black."

Barack Obama would never put it that way. But he surely understands the uncomfortable subtext behind the adoration being showered upon him by white America. Obama, too, succeeded at a prestigious white institution: Harvard Law School. He, too, is a child of immigration, able to declare in his 2004 Democratic convention speech — in words that could have come from Michael Dukakis or Joe Lieberman (but not from a descendant of slaves, without heavy irony) — that "in no other country on Earth is my story even possible." And he, too, doesn't sound or look too black. Fifteen years ago, a State University of New York political scientist named Nayda Terkildsen doctored photos of a fictitious gubernatorial candidate to make him lighter- or darker-skinned and then showed them to Kentucky focus groups. "The dark-skinned black candidate," she noted, "was evaluated much more harshly than his lighter skinned peer." Powell knew what he was talking about."

Obama To Call on Ghost of Lincoln Past for Official Announcemnt

From the Springfield Journal Register via The Chicago Sun-Times:

"Obama poised to announce at Old State Capitol in Springfield.

"Hat tip to Bernard Schoenburg of the Springfield Journal Register who reported today that Barack Obama will make his 2008 presidential bid "official" at the Old State Capitol on the morning of Feb. 10 with the Prairie Capital Convention Center backup in case of bad weather. My Sun-Times colleague Scott Fornek earlier wrote a story suggesting the Old State Capitol would be a logical place for the launch.

That will unleash the Barack Obama as Abe Lincoln narrative. Lincoln delivered his "House divided" speech at that historic spot and the announcement is on Lincoln's birthday weekend. Obama is expected to vault over to Iowa, home to the first-in-the-nation 2008 caucus, after the announcement. "

"Obama reserves Old State Capitol for day of announcement." (Bellville News Democrat)

Made-up Madrassa Story a Wake-up Call

"Sen. Barack Obama Bracing for Greater Media Scrutiny" (Newsmax.com)

"NEW YORK -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama hardly could have anticipated that the first minor media crisis of his presidential bid would involve where he went to school at age 7.

The Illinois Democrat's welcome into the world of modern campaign coverage last week offers lessons for both candidates and reporters on the marathon run until November 2008. And it's undoubtedly a sign of things to come.

Chances are "about 100 percent" that a candidate will be ruined by a story that he or she hasn't anticipated, said ABC News political reporter Jake Tapper."

(full story here)

Race Race Race

• "Barack Obama: Not Black Enough" (Front Page Magazine/Los Angeles)
• "Barack Obama May Be Too White for Blacks" (AP/ St. Petersburg Times)
• "Why Black leaders are not embracing Barack Obama" (Armstrong Williams/The Hill's Pundits)
  

Breaking News: Obama Goes to Church

From Chicago's CBS2

Congressman Backs Obama Instead of Friend Clinton

The Chicago Sun-Times says Illinois democrat Bobby Rush is backing Barack, despite the fact that the Clintons help get him where he is today.
Whew.
"Calling it "one of the most difficult decisions that I've had to make in politics," Rep. Bobby Rush said Friday he is backing Barack Obama for president -- despite Rush's long friendship with rival White House hopeful Hillary Clinton and her husband.

"Barack is a favorite son, and I'm going to be with Barack," Rush said of his fellow South Side Democrat. "I intend to work very hard with him and for him. And this challenge is going to be enormous, but I'm going to be with him. ... We come from the same neighborhood and represent the same constituency, and I'm going to be with my constituency and Sen. Obama."

Wait there's more.

"Rush said it was Clinton who called him on the night of the Illinois primary that year with the news that Rush had won the Democratic nomination for the South Side's 1st Congressional District.

"I was trying to ... get the results and everything, and he called me and congratulated me and informed me that I had won," Rush said. "It's one of the most difficult decisions that I've had to make in politics. Bill Clinton and the Clinton family are very close."

SMH.

"Rush's relationship with Obama has been more rocky. It soured when Obama waged a failed bid to oust Rush from his congressional seat in 2000. Clinton helped Rush in that race, giving a rare primary endorsement and cutting 30-second radio spots singing Rush's praises. The incumbent congressman won with 61 percent to Obama's 30 percent..."

Crouch: Obama Really Positioning for 2012

The columnist who says Obama is not black like him, also says Obama is not really planning to win the White House in 2008.

Stanely Crouch writes:

"... above all else, I think that Obama is actually positioning himself for the race in 2012, which may be an open sky of possibility if the Democrats lose in 2008. That is a defeat he would share because there is little doubt that Obama will be the second half of the ticket in 2008 if someone else becomes the presidential candidate.
By 2012, however, he should have gained experience in Washington, be an even bigger fundraiser and be perfectly ready to take down whomever the elephants have to offer."