Well, the Oprah vote hasn't won any elections yet, so I am not thinking her power is that far reaching. But what I can say is, that Obama has gotten much better and more comfortable on TV and has schooled himself on the topics, so he doesn't get caught trying to think of the right answer and it more now just flows from his mouth. He also speaks with a tone of confidence and you feel he is telling you the truth as best he knows it, which is a pretty strong plus over Hillary as she has some serious credibility issues in the area of projecting truthfulness over just what you want to hear. Additionally, Obama's polling numbers are actually increasing recently as he started (along with Edwards) to attack this area of Clinton as opposed to giving her a free pass.
I have always thought that Clinton will have a tough time when it finally comes to southern men (traditional democrat voters except for a couple states) going into the voting booth and punching Clinton's name. I think the time is close when the US will actually vote a women into office, but I am just not seeing it being her and I think Obama has a great chance if he continues with his performances and there are no more transfer of funds issues that creep up to garner the nomination.
I typically vote conservative, libertarian or for myself. However, with the choices that I see myself getting, I could actually vote for this guy. If it were between he and Guiliani, Thompson or McCain, I could see that being a tough choice...a really tough choice.
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 863 86.3%
Oprah campaigns for Obama in Iowa
Chat show host Oprah Winfrey campaigns in Iowa for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Ref. https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/a...cas/7134895.stm
Barack Obama Has Cozy Relationship With Pro-Abortion Planned Parenthood
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is getting renewed attention from voters and has caught pro-abortion rival Hillary Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire polls. While some voters appreciate his fresh perspective, Obama has a long-standing relationship with the nation's leading abortion business. As LifeNews.com profiled earlier, Clinton has attacked Obama for voting present on several abortion-related bills while he was a member of the Illinois state legislature. Yet, those votes came only because he worked intimately with the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council in a concerted effort to try to defeat the pro-life bills. The Council's CEO Pam Sutherland talked about the cozy relationship her group had with Obama during a July ABC News interview. She said Obama voted present on bills related to partial-birth abortions, parental notification, and providing medical care for newborns who survive botched abortions "with the explicit support of the president and CEO of Illinois Planned Parenthood Council." "We at Planned Parenthood view those as leadership votes," Sutherland said of Obama's voting record and admitted that, "We worked with him specifically on his strategy." "Obama made sure those bills got as few votes as possible for passage," she added.
Ref. https://www.lifenews.com/nat3533.html
Well, according to Bill Clinton, Obama does have the experience to handle the job of president:
QUOTE |
Bill Clinton Says Obama Isn't Ready By PATRICK HEALY Former President Bill Clinton made an unusually direct attack Friday night on Senator Barack Obama, one of his wife's leading rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, suggesting that voters who would support someone with Mr. Obama's experience were willing to "roll the dice" on the presidency. Appearing on "The Charlie Rose Show" on PBS, Mr. Clinton repeatedly questioned Mr. Obama's preparedness for the White House, noting that he took office in January 2005 and became a presidential candidate about two years later. (Mr. Obama was an Illinois state senator before that.) "When is the last time we elected a president based on one year of service in the Senate before he started running?" Mr. Clinton said. At another point, he appeared to compare Mr. Obama to a "gifted television commentator" running for president. "They"d have only one year less experience in national politics" than Mr. Obama, he said. When asked about Mr. Clinton's comments Saturday in Waterloo, Iowa, Mr. Obama smiled and read words Mr. Clinton used in 1992 - 'the same old experience is irrelevant" - to answer questions about his own presidential candidacy. It is the second time recently Mr. Obama has used that remark to push back against the former president. "I"ve been involved in government for over a decade," Mr. Obama said. "The notion that there is a particular kind of experience that he has had or his wife has had that is more relevant, I would dispute. I believe that I have the experience that the country needs right now." During the Charlie Rose interview, Mr. Clinton looked agitated at times as he talked about recent campaign problems faced by his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and her tough race against Mr. Obama and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest on Jan. 3. At one point, Mr. Rose said that, in his control room, aides to Mr. Clinton were trying to persuade the show's producers to end the interview. In Iowa on Monday, Mr. Clinton praised the Democratic candidates as a great field. But on Charlie Rose, he criticized Mr. Obama for making "derisive" comments about Mrs. Clinton, including saying that she had long planned to run for president. |
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 863 86.3%
Barack Obama Confronted by Abortion Protesters at New Hampshire Rally
Rochester, NH (LifeNews.com) -- About 20 pro-life protesters made the leading Democratic presidential candidate confront the issue of abortion on Monday when they interspersed themselves in a rally he held at the Rochester Opera House. Obama had just begun speaking at the Monday night event when the pro-life advocates waved signs and chanted. The protesters, members of the Christian Defense Coalition and the youth-oriented group Survivors, shut down the Obama campaign rally chanting "abortion is an Obama-nation." Obama said he had heard their chants and would be happy to talk with the pro-life group after the event. "This is an example of no one hearing each other," he said as he held up his hands in an attempt to quiet both sides. The pro-life advocates were eventually led out of the facility peacefully and no one was arrested. Once the crowd quieted down, Obama commented on the incident. "Some people get organized to do that, and that's part of the American tradition that we're proud of," he said, according to the Monitor. "That's hard to do -- standing in the midst of people who don't agree with you."
Ref. https://www.lifenews.com/state2740.html
Barack Obama Holds Media Conference Call to Defend Pro-Abortion Views
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Barack Obama's campaign took the unusual step of holding a conference call with reporters in upcoming primary battleground states to defend his pro-abortion views. The Democratic presidential candidate doesn't want Hillary Clinton's campaign to attack him on the issue as it did in Iowa and New Hampshire. Previously, the Clinton camp went after Obama for voting present on a handful of abortion bills when he was a member of the Illinois state legislature. However, as LifeNews.com has reported, he did so after coordinating a strategy with the Planned Parenthood there to help him and other Democrats avoid criticism during an upcoming election for votes on common sense pro-life bills such as a ban on partial-birth abortions. Pam Sutherland, president and CEO of Illinois Planned Parenthood, defended Obama as she has several times before during the presidential election. "We had a very astute and devious Republican leader that we knew was using abortion votes as wedge issues, putting those votes into mailers to help defeat pro-choice Democrats," she said, according to a CNN report. "It was our strategy, Planned Parenthood's, to decide that a 'present' vote was the same thing as a 'no' vote." She indicated Obama "was always ready to vote 'no' on these bills but he understood how it important it was to help his fellow colleagues."
Ref. https://www.lifenews.com/nat3615.html