The people who'd kill Obama thing McCain still has a shot at winning (heh, I made a double entendre). We'll have to wait until after the general election before we see bullets fly.
That's why Obama should've appointed an illegal Muslim Mexican alien as his VP.
I'm very happy about this, natch, but this moment also made me think about another Illinois senator who remains my favorite politician ever: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Simon_(politician)
Paul Simon was the first candidate to whom I donated money. I was fortunate enough to meet him one time at a rally for women in politics in Illinois when I was working for Planned Parenthood, and a friend of mine worked on his last Senate campaign. He's my idea of a hero in public life, and I almost never use that term to describe politicos. If Obama can be true to about one-fifth of the stuff Simon stood for, he'll be doing okay. But man, I really wish Paul had won in 1988. For one thing, it would have put an end to the Bush dynasty and we all know what a good thing that would have been.
But yes: well done, Senator Obama. And for those who feel bad that we have missed our chance to get the first woman president, a few points of order:
1) The number of women currently serving in the U.S. Senate is greater than the total number of African American senators who have ever served.
2) There have been female leaders of major Western nations. There has never been a leader of a Western nation who was from a racial minority.
3) Four years ago, if someone had said "Our first black major presidential candidate will be this guy from the State Senate in Illinois that nobody else in the country has ever heard of, and he'll get there by the next election," most people would have thought you were crazy. So the first woman president may very well be biding her time in a state legislative house right now, or serving as a state attorney general (I've got my eye on Illinois' Lisa Madigan to be a major player one of these years.) So Hillary was NOT the last best shot for a woman president in our lifetimes. No way.
The people who'd kill Obama thing McCain still has a shot at winning (heh, I made a double entendre). We'll have to wait until after the general election before we see bullets fly.
ReplyDeleteThat's why Obama should've appointed an illegal Muslim Mexican alien as his VP.
I'm very happy about this, natch, but this moment also made me think about another Illinois senator who remains my favorite politician ever: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Simon_(politician)
ReplyDeletePaul Simon was the first candidate to whom I donated money. I was fortunate enough to meet him one time at a rally for women in politics in Illinois when I was working for Planned Parenthood, and a friend of mine worked on his last Senate campaign. He's my idea of a hero in public life, and I almost never use that term to describe politicos. If Obama can be true to about one-fifth of the stuff Simon stood for, he'll be doing okay. But man, I really wish Paul had won in 1988. For one thing, it would have put an end to the Bush dynasty and we all know what a good thing that would have been.
But yes: well done, Senator Obama. And for those who feel bad that we have missed our chance to get the first woman president, a few points of order:
1) The number of women currently serving in the U.S. Senate is greater than the total number of African American senators who have ever served.
2) There have been female leaders of major Western nations. There has never been a leader of a Western nation who was from a racial minority.
3) Four years ago, if someone had said "Our first black major presidential candidate will be this guy from the State Senate in Illinois that nobody else in the country has ever heard of, and he'll get there by the next election," most people would have thought you were crazy. So the first woman president may very well be biding her time in a state legislative house right now, or serving as a state attorney general (I've got my eye on Illinois' Lisa Madigan to be a major player one of these years.) So Hillary was NOT the last best shot for a woman president in our lifetimes. No way.
If your in Minneapolis check out this one:
ReplyDeletehttp://tickets.bravenewworkshop.com/
"The Lion the Witch and the War Hero"
We've been gearing up for the republican convention.
Dan F