Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dale Baker who wrote (34250)	2/3/2007 10:40:15 AM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541370

Just a follow-up thought; if anyone has followed Chirac's recent moronic flip-flops on Iranian nukes, you see how important it is to have a president who thinks before he blurts stuff out for worldwide media consumption. France is another country badly in need of some fresh political blood at the top.

To: Dale Baker who wrote (34250)	2/3/2007 12:22:55 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541370

Had Biden said that Barack Obama was the first African-American candidate that has a "legitimate" chance at being elected president, he might have still ticked off a few people, but he would have been accurate. I may be missing someone here, but I think that in the last 20 years there have been only four African-Americans that have sought the presidency within the framework of the two major parties. Alan Keyes never had any sort of real base and was DOA. When he ran against Obama in Illinois, it turned out that he is a nasty human being at a personal level. Carol Mosley-Braun's candidacy was a vanity effort, an exercise in personal redemption. While it was never a major issue during her presidential campaign (because she was never a real player), she carried some significant ethical baggage. Al Sharpton defines the concept of ethical baggage, not to mention that fact that he deals in the worst sort of racial politics. Jesse Jackson's run was also a vanity effort. I have always viewed Jackson as an activist, not a politician. He has a very narrow national appeal and I suspect that one of his primary motivations in running for president was to make the point that he was the "go to" guy in the African American community. Jackson has had numerous opportunities to run for office in Illinois, but has never shown any inclination to do so. What does that tell you? BTW, did you know that Jackson opposed Obama when he ran against Bobby Rush in a 2000 Democratic primary for Rush's Congressional seat. So did Bill Clinton. Clinton actually cut a 30 second television commercial endorsing Rush, a former Black Panther. I can't wait to see that on YouTube. I think that Daley remained neutral in the primary, though he was probably upset with Rush because Rush had talked about running against Daley. I do not include Colin Powell on the list because he never really had a real interest. I do believe that Powell could have gotten the Republican nomination if he had wanted it in 1996. And I do believe that he would have beaten Bill Clinton. This point has been made before, but for better or for worse, both Powell and Obama are African-American figures that do not have their roots in the civil rights struggle. That was a painful period in our history and no one is too enthused about revisiting the rhetoric of that era. While there is still work to be done, there have been major advances toward real equality. Those advances continue. I am stating the obvious when I say that part of the appeal of leaders like Powell and Obama is based on the fact that their agendas and rhetoric extend to a broader constituency. They are not perceived as "black" leaders, they are simply leaders who happen to be black. Obama will not get the Democratic nomination for president, though he may end up as the VP. He lacks the experience to be president, and that will become apparent once the debates start.