Robert Goodman
28 Jul 2004, 04:40 PM
i predict 2012....
Rising Democratic Star Showcases Political Talent
Jul 28, 1:36 PM (ET)
By Andrew Stern
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Barack Obama, a rising black star of the Democratic Party, electrified delegates with a rousing party convention speech that moved him closer to a historic seat in the U.S. Senate and which may damage President Bush's chances in Illinois.
Obama displayed the qualities party powerbrokers expect to sweep him to victory in Illinois on Nov. 2 and pick up a Republican seat that could help them win control of the chamber, and make him only the third black senator since the 19th century.
Illinois Republicans are depicted as being in disarray and increasingly desperate as they cast about for a candidate to replace disgraced senate primary winner Jack Ryan, who quit amid a sex scandal.
Obama, whose Kenyan father met his white, Kansas-born mother while studying on a scholarship at the University of Hawaii, won thunderous applause at the Democratic convention in Boston on Tuesday night with his keynote speech, in which he said his life story was only possible in America.
Indecisiveness by state Republicans is dampening faint party hopes of keeping control of the seat of retiring one-term Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, practically assuring Obama, a 42-year-old state senator and Harvard-trained Chicago attorney, an easy win in the Midwest industrial state.
REPUBLICANS RISK LOSING SEATS
Two popular former governors turned aside Republican Party overtures, creating an embarrassing vacuum that threatens to drag down Bush's chances of beating Democrat John Kerry in Illinois. Bush lost Illinois to Democrat Al Gore in 2000.
"With the disarray in the senate race the Republicans not only will lose Illinois for Bush but risk losing one or two congressional seats," said Dick Simpson, a political scientist at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Republican Party spokesman Jason Gerwig said several potential candidates are being considered. "We're just trying to be deliberate and as thorough as possible and find the best candidate."
Political consultant Don Rose said, "Once they get past the excitement, the overly optimistic hopes, and they look at the thing in the cold light of where the Republican party is in Illinois," big-name candidates shy away from challenging Obama.
"It's been a loser all the way, and it looks more and more like a loser every day. The Republican was never going to win" as long as Obama, who first name means blessed, avoided a serious misstep, Rose said.
And on Tuesday night he not only avoided mistakes, he enhanced his growing reputation as the darling of the national party. He injected excitement into the convention audience with lines like, "There's not a liberal America and a conservative America. There's the United States of America."
Molly Howieson, a convention delegate from St. Charles, Illinois, said, "He's generating so much excitement and people are already talking about him being our first black president."
Rising Democratic Star Showcases Political Talent
Jul 28, 1:36 PM (ET)
By Andrew Stern
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Barack Obama, a rising black star of the Democratic Party, electrified delegates with a rousing party convention speech that moved him closer to a historic seat in the U.S. Senate and which may damage President Bush's chances in Illinois.
Obama displayed the qualities party powerbrokers expect to sweep him to victory in Illinois on Nov. 2 and pick up a Republican seat that could help them win control of the chamber, and make him only the third black senator since the 19th century.
Illinois Republicans are depicted as being in disarray and increasingly desperate as they cast about for a candidate to replace disgraced senate primary winner Jack Ryan, who quit amid a sex scandal.
Obama, whose Kenyan father met his white, Kansas-born mother while studying on a scholarship at the University of Hawaii, won thunderous applause at the Democratic convention in Boston on Tuesday night with his keynote speech, in which he said his life story was only possible in America.
Indecisiveness by state Republicans is dampening faint party hopes of keeping control of the seat of retiring one-term Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, practically assuring Obama, a 42-year-old state senator and Harvard-trained Chicago attorney, an easy win in the Midwest industrial state.
REPUBLICANS RISK LOSING SEATS
Two popular former governors turned aside Republican Party overtures, creating an embarrassing vacuum that threatens to drag down Bush's chances of beating Democrat John Kerry in Illinois. Bush lost Illinois to Democrat Al Gore in 2000.
"With the disarray in the senate race the Republicans not only will lose Illinois for Bush but risk losing one or two congressional seats," said Dick Simpson, a political scientist at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Republican Party spokesman Jason Gerwig said several potential candidates are being considered. "We're just trying to be deliberate and as thorough as possible and find the best candidate."
Political consultant Don Rose said, "Once they get past the excitement, the overly optimistic hopes, and they look at the thing in the cold light of where the Republican party is in Illinois," big-name candidates shy away from challenging Obama.
"It's been a loser all the way, and it looks more and more like a loser every day. The Republican was never going to win" as long as Obama, who first name means blessed, avoided a serious misstep, Rose said.
And on Tuesday night he not only avoided mistakes, he enhanced his growing reputation as the darling of the national party. He injected excitement into the convention audience with lines like, "There's not a liberal America and a conservative America. There's the United States of America."
Molly Howieson, a convention delegate from St. Charles, Illinois, said, "He's generating so much excitement and people are already talking about him being our first black president."