Barack Obama is possibly the MOST ASTUTE politician I've ever watched

[Walt Starr]

He's on CSPAN2 right now and his eloquence and charisma makes Clinton look like a rank amateur in the field of politics.

He's positioning himself as a moderate, which is politically astute if you wish to seek a higher office than you currently hold.

This man could be president, if he so chooses.

[Mass]

1. He IS a moderate

This is NOT positionning.

It is a little bit early for him to run for president, but it is something definitively possible in 8 or 12 years.

[Walt Starr]

3. Eh, his record in the Illinois Senate might disagree with that

but who's watching records.

[Mass]

10. Well, not being from Illinois, I have only his speeches in the Senate

and during the campaign to judge, and none makes him a ultra-liberal. He stands out as a moderate liberal (nothing bad about that). I am not confusing him with the right of the Democratic Party as Nelson, Landrieu, or Lieberman).

This said, the record is short, so my opinion may evolve with time.

[Walt Starr]

21. He has a pretty solidly liberal record in the Illinois Senate

but I agree, he's moderately liberal so far in the U.S. Senate.

That said, I think he can move the bar of moderation back to where it belongs as "moderate" today is what was "right wing nutball" twenty-five years ago.

[Mass]

24. That would be a good thing

I am going crazy each time somebody says McCain is a moderate Republican.

It is time to move the center to us (as opposite to moving to the center).

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[orwell]

4. Enjoy...

...your brief stay...

[Walt Starr]

5. What manor is deceiving?

He has a condo in a co-op in Hyde Park. He owns no manor.

And since you didn't vote for him, why would you vote for Keyes?

[Itchinjim]

6. So you voted for Alan Keyes then?

n/t

[BethFromIL]

13. Absolutely Not , Left it blank ,since he was a sure thing

Sorry for manor ( noticed mistake to late.)

His record in IL is terrible , he had no competition .

[Walt Starr]

20. He has a WONDERFUL RECORD in Illinois

He had no competition because the competition was terrified of him.

He's a Liberal who can use moderate rhetioric and get away with it, thus moving the bar of moderation back to where it belongs!

[w13rd0]

7. HAHAHAAHAH

You voted for KEYES? What are you, his gay daughter? Wow. I can't stand it when people have lying manors.

[Walt Starr]

11. NOT "lying manors", DECEIVING MANORS

So WTF is a deceiving manor? A house that looks bigger on the outside than it really is on the inside?

:shrug:

[rkc3]

16. I think she means - Fawlty Towers.

[AFSCME girl]

8. whatever....n/t

[BattyDem]

12. He speaks for everyone

"Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America — there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

- Barack Obama, 2004 Democratic National Convention

[Mass]

15. No idea what you are talking about

For whom did you vote?

[salinen]

17. Ah, spoken

like a wasp. Some of your best friends are minorities, huh?

[returnable]

18. You may not be "alone", but you're in an extreme minority...

And I have a feeling you're about to join another exclusive group:

The Tombstone Hall of Fame :hi:

[cestpaspossible]

9. You really think he is just 'positioning himself' for higher office?

and not actually saying what he believes? Isn't there a word for that?

I'm not moderate, but I'd prefer to vote for a moderate who really believes what he is saying, to someone who is just adopting 'politically astute' positions whether moderate or left. I hope you are wrong about Obama.

[Walt Starr]

14. I find him to be mostly a Liberal

but he positions himself as a moderate in his rhetoric. VERY POLITICALLY ASTUTE!

He's moving the bar of moderation to the left, which works both to his advantage and to the advantage of the Left as a whole.

[BethFromIL]

19. It was obvious Obama was going to win so did not vote for Senator

If I thought Keyes had a prayer of winning I would have Held my nose and voted for Obama.

[cestpaspossible]

22. Being a liberal and playing a moderate is called pandering.

I hope you are wrong.

[Walt Starr]

25. Not pandering at all

He's staking out liberal positions and puts them out there. His rhetoric is not firebrand so he gets painted as a moderate.

Again, VERY POLITICALLY ASTUTE!

[Pirate Smile]

23. So, he is back on your good side, Walt? I'm glad. I like him.

I find him very perceptive.

[Walt Starr]

26. He has been for a while

I was very impressed in this press conference on the nuclear option.

[Imagine My Surprise]

27. but he voted YES on the hateful bankruptcy bill

[cestpaspossible]

28. That's not rhetoric, is it?

[Mass]

29. NO, he voted NO

You can check here if you want, as you should have done before posting this:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00044