CNN.com to broadcast Obama speech at 10:15AM- Page 3

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 4:58am

I just watched the speech on overnight news...his supporters probably loved it. I didn't buy it. It was very carefully written. Very.

And quite honestly. I didn't look at this as a "race" thing. But it was spun into a race thing. Yes, this was about the views of a black pastor, but I didn't look at it as a "black" thing. And I am black. What I got from the clips I have seen of the pastor were about "America". Not just Black Americans. Maybe I missed something, but I just didn't see all of this to be a race thing even with the comments made by the reverend and Ferrao's comments. That may sound strange, but I didn't because I am not looking at race. And it is not really about race with Obama. At least not for me. I do agree with some of the comments made by the reverend and Ferraro. And I think that America, or at least the press didn't look at them for what they were, but instead looked at them as an opportunity to create more "news". I really don't look at him as a black man running for president. I see him as a man that is just not ready to be president and found an opportunity to pull the "race card" this week with the comments that were made by 2 people in the past few weeks. Just my very random thoughts very early on a Wednesday morning. I am still not impressed with him and still will not vote for him.

Updated On: 3/19/08 at 04:58 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 7:15am

Why must you persist in injecting your personal animus toward me into every political discussion?

How does that serve the universe? Or Senator Obama's goal of a new politics?

Seriously. I stopped when Barack and Hillary asked us to--why don't you?

Updated On: 3/19/08 at 07:15 AM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 9:33am

Um, do yourself a favor and ACTUALLY READ/WATCH THE SPEECH.

I know you weren't talking to me, but I did actually read/watch the speech and I still think the whole Wright thing is kind of muddy. Either he was being disingenious about his 20 year devotion to that church or he's being disingenious now. I'm not too hung up on it. He's a politician, and despite what others seem to think, he's cut from the same cloth as any other politician that's come before him. I'd love to see a day when NEITHER part felt the need to prove their devotion to Jesus.

For the record, I liked the speech. I don't nececessarily believe that this will be the speech that wins him the nomination, but I won't be surprised, either.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 9:39am

This speech won him the nomination. No question.

I'd like to also mention that I said the day Oprah campaigned for him that he would gain 5 points. Everyone on this board thought I was insane. The next poll: Obama gains 5 points.

btw, I think this speech was absolutely beeutiful. And I'm not an Obama fan.

This is classic election political communication. Ideology wins the race. Especially if it violates expectations like this speech did.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 9:52am

"I am still not impressed with him and still will not vote for him."

So you're going to vote for McCain if Obama is the Democratic nominee, or you just won't vote?

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:08am

MrMid, I will be honest and say, I just don't know what I will do. I do know that I am not one of those who will vote for McCain. If I do end up voting for Obama, he is going to have to win me over in the next 7 months.

[cubanpab]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:12am

this is whats so sad about this race. we have these two incredible contenders, both smart, both passionate individuals who want to work hard to mend the damage Bush caused over the last 8 years... democrats should feel incredibly lucky this year. we're making history. look at the republicans, once again they had to pick between two crusty old white dudes who just want to scare us into thinking we have to bomb everything or "the terrorists" (those scary people "out there somewhere") will get us... how awful for that party... again... to have to choose between dumb and dumber.

so what i dont get is, how did the obamaniacs and the clintonites come to hate each other so much? they now refuse to support the other candidate if they get the nomination?? my wife is one who loves obama and has grown to hate clinton so much she refuses to vote for her... shed rather not vote, or vote mccain!!! bad bad bad.

one of the friends i made on this board, who happens to be gay, is so dedicated to clinton he said he will not support obama if he wins the nomination, but instead vote for mccain! a gay american, so caught up in the fighting going on within the party that he rather vote for a candidate who pretty much goes against everything he stands for... its almost like a "revenge vote"... if clinton cant win i'll vote for the old white guy who wants to make sure gay marriage will never happen. yeah, thats smart.

i'm seeing it come from both candidates camps... this has to stop. ASAP. we need to unite, we need to support the party, or we're going to be stuck with 8 more years of McBush.

as a proud obamaniac myself, i still think my candidate will win the nomination and i'm excited about that. but, if he doesnt, i promise to only pout for about 15 minutes, and then i'll start a group called "obamaniacs for clinton!"
Updated On: 3/19/08 at 10:12 AM

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:21am

Whatever animosity currently exists may only be worsened as the party determines what, if anything, to do about Florida and Michigan. Also, the perception of how the nominee is determined may also alienate some folks. If there is a perception that the superdelegates went against the 'will of the people', there may be a backlash among some voters.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:22am

I don't "hate" Obama, I just don't think he is ready. And as a Gay African American, I would not vote for McCain. Even if I were straight I would not vote for McCain.

Updated On: 3/19/08 at 10:22 AM

[violet72]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:24am

I think it is hypocritical in our society that he has to defend what his former pastor has said when our president and McCain have spoken(repeatedly) and attended things at Liberty University which was founded by Jerry Falwell and is extremely prejudice...here is a snippet of what their students must agree to

The university has a code of student conduct, documented in "The Liberty Way", which states: "It is the duty of every student to respect Liberty's Statement of Doctrine and Purpose. They may not engage in any activity on or off campus that would compromise the testimony or reputation of the University or cause disruption to Liberty's Christian learning environment." The code of conduct includes possible reprimands and, later, fines, for such activities as attending dances, violating curfew, viewing R-rated movies, drinking, smoking, viewing sexually explicit material, entering the bedroom of a member of the opposite sex, having an abortion, and participating in unauthorized petitions.

Yet nothing was said to the President or John McCain about if they are speaking there do they share the same common beliefs of the university.....why?

[tazber]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:39am

Well being affiliated with a hard right clergyman is not considered a negative strike to most republicans.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:50am

Yet nothing was said to the President or John McCain about if they are speaking there do they share the same common beliefs of the university.....why?

Because they DO share the same common beliefs of the university.

[cubanpab]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:51am

very true tazber.

sigh... i just hope this all ends well... not with Mccain in the white house.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 10:55am

Let us see how this plays out in the next few weeks.

Again, I thought it was a beautiful speech. The problem is, that most Americans will not hear the whole thing, only snippets that media outlets want them to.

And, the distinction between Obama and McCain on this issue is simple - McCain sought the endorsement, for political purposes, of a hateful, vile man who said some unforgivable things - but, many things that play to the base of his party. Hagee was pure politics for McCain.

Obama chose, for the last 20 years of his life, to worship in a church that has had a pastor who at times uses rhetoric that we find offensive and degrading. Obama said this man had a major impact on his conversion to the Christian faith, married he and his wife, and baptized his children. Wright was purely personal for Obama, and it became political.

Many of us have no idea who politicians really are when they go home at night - we search for any information that would betray a personal preference, bias, or window in his/her soul. Obama's longtime association with Wright gave Americans information that they were not really comfortable with, that runs counter to the image he presents. So, it makes us wonder, is Obama the man we see on the campaign stump, or is he the man that embraces a church that supports the rhetoric of Reverend Wright? My thoughts, he is both, and that may not be a bad thing, but something that not all Americans are comfortable with.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:02am

so what i dont get is, how did the obamaniacs and the clintonites come to hate each other so much?

It happened when the Obama supporters and the left-wing bloggers fell sucker to a level of Clinton Hatred hitherto seen only on the right-wing. That took all Clinton supporters by surprise. Soon, the left-wing was ascribing to every move of hers "evil motives," "monstrous personality traits" and vagina-dentata-level over-the-top invective, the likes of which surpassed anything every said about Hillary by Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

Nothing makes a Clinton supporter more resolute than to see Hillary and Bill under attack. It's what saves the Clintons every time. Americans like to come to the Clintons' defense.

Once there developed such a perfect storm of Hillary Hatred from the left, the right and the media, all was lost. The more the Clinton Supporters supported Hillary, the nastier the Obama supporters got, as if they couldn't believe anyone was spoiling their party. The invective hurled at Hillary supporters was personal, often implying we were too "old" to understand Obama's appeal. (That invective can still be seen in this very thread.)

Where will it end? Badly. If Obama gets the nomination, I will vote for him, but I don't think he has a chance against the Republican 527s and McCain's growing popularity (which bewilders me).

If Hillary gets the nomination, the Obama supporters will flee the Democratic Party, because they were never committed to the party to begin with. They were committed only to the phenomenon that is Barack Obama.

Which is why I'm STILL holding out for Al Gore, riding in on a white horse.

Updated On: 3/19/08 at 11:02 AM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:05am

Don't forget that Hillary is a bitch, cold and calculating. Appararantly we like our Lady Politicians to be cuddly.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:07am

PJ - I think there is plenty of crap to throw at McCain that will stick to him come general election.

I can just see the 3:00 AM add, but having a picture of McCain cursing someone or quotes about his temper ... do you want THAT man answering the phone?

He has plenty of baggage, and once the focus is on him, his approval will fade.

And, I don't hate the Obamamaniacs, I just think they are backing someone about 4 years too soo (or 8, hopefully). I just don't think he is ready for the task of being President, and Hillary is. I like a lot of what he says, and want him to be a major player in American politics, and perhaps my President some day. If his is the nominee I will vote for him, and send him money, if nothing else to protect the Supreme Court.

[cubanpab]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:08am

youwantit - valid concerns i think.

i'm just exhausted for all this... and the new CNN polls (even tho we know they dont really mean much) show that Mccains the one benefitting from all this. he used to trail Obama and Clinton in the polls, and now he is ahead of both of them significantly! thats crazy to me...

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:09am

Very well put Pal

[cubanpab]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:15am

Pal - respectfully, i think you're way off base. to suggest that only obama supporters "attacked" is ridiculous... everyone attacked...

and to say that if clinton gets the nomination, obama supporters will flee because they never really supported the party... thats just ludicrous.

but thats fine, you have your opinion, i have mine. i have spoken to just as many clintonites who refuse to support obama as i have obamaniacs who refuse to support clinton... so why would you say the obamaniacs never really supported the party to begin with?

and lets remember that while the obamaniacs where attacking hillary on her "evil motives", the hillary supporters were calling the obamaniacs stupid, naive, "kool-aid drinkers", brainwashed... come on.

we need to unite.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:25am

Which cam first--the chicken or the egg?

And I can honestly tell you that NOT ONE SINGLE Hillary supporter I know personally has said he or she will refrain from voting for Obama if he gets the nomination, while 6 Obama supporters have told me personally they will sit out the election and not vote, which tends to make me apoplectic.

As for the bulk of the Obama supporters being fueled by enthusiasm for Obama and not the Democratic Party or the task of removing the Republicans from the Executive and Legislative branches--I don't really think that's a controversial statement at all.

Updated On: 3/19/08 at 11:25 AM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:29am

To those who wish we had three active parties, well, that's indeed what we seem to have now. I was on the scene in 68, though a teenager, and this feels like a far deeper and wider chasm. The schism among Democrats has been exacerbated by both camps, however.

A lot of us are tired of hearing how our voicing our strong preference for candidate(s) other than Clinton is evidence of Hillary "hatred." Most of us are far too invested in the positives of the other candidate(s) than to dwell only on Clinton's over-hyped, supposed liabilities. I'm personally fatigued from the paper-thin "analysis" of why we don't "like" this particular human being. A lot of us are exhausted from the finger-saving and non-stop, very patronizing lecturing about unrecognized biases and unprocessed mysogeny. We have reasons for supporting others (in my case, Edwards), we're entitled to them, and we owe no one any explanation for remaining indifferenct to Clinton as a candidate.

There seems to be no high ground left in this divisive season, but the lack of a happy outcome for the party cannot be attributed solely to a some myopic, beatlemania-styled fervor for Obama.

I wish Pal Joey's dream would indeed happen: that Al would swoop in and take us all to that higher ground like a pied piper.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:29am

Democrat Barack Obama's big national lead over Hillary Clinton has all but evaporated in the U.S. presidential race, and both Democrats trail Republican John McCain, according a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

The poll showed Arizona Sen. McCain, who has clinched the Republican presidential nomination, is benefiting from the lengthy campaign battle between Obama and Clinton, who are now battling to win Pennsylvania on April 22.

We need to come together now

[artscallion]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:48am

Just a note...the CNN poll numbers (as well as most of the other polls that are being waved around today claiming McCain is pulling ahead and Obama is lessening his lead) are actually based on responses given prior to yesterdays speech. I think I read that they were based on 3/14-3/16 responses. So they were taken at the height of the pre-speech drama. I'm waiting to see the next poll that's released based on responses from today or later.

As far as who started this divisiveness, BOTH sides are guilty! BOTH candidates are polarizing. BOTH groups of supporters are passionate and defensive/protective when attacked. BOTH sides think they're only attacking because they've been attacked. To try and pin this on one side or the other is ridiculous and divisive in itself. I also think the constant chicken little act worrying about who will betray the party if so-and-so is nominated is really just another scare tactic. And I've seen it used on BOTH sides.

Can we end it all? Whether it's "well, someone called her a bitch six months ago" or "stop calling him messiah" or this side is destroying the party or that side isn't loyal to the party. ALL of this is as divisive, if not more so, than the personal attacks on the candidates. It's all small and bitter and binds it all up so much that no one can pull themselves out of the bickering long enough to see the big picture. And I'm still talking about BOTH sides.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 11:55am

It's vital that we all come together in November. The next President will either move us forward or keep us at status quo.

The next President could be selecting 3 Supreme Court Justices--likely replacing liberal judges.