Obama Soars To New Heights For Blacks

Washington Post: Democrat Is Changing Perception That Presidency Is Out Of Reach For Black Candidates

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Kevin Merida.

---

Barack Obama has already soared to a place that no black politician has ever reached. He sits on a crest above the vast expanse of the national electorate, not squeezed into a niche, not strapped for cash, a sudden comfortable surprise among the presidential front-runners. They say he caught lightning in a jar. Some say the lightning catcher can win.

Every African American politician who has ever dreamed of leading the country knows how difficult it is to occupy this space. For decades, there has been a rolling conversation in black political circles about who and when and how to run for president. In 2000, President Clinton's former chief adviser on race, Christopher Edley Jr., was asked to speculate about the prospects of a black president by 2020.

"I'm pessimistic about that," said Edley, who by then had returned to his Harvard Law School professorship. "I think we will see a woman or Latino before we see an African American."

It wasn't just that Edley had peered over the horizon and taken note of the growing Latino population. Or that he had observed Hillary Clinton up close and could sense her potency. More than anything, Edley knew that the upper echelons of elective office -- particularly the Senate and the governor's mansions, which produce the most viable presidential candidacies -- were "still very segregated territory," as he put it. And he believed that winning the presidency would be tougher for a black politician than for anyone else, so daunting, in fact, that he could not even envision it at the turn of the century.

Edley, now dean of the Boalt Hall law school at the University of California, Berkeley, was reminded last week of his previous assessment. "Wow," he said, followed by a long pause. "I hope it's evidence that I'm a lousy prognosticator, because the evidence now is there is a lot more capacity for hopefulness among the electorate than I had thought."

Obama is a former student of Edley's at Harvard Law, and Edley is now an informal adviser to Obama's campaign -- "a tough thing for me," he says, because he feels close to the Clintons, and his wife, Maria Echaveste, who also was a top official in the Clinton White House, is backing the senator from New York. As for Obama, Edley describes himself as both "giddy" and "a bit wary."

"I pinch myself at least once a day, I really do," he says, "because a part of me really believes what I said eight years ago -- that it is fundamentally implausible [for an African American to be president]. But day by day, his success is proving me wrong. But I'm almost afraid to believe."

No Democratic or Republican presidential candidate has raised more money than Obama ($78.9 million through the last filing period, ending Sept. 30). Only Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has a higher favorable rating nationally -- he's at 53 percent, Obama is at 49 percent in the latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll. And polls show Obama deadlocked with Clinton in Iowa and a close second to her in New Hampshire, the first two Democratic nominating competitions.

Ron Kirk, who was mayor of Dallas from the mid-1990s until 2001, is among those Obama consulted when he was considering a presidential run. "I could not give him a compelling reason why he should wait," Kirk says. "The type of appeal he has right now doesn't come around often. Political capital has to be spent in the public marketplace at the right time. I think there is something really magical about this brother."

Kirk, too, had been hailed as one of those shooting stars among black politicians. Not only had he run a major city, drawing support across racial and ideological lines, but in 2002 he had waged a competitive U.S. Senate race in Texas, one of the toughest places for a black Democrat to win statewide. Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director, worked on Kirk's unsuccessful Senate campaign.

Kirk's advice to Obama: "You cannot reinvent yourself on the campaign trail," presenting different messages to different audiences. And: "Competency trumps everything. A lot of politics is about, 'Can you envision this person in this job?' "

Whether enough voters can envision Barack Obama in the Oval Office will be revealed shortly. But some black politicians believe the time is right, as the country has witnessed the gradual rise of African Americans in leadership roles -- from coaching major sports franchises to presiding over corporate boardrooms. Breakthroughs in the popular culture, where many Americans form their impressions of each other, have been among the hardest to achieve.

Norman Jewison, who directed the 1967 hit movie "In the Heat of the Night," recalled that some newspapers refused to take ads for the film, which featured Sidney Poitier as a sharp-minded detective from Philadelphia investigating a murder in a Southern town. The movie went on to earn five Oscars, including one for Best Picture. "I think [the film] woke up a lot of people in the Deep South," Jewison says. "I don't think they'd ever seen a black character on the screen as smart and talented as Sidney."

More than three decades later, actor Dennis Haysbert was cast as David Palmer, a U.S. senator who is elected the nation's first black president in the television drama "24." When Haysbert encounters strangers who recognize him, it is often this role that they want to discuss. "I've lost track of how many times people have asked me to run for president," Haysbert says, adding that he believes the role had "a major impact" on how black politicians are perceived, "simply from the feedback I get from people from all walks of life."

And yet there are statistics that are not so heartening. Less than 4 percent of the nation's elected officials are black, and 90 percent of them represent predominantly black or predominantly black-and-Hispanic constituencies. Thus, not many black politicians have won elections when the majority of voters were white. Only three black U.S. senators and two black governors have been elected since Reconstruction.

As a consequence, only a handful of blacks have even dared to run for president, and virtually all them are civic activists such as comedian Dick Gregory, whose 1968 write-in campaign garnered just over 47,000 votes, perennial third-party candidate Lenora Fulani, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose 2004 Democratic campaign fizzled. The Rev. Jesse Jackson? We'll get to him in a minute.

"We've always been conflicted about this issue of running, because the heavy hanging cloud has been that a black can't win," says University of Maryland political scientist Ron Walters, who was Jackson's top issues adviser during his 1984 campaign.

Andrew Young, the former Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador, waded into this subject recently by saying he didn't think Obama was ready: too young, not seasoned enough, no established political network to ensure his success. "To put a brother in there by himself is to set him up for crucifixion," Young told Atlanta journalist Maynard Eaton in a videotaped interview posted on NewsmakersLive.com.

Obama, 46, a former state legislator, had served just two years in the Senate when he announced his presidential candidacy in February, his rise to celebrity status launched by a stirring keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. What Young spoke to, without using this language, was the "experience issue" that Obama has been battling on the campaign trail.

[eddie1515]

JERSupporter, first Senator Obama and Oprah do not attend the same Church. Since you got your first point wrong. I''ll take it that the rest of your post is garbage also. But I''m sure truth does not concern you or your friends.

[erasmus6]

logicanada

Thanks for answering my question.

[logicanada]

erasmus6...
there is speculation that JFK was murdered by the military industrial complex because he was starting to wind down the Vietnam war and bringing troops home.
His stance on human rights, unionized workers and Cuba also contributed.
Some have linked Bush sr to his death.(youtube BUSH KILLED JFK) and watch a convincing documentary.
I fear Obama has the same thing coming if he starts pulling troops from the Mideast. There is too much invested and too much to profit from for Obama to be accepted by the Military industry.

[logicanada]

Hillary4sout
I envision you to be like that misguided juvenile on youtube crying about Brittany Spears.''LEAVE BRITTANY ALONE...LEAVE BRITTANY ALONE!!.''
Hillary is just another selfish, aspiring southern woman who married well.
Get over her.

[erasmus6]

Could someone answer this question? Why was President Kennedy assasinated? I don''t live in the U.S., but I heard that it was because he was for the black people. Now if that is the case, you have to give Obama credit for running. I don''t think he will make a good president but it takes some guts to put yourself in that position. You might think the U.S. has come a long ways since Kennedy, but really it hasn''t. There is still a lot of RACISTS living in the good old U.S.A.

[jersupporter]

Obama is black? That''s right he''s a Muslim. No he belongs to Trinity United Church of Christ. Here is a link for the church Obama and his pal Oprah attend. Click on the link below.
http://www.tucc.org/about.htm

Some things the church stands for are as follows.
1. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA
2.We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black.
3.We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization.

Excuse me but, if they are committed to Africa how can they be true to America? How can someone from this church be our president? The congregation is "Unashamedly Black"? Please note the emphasis on the words with capital letters in the middle of a statement.

Can one imagine a white person belonging to such an organization and the words racism not being yelled from the roof tops? Obama for president? I think not.
Pass this on to your friends if this concerns you.

[hwy71so]

Okay, is he campaigning to be the a National leader or a Civil Rights leader?

Duncan Hunter 2008

[kansas1946]

Well, if Barack Obama is the first black president of the US, there couldn''t be a better representive for that honor, as far as I am concerned. One thing has always bothered me though. If his father is black and his mother is white, why is he black? It is kind of like Tiger Woods. If his father was black and his mother is Korean, why isn''t he Korean? I just think Barack is an outstanding, intellegent, presidential, American, which is a big improvement over what has occupied the Whitehouse lately.

[denn034]

Is Colin Powell swiss cheese?

[cmp271]

John Edwards is going to win the nomination. Obama for all his charisma is better than Clinton. This country will never put in a black for President. If Obama won, this country would go down the tubes from all the race riots, and further and worse discrimination against whites by blacks. With a "brother" in the white house this country would be worse than it racially is now. When the blacks get over the civil war and slavery-including their non owed reparations-stop calling themselves hyphenated African Americans from a continent where they could not be cared less about(after all they mostly were captured from opposing tribes and sold off by other black Africans), and stop wanting free hand outs and standard of living off other Americans, then and only then would a black have a chance at running this country. Blacks would expect Obama to further their own bigoted agenda. Jackson and Sharpton would be unstoppable as they push their hatred of whites.

I give Obama a lot of credit for running. I am sorry he is half white, and black. He would be what we need, if the blacks would stop their bad behavior;

Ho Ho Ho!!!
Happy Christmas!!

[jshmks]

I''d vote for Ron Paul even if he was black.

[luvcomments]

HILLARY4SOUT

Thanks for your display of hatred and ignorance - and this is the type that wants That Woman to win? Brilliant !! And...think again...in no way is she "your lady" or anyone else''s. She''s strictly for her own self.

[hillary4sout]

BETTER HILLARY THAN A LIEING BIGOT LIKE OBAMA AN HIS RACEST WIFE OK NO BIGOTS IN THE WHITEHOUSE WHITE OR BLACK ..... IF YOU ARE A OBAMA SUPPORT TODAY BE 4 I LOL @ YOU FOR YOUR SUPPPORT OF HIM .. READ WHAT HIS WIFE SAID ABOUT WHITE FOLKS IN THE HALKEYE STATE LOL YOU ARE SO FUNNY FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF HIM, OK I GOT TO TELL YALL THEN, SHE SAID " IF WE LIVED OUT HERE WE (HER AN OBAMA) WOULD NEED A GUN" LOL WHY A GUN YOU WHITE FOLKS GONNA GET HIM OR SOMETHING LOL YOU ARE SO FUNNY OK NOW STOP THE FEAR OF REAL CHANGE AN GET BEHIND HILLARY YOU SEE THAT ALL CHANGE IS NOT GOOD CHANGE NOW IS IT, DONT CRY OK WE LOVE YOU STILL JUST GET BEHIND HILLARY LIKE MOST DEMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY THAT SUPPORT OUR NEXT PRESIDENT OK WE ARE NOT MAD WE JUST WAS WAITING ON YOU ALL TO SEE THE FAKENESS IN THE OBAMAS OK NOW SAY IT AN WELCOME THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED SATATES HILLARY CLINTON 08
HRC RULES !!!!!!

[hillary4sout]

HILLARY WILL WIND HANDS DOWN THAT FAKE WILL NOT ENTER THE WHITEHOUSE EVER NOT AS VICE BETTER HOPE HE CAN GET HIS SEAT BACK HE IS ALREADY NOT LIKED IN HIS HOME STATE AN TALK ABOUT BIGOTS HIS WIFE IS AFRAID OF WHITE FOLK SHE SAID IT IN A RECENT INTERVIEW IN THE HALKEYE STATE SAID SHE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE A GUN IF SHE LIVED THERE. YOU SEE WHAT A DIVEDER HE IS HE AN HIS TALK SHOW HOST THEY ARE RICH AN THINK THAT MONEY NO MATTER WHAT COLOR CAN BUY THE WHITE HOUSE BUT COME DOWN SOUTH WE WILL SHOW YOU HOW BLACK PEPOLE REALLY FEEL ABOUT THIS AFRICAN THAT CALLS HIMSELF BLACK. WE WILL NEVER EMBRACE THIS FOOL. HILLARY ALL THE WAY .. HILLARY O8 TO ALL YALL HATEIN ON MY LADY LET ME TELL YOU WHAT WE DO IN THE SOUTH WE JUST " SHAKE YOU HATERS OFF" HILLARY 08 GOD BLESS HILLARY

[mike71067]

Headline: "Obama Soars To New Heights For Blacks"

That fake-*** "influential black leader" accent is finally paying off.