OBAMARAMA

CBS News is reporting that Bush political adviser Karl Rove is the latest to use the word “articulate” as a primary descriptor for Sen. Obama:

This strikes me as oddly incongruous with Rove’s reputation as a savvy operator. Haven’t we established that this is an inappropriate superlative to use when discussing a black politician? Shouldn’t someone with Rove’s political acumen understand that praising a black person as “articulate” suggests you think such a trait is exceptional among African Americans?

Then again, maybe he’s just following his boss’s lead. And we all know what a good idea that tends to be.

Oliver Willis posts two videos that exemplify what he believes Sen. Obama “will bring to the black vote in 2008 should he be the Democratic candidate.” Click the image below to watch them and to read his comments:

RunObama points us toward a post on Bob Geiger’s blog about the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s consideration of the White House’s nomination of Sam Fox to be the new ambassador to Belgium. Fox, Geiger notes, donated an astounding $50,000 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth during the 2004 campaign.

In what must surely rank among History’s Top Ten Most Sickening Displays of Political Bootlicking, Fox — after having served as a major sugar daddy for the most insidious and specious political smear campaign in recent memory — actually had the gall to hail Sen. Kerry’s military service to his face. He even called him “a hero.”

Kerry wasn’t buying it, though — and neither was Sen. Obama, who chaired the meeting.

(Read more after the jump…)

On Fox News Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed Sen. Obama and what his candidacy means for racial progress in America.

From the AP:

Obama is a top-tier contender among Democrats and his wide support early in the 2008 race “just shows that we’ve come a very long way,” Rice said Sunday.

“I do think we’ve come a long way in overcoming stereotypes, role stereotypes about African-Americans. I will say race is still a factor. When a person walks into a room, I still think people still see race,” Rice said.

“But it’s less and less of a barrier to believing that that person can be your doctor or your lawyer or a professor in your university or the CEO of a company. And it will not be long, I think, before it’s no longer a barrier to being president of the United States,” Rice said.

…Rice noted that Obama is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where the secretary often testifies.

“I think he’s very appealing and a great person. He’s on my committee. And we’ve always had good exchanges. I think he’s an extraordinary person,” she said.

Welcome to the new and improved OBAMARAMA! Powered by Wordpress, this new site will offer a lot more flexibility not only in terms of design, but also from a usability standpoint.

Some new features include “Posts of Note” on the sidebar to the right, which will highlight posts that are particularly relevant or in need of your attention. We’ve finally stepped into the world of categorization as well, so you can now sort through entries based on their subject matter. The standard search function is still available, too, as is the RSS feed service in the sidebar (and a new Technorati feature that I have no idea what it does).

There will undoubtedly be some kinks in the transition, some ghosts in the machine, but I’m hopeful that you’ll bear with me through the process, and confident that we’ll be better for it in short order. More than anything, this new format will allow OBAMARAMA to continue bringing you in-depth coverage and analysis of Sen. Obama’s campaign, and to support his candidacy in the best ways we know how.

If you have any feedback on the new site, including complaints or suggestions for improvement, I hope you will let me know via the “Contact” page (just click on the button above). As always, thank you for your time and consideration.

And now, on with the Party.

Tomorrow is a big day for the Obama campaign — and a big day for OBAMARAMA. We’ll be in Springfield, IL for Sen. Obama’s official announcement of his candidacy, after which he immediately heads off for appearances in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Even if you won’t be able to join us in enjoying Springfield’s balmy 9 degree temperatures on Saturday morning, that doesn’t mean you can’t participate. DraftObama has set up February 10 Watch Parties all around the country. See if there’s one near you, or learn how to set up your own, by clicking here.

And of course remember to tune in to OBAMARAMA throughout the weekend and beyond for updates and analysis. (And keep your eyes peeled in the next few days in particular for a special new development on the site…)

ALSO: Be sure to check out the Washington Post’s front page profile of Sen. Obama, which gives a nice insight into his Illinois roots, his political development, and his poker skills.

Here are a few links worth checking out when you have some down time today:

• Time’s Joe Klein — no friend to Democrats — has some great things to say about Sen. Obama’s speech at the DNC Winter Meeting last week, noting that “there was something quietly stunning about Obama’s appearance that distinguished him from the others.”
• CBS News reports on the unprecedented “One Million Strong for Barack Obama” Facebook group, which has acquired over 220,000 members in three weeks.
• FOX News attempts to overcome its long-overdue reputation of practicing light-on-substance “journalism” by discussing Sen. Obama’s Hawaii upbringing with people who knew him in childhood, offering the profound insight that his existence there was “multi-ethnic.”
• Sen. Obama tells reporters he is “chewing Nicorette vigorously” in an effort to quit smoking, the Chicago Tribune reports.

• Media Matters has a video clip of Don Imus’s producer Bernie McGuirk referring to Sen. Obama’s “Jew-hating name.” This comes after Imus and his cohorts called Sen. Obama a “creep,” “a wind-watching wimp,” and
  “a flip-flopping weasel.” Because MSNBC knows there’s nothing more newsworthy than a bunch of bitter, backwater old men calling people names behind their back.
• RunObama points us toward a Hawaiian genealogist who “makes the discovery that Senator Obama shares some distant relations” with “Presidents George Washington, James Madison, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter.”

I’ll be away from a computer over the next two days, so posting will be lighter. Back on Wednesday with the vigilant coverage and rapid response you’ve come to expect here. In the meantime, the other great Obama sites in the blogroll to the left are definitely worth checking out.

Thanks as always for visiting OBAMARAMA.

As if the fact that they’re from the hometown of the next President of the United States wasn’t enough, now Wonkette informs us that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is backing the Colts. This is a no-brainer.

And we all know how spot-on her predictions tend to be.

This morning, Sen. Obama will be speaking at the DNC’s Winter Meeting, along with most of the other Democratic presidential candidates. Later in the day he will be speaking at the Students for Barack Obama rally in Fairfax, Virginia.

OBAMARAMA will be on hand for both events. Be sure to check back later for updates and photos.

This morning’s papers are full of Sen. Obama’s remarks at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee “field hearing” in New Orleans yesterday. Just before taking a bus tour of the Lower 9th Ward with other committee members, Sen. Obama took the opportunity to criticize the snail’s pace at which reconstruction — specifically, promised federal funding of reconstruction — has occurred:

“There is not a sense of urgency in this administration to get this done,” said the senator from Illinois. “You get a sense that will has been lacking in the last
several months.”…The session follows criticism of Bush for not including any mention of the New Orleans recovery effort in last week’s State of the Union address. Obama echoed that criticism, noting that Bush had traveled to the city shortly after the disaster and promised to do “what it takes . . . as long as it takes” to rebuild New Orleans.

But “17 months later, we heard not a single word, not one word in President Bush’s State of the Union address,” Obama said. “Those of us who are concerned all across the country wonder if we’re in danger of forgetting about New Orleans, and that’s shameful.”

The Sun-Times ran this AP photo with the caption below:

“Senator Barack Obama D-Ill., left, and Sen. Joe Lieberman ID-Conn. listen as Sen. Mary Landrieu D-La., talks during a briefing at Jackson Barracks after a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Katrina and Rita recovery in New Orleans.”

Newsweek’s “Periscope” talks to stand-up comics about what it calls their “Obama problem:”

“There’s this thing in America where you can’t make fun of someone who’s a nice guy, works hard, does well,” says Darrell Hammond, the pitch-perfect “SNL” impersonator of Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and others. “And that’s all we know about Obama right now.”

Still, comics offer a few examples of how to get around this:

“Daily Show” viewers heard a heavenly noise — “a choir of angels,” host Jon Stewart said. “It can only mean one thing: Barack Obama did something.” Jay Leno’s line: “The big story, of course: ‘American Idol.’ But enough about Barack Obama.”… “Since Obama lacks faults, weaknesses or imperfections of any kind, I guess they’ll just have to soberly discuss his evenhanded policy positions,” suggests Peter Koechley, managing editor of The Onion. He’s making a joke.

(Hat tip to RunObama.)

The Boston Globe reports on Sen. Obama’s remarks to the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the subject of funding for rebuilding the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina — a topic President Bush notably failed to broach in his State of the Union address:

Sen. Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat and presidential hopeful, addressed the committee, saying the president’s failure to mention the disaster contributes to questions about whether the government is committed to helping New Orleans rebuild.“I hope we get some answers to the questions today because rebuilding the city of New Orleans is not just good for the Gulf Coast or the state of Louisiana, it’s good for our nation,” Obama said.

In the fashion of a true sports fan, Sen. Obama threw a little trash talk in the direction of the New Orleans Saints recently, as they head into the penultimate round of the playoffs this Sunday. That’s when they’ll be facing off against Sen. Obama’s hometown team, the Bears, in Chicago.

“I am happy for New Orleans. I think it’s a wonderful story for their city, but this fairy tale ends when they come to Chicago,” Sen. Obama told reporters.

Regarding last week’s game against the Seahawks, he said that “The defense bent but it did not break. And [quarterback Rex] Grossman looked all right. … The Bears are going to the Super Bowl.”

As a New Englander (complete with the longstanding sports loyalties we all inherit at birth), it’s nice to hear a candidate with a genuine allegiance to his home team. And how do we know it’s genuine? Because in addition to putting up a great team this season, New Orleans also happens to be recovering from a certain catastrophic hurricane. You have to really love your team to smacktalk a city that is still largely rubble. That earns you some serious fan cred.

Of course, Rush Limbaugh is looking like a big sissy as he tries to capitalize on the comments, claiming they were insensitive. He also thinks that every fan in America is morally obligated to root for what he calls the “United States Saints.” Get a grip, Rush! Welcome to the NFL, my friend. I may be pulling for the Pats on Sunday, but I’ll be quietly rooting for the Bears as well — out of respect. If and when they face each other in the Super Bowl, I may need to reconsider this blog, however.

Question: What do you call a lawyer from Illinois, a former state legislator who served just two years in the U.S. Congress, who decides to pursue the nation’s highest office?

Answer: Mr. President.

The media is constantly looking for the right analogy to encapsulate Sen. Obama’s meteoric rise — JFK, RFK, Bill Clinton. Following Sen. Obama’s announcement that he is forming a presidential exploratory committee, the Associated Press hits the nail on the head, pointing out that there is in fact an historical precedent for the Obama candidacy.

“For all those historians and political naysayers,” the article notes, “Sen. Barack Obama’s allies like to point out that Abraham Lincoln served just two years in the House before becoming president.” It’s a parallel that will be useful to Sen. Obama’s supporters down the road, as we have noted here previously.

The article continues:

At a time when many voters say they are unhappy with the direction of the country, a lack of experience in the nation’s capital may not be a liability. “The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place,” Obama said.

I don’t think introducing over 150 bills in the U.S. Senate qualifies as “a lack of experience,” but it’s true that Sen. Obama’s distance from the bad decisions of the past half decade can’t be a bad thing. One decision in particular jumps to mind.