Obama's Early Political Years in Chicago 1 of 2

I hate to rain on the Obama Zombie's parade, but this man is just another politician at best. In fact I would say that he is worse than the typical politician because his political upbringing was in Chicago, the capital of corruption in the United States. If this man is such a reformer, then why did he do absolutely nothing about the corruption in Chicago, even when he had the chance? The reason is simple, if he had tried, then he might have been defeated by the corrupt political machine in Chicago and his political future would have ended. This proves that it is, and always has been, only about Barack Obama. Even in early Chicago years, Obama was ambitious, pragmatic, strategic By Margaret Talev McClatchy-Tribune News Service After getting married, working for a civil rights law firm, lecturing at the University of Chicago Law School and being published, Obama in 1995 prepared to run for office. State Sen. Alice Palmer was running for Congress and Obama got her blessing to run for her seat representing Chicago's South Side in the Illinois General Assembly. But when she lost her bid for Congress and pressured Obama to drop out so she could keep her job, he refused. His supporters successfully challenged the validity of her ballot signatures and ended her bid. This angered some of Palmer's allies in Springfield, including older black legislators. So did Obama's quick rise once in office — and his ability to push through civil-rights bills involving racial profiling and taping homicide interrogations, measures that his veteran colleagues had failed to pass when Democrats were in the minority. State Sen. Rickey Hendon of Chicago's West Side was one of those critics; he was even quoted back then questioning how black Obama really was. These days, though, Hendon supports Obama's campaign and insists the reports of bad feelings were overblown. "Barack I found to be bright and intelligent," Hendon said. "I had my conflicts with him, don't get me wrong. But you work past it. He was more willing to compromise and find common ground on some of these things than I was or some other members of the black caucus — racial profiling, videotaping of confessions, the death penalty. Barack had the patience, and not being in the early fights gave him a level of, I guess you'd call acceptability with the other side. "He's black. But he's not the angry black man. He had a different experience. I think that's what makes him perfect for this country at this time. He understands both worlds." Hendon said he has a book coming out next month that deals with issues surrounding Obama and race. In 1999, Obama challenged a fellow black Democrat, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, the former Black Panther activist, for his House seat. Rush crushed Obama in 2000. But the loss had a silver lining: Obama's supporters included many whites, even from outside the district. That opened up his prospects for statewide office. "He learned that he had crossover appeal," said Marty Nesbitt, a Chicago businessman and one of Obama's best friends. "In a statewide race he could get support from the African-American community and the non-African-American community, whereas another African-American might not have the same appeal." Obama also had made a powerful mentor in Emil Jones Jr., the state Senate president. Jones had tapped Obama to manage legislation — including ethics reforms — that Obama still talks about on the campaign trail. Jones' support also was key to building Obama's following enough to win his U.S. Senate seat in 2004. "When you see a talented individual, people just want to see how far this person can go," said John Corrigan, a Democratic consultant. He helped Obama redraw his state district lines after the 2000 census in a way that boosted his fundraising prospects. "I just think people saw him destined for something bigger."

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YouTube | September 8, 2008

Tags:. .side. .nothing. .lost. .quick. .political