Obama

[owl]

Democrat Obama enters 2008 White House race

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois jumped into the 2008 White House race on Tuesday, promising to bring Americans together and "change our politics" with a campaign that could make him the first black president in U.S. history.

 

Obama, a freshman senator and rising party star, formed a committee to begin raising money and hiring staff to campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to succeed Republican President George W. Bush.

 

He plans a formal campaign announcement in his hometown of Chicago on February 10.

 

(Click the above link for more)

[owl]

Time to ask the important questions:

 

If Obama Stops Smoking, Will He Lose His Amazing Voice?

Juliet Eilperin

Slate.com

 

Sen. Barack Obama has the sort of voice that political consultants dream of: It's authoritative but comforting, rich and resonant and wise. Whether he's talking about the Darfur genocide or Monday Night Football, the man sounds like a leader. His voice helps account for why even hardened cynics go weak at the knees when they hear him. One of my friends prides himself on being strictly nonpartisan, but after listening to Obama's Dreams From My Father, read by the senator himself, he confessed to me, "I shouldn't say this, but I love him."

 

There are plenty of reasons for Obama's magic voice: where he grew up, how his parents talked, how he breathes. But perhaps most important is one Obama doesn't want to talk about: cigarettes. Obama is an occasional smoker.

 

Smoking over time transforms a person's voice by thickening and drying out the vocal chords. The vocal chords vibrate as your breath passes through them, so their texture and shape helps determine what your voice sounds like. David Witsell, who directs Duke University's Voice Care Center, notes that the nodules on Johnny Cash's vocal chords that stemmed in part from his smoking habit helped create his unique sound. "Many famous voices in history have pathologies that are part of their vocal signatures," Witsell says.

 

But Obama's semisecret weapon amounts to a double-edged sword. After all, what sort of successful Democratic politician smokes nowadays? Smoking is GOP old-school. House Minority Leader John Boehner regularly smokes cigarettes

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

Is Obama going to re-record Nashville Skyline?

[owl]

No no no, it's about quitting cigarettes, not a 5-pack-a-day Bubble-Yum habit!!!

 

(I hope that Bob Dylan doesn't see this and sue me for giving away his secret.)

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

Well, I thought I thought the reason Bob sounded like Kermit on Nashville Skyline was that he quit smoking.

[LouieB]

If he doesn't quit he may end up sounding like Joni Mitchell....

 

LouieB

[bobbob1313]

Despite the fact that the Democrats seem to be doing everything in their power to fuck up the Iraq situation (with the exception, strangely enough, of Ted Kennedy, who seems to be the only one with an idea of what to do), Obama is still by far their best shot at winning. Reminds alot of Bush in the run-up to the 2000 election, in that he didn't have much experience, but he really connected with the people.

[owl]

Well, I thought I thought the reason Bob sounded like Kermit on Nashville Skyline was that he quit smoking.

 

I once heard that he attributed it to chewing a lot of bubble gum. I didn't know about the attempt to quit smoking. Who's to say the two are mutually exclusive, though? Maybe he chewed a lot of bubble gum to kick his cigarette habit and ended up exacerbating the bad vocals.

[owl]

Despite the fact that the Democrats seem to be doing everything in their power to fuck up the Iraq situation (with the exception, strangely enough, of Ted Kennedy, who seems to be the only one with an idea of what to do), Obama is still by far their best shot at winning. Reminds alot of Bush in the run-up to the 2000 election, in that he didn't have much experience, but he really connected with the people.

 

I'm not surprised that Ted Kennedy is making sense. He may be widely hated by the right, and he may have that unfortunate blemish on his past, but I still think he's a good Democrat.

[Reni]

Reminds alot of Bush in the run-up to the 2000 election, in that he didn't have much experience, but he really connected with the people.

 

I still don't think I know anyone that connected with him pre-2000......everyone I know, and knew then, thought he was an arrogant, bumbling prat - he has proven them correct.

[owl]

Is it too late to tell them "I told you so"?

[Guest Jules]

so it took a little more than an hour for an Obama thread to turn into a Bush-bashing thread. You are all too predictable.

[owl]

I don't remember saying that this thread must stick to Obama. But I also don't remember saying "no whining," so I guess you've made a fair play.

 

 

On a side note, I'm still surprised when people admit to voting for Bush twice.

 

I'm not sure which is worse 1) Party loyalists who will predictably willingly, unnecessarily go down with the ship, or 2) Obama fans who are also predictably anti-Republican.

[Sir Stewart]

BAD vocals?!@???!?

[embiggen]

I love Obama, whether he smokes or not.

[owl]

He should probably quit smoking, though. Hey, it'd be one more thing he could do to enhance his air of accomplishment.

 

(Also, it will undoubtedly be a bad message to send to the childrens of the United States.)

[Guest Jules]

I love Obama, whether he smokes or not.

What do you love about him?

[bobbob1313]

What do you love about him?

 

Is it because he's black?

[Reni]

As long as Bush is in office, rattling the sabers of war, arrogantly turning a deaf ear to his own advisors, military officials as well as the majority of his own citizenry - and laying down the groundwork to expand his current failure of a policy into Iran - I will bash him left and right.

 

As for Obama - I was carrying the Obama '08 flag in 2004. The thing about Obama that I have never felt with any other politician in my lifetime is the feeling of hope. He gives me hope......he is articulate and intelligent.....comes across as intensely diplomatic and is a critical/deep thinker......this is what we need, not a cowboy with a large arsenal.

[bobbob1313]

Reminds me of Bill Clinton, with a lot less personality.

[owl]

What do you love about him?

 

Are you more of an Alan Keyes kind of guy?

 

Reminds me of Bill Clinton, with a lot less personality.

 

For Clinton, there is a fine line between personality and sliminess. (Don't get me wrong, I like Clinton, but it's true.)

[Reni]

I think Obama has a magnetic personality - and of course it doesn't hurt him that he is also very handsome.

[bobbob1313]

Obama seems too overtly political with his personality. Any candid interviews I've seen he seems extremely careful with what he says, for fear of offending anyone at all, where as Clinton seemed more loose. More fun.

[embiggen]

What do you love about him?

 

I love the fact that he is smart and has a grasp of all points of view to just about any matter placed before him. He's definitely someone that just about anyone can relate to as a person, just as bobbob stated about Bush in 2000. Of all the Democratic candidates that would run, he's just my favorite. But I also think that we have many good candidates coming out to run; John Edwards and Joseph Biden are two more that I really respect and have excellent political records. With regards to Joseph Biden's plagarism in 1965, that happened so long ago that it isn't even an issue any more. For once, I want someone who is smart back in the White House.

[uncle wilco]

barack hussein obama...a smoker? dude did coke, pot, etc. and we're talking about cigarettes?...wow.

 

who cares? the dude has a gift. i hope he can back up all the "warm fuzzies" he gives everyone. because all we've got in d.c. right now is a bunch of talkers.