Joint Center News from the Convention Floor - Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Obama Takes National Spotlight; Senate Victory All But Certain
BOSTON—It seems a bit premature, but there’s already talk of running Barack Obama for president. At the moment, he’s just a state senator in Illinois. But after last night’s performance at the Democratic National Convention, he’s probably the best known state senator in the world.
Obama’s impressive keynote address at the Fleet Center lifted him from relative obscurity to a symbol of the party’s future. It also gave his drive for the U.S. Senate a boost that even his $10 million campaign bankroll cannot buy.
But as important as his primetime appearance was to raising his profile, Obama didn’t need the speaking engagement to secure his election victory. Victory is almost certain, because he has no Republican opponent. Obama’s former challenger dropped out of the race after news reports revealed he had taken his former wife to sex clubs. So far, the GOP has been unable to find a replacement. Obama, at this point, can simply walk into office.
Nevertheless, he won’t allow his senate campaign to become complacent, according to David A. Bositis, a Joint Center senior policy analyst attending the convention. “He’s cautious,†Bositis said. “He’s not going to get a swelled head.â€
Obama used his speech to introduce himself to America. He talked about his father, a goat herder from Kenya who married a White woman from Kansas while attending college in the United States. Obama lived with her parents in Hawaii.
He makes a prominent note of his background, a heritage he says enables him to connect with a variety of people. “I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that in no other country on earth is my story even possible,†he told cheering delegates waving Obama placards.
Republicans cast Obama as a liberal, but like many Democrats he has taken to eschewing the label. “There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America – there’s the United States of America,†he said. “There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.â€
His speech was strong on civil liberties and personal responsibilities. “Go into any inner-city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white,†he said.
He also spoke against “federal agents poking around in our libraries.†To one of the biggest cheers of the night, he said: “If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties.â€
Bositis expects Obama to make a big splash in the Senate as soon as he gets to Washington. “Because is so eloquent, he is going to be someone the other senators have to pay attention to, even in his first year,†Bositis predicted. “And if on the off chance the Democrats take the Senate, he would be even more of a star.â€
Joe Davidson is the editor of FOCUS magazine at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. More on Barack Obama and his senate campaign appears in the July/August issue of FOCUS.