Saturday, October 16, 2004

Worst Obama story ever?

Is this story from the AP the poorest story on Barack Obama to date? I think it may be the poorest I have read -- and I have probably read them all.

First, the opening sentence makes it sound like Mr. Obama was homeless as a child:
Barack Obama grew up on the beaches of Hawaii and the streets of Indonesia.
It then makes this brilliant observation:
His life, in short, has been far different from the average Illinois voter's.
A life far different from the average Illinois voter's? Oh, like every other candidate for statewide office. In Illinois, average folks generally don't run for public office. Of course if you are related to someone already in office, you can run even if you are well below average.

And how do they address Mr. Obama's becoming the black president of the Harvard Law Review?
The accomplishment led to a flurry of attention in such newspapers as the Boston Globe and the Los Angeles Times - so much attention that Obama's friends joked about who would play them in the movie.

Their fictitious cast list had Blair Underwood playing Obama. When the actor visited Harvard, he stopped by the law review and had dinner with Obama.
Of course! Naturally, a story about heading one of the nation's most prestigious legal journals should degenerate into a tale of a brush with Hollywood semi-greatness.

But what about Mr. Obama's powerful ability to connect with all types of audiences? How does the AP address that?
At one event, he takes question after question from angry abortion opponents and calmly explains his position. Speaking at a church, he uses "heck" in a story that usually includes the harsher version of the word.

His standard stump speech Murphy's slightly at an event with quite a few black people and union members; suddenly he says "Yale" a lot and includes labor legislation in his list of accomplishments.
Obama doesn't speak in exactly the same manner all the time? An outrage! Who ever heard of someone adjusting their language for a particular audience? After all, I use that particular 12-letter compound word in front of my grandma just like I do with my brother -- anything else would be dishonest.

Huzza, Chris Wills! I wouldn't have guessed that any writer could make Obama's extraordinary life story seem so base.





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