Obama: Funky Or Fluffy President?

At some point he’s going to have to snuff out that "Newport" and mention our issues; police brutality, racial disparities in education, and jobs. He doesn’t have to pump the fist, wear a leather jacket and shades, just give us a Shout Out! For now this cat may not be ready to wear that hat, but months down the line, he’ll make an interesting Vice Presidential choice.

 
When Barack Obama came to national prominence he was just Barack Obama, when he became a real threat to become the IL Senator, right wing talk radio grunts began calling him Obama bin Laden.

Now he’s a threat to become President of the United States, and his true middle name comes out; Hussein. I realize that from his vantage point there may be food for thought to consider a run for Campaign ’08. Democrats like him, for the present he seems like their Knight in shinning armor.

Senator Joseph Biden (D) of Delaware wasn’t completely wrong, he is bright, he wears good suits, he smokes, there’s some old school sophistication mixed in with real world cool in this brother. He’s only played a couple of cards since his IL victory, he’s against the war, he favors Universal Health Care. There’s just one small problem, he’s running against some white woman named Hillary.

No I didn’t buy Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope.” I glanced through it briefly at a local book store and determined that I read my last children’s book back in grade school. To tell you the truth I can’t remember if it was “Peanutsâ€? or “The Cat in the Hat.â€? Like I said, I know Obama is playing his hard-line cards close to his chest, but boyish charm has never motivated me to spend money on authors.

Bill Clinton once complained that then-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin Powell was getting a free ride back when Powell was considering a run for the ’96 campaign. Obama is different, in an era when Bill’s wife is the democratic front-runner; he is giving us a free ride. Many blacks fear Obama’s lack of any significant attachment to their community won’t result in the “Funky President� that James Brown once sang about, but instead a fluffy president.  

Personally I don’t want fluff in the Oval office, after all the damage that Bush caused, what the country needs is battle-tested. That is Hillary Clinton. She’s got the issues, she’s got the bank, and she’s got one hell of a head start. We still have yet to see what else is coming from the Republicans, pitting young Obama against the unpredictable Giuliani or cunning Condoleezza Rice—don’t believe she can’t enter the fray late, so as to avoid media scrutiny between Fall ’07-Spring ’08—may hurt the dems.

While Obama doesn’t need direct connections to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in order to win in ’08—David Dinkins and Douglass Wilder won Mayoral and Governor elections in the early ‘90’s by mostly keeping their distance from them—he’s not going to get away with just searching for “universal� issues. He needs that black vote.

At some point he’s going to have to snuff out that “Newport” and mention our issues; police brutality, racial disparities in education, and jobs. He doesn’t have to pump the fist, wear a leather jacket and shades, just give us a Shout Out! For now this cat may not be ready to wear that hat, but months down the line, he’ll make an interesting Vice Presidential choice.

Black Star News contributing columnist, Stevenson, writes for the Buffalo Criterion, email comments to him at [email protected]

 

 

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