INTERVIEW

‘I Had to Learn to Fight’

Obama's mom was an idealist, his stepdad a hardheaded realist, his father a myth. How all this shaped him.

By Jon Meacham | NEWSWEEK
Published Aug 23, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Sep 1, 2008

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  • Posted By: Davole @ 08/28/2008 6:02:23 PM

    Dems choose Obama in thunderous acclamation
    Yahoo News by David Espo, AP Special Correspondent Wed Aug 27, 7:18 PM ET

    Clinton's call for Obama to be approved by acclamation ??? midway through the traditional roll call of the states ??? was the culmination of a painstaking agreement worked out between the two camps to present a unified front.


    My commentary:

    So, democrats, in order to portray a false unification, schemed to allow politics to trump the democratic process.

    And they are insulted when people don???t refer to them as the democrat(ic) party!

    Yes, the truth is offensive to the democrat party!

  • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 08/27/2008 10:53:22 AM

    Obama's childhood was not difficult. He was raised by his married mother and step father and his grandparents. His grandmother was a bank vice president and he was not on welfare and was not on food stamps. He had enough money that after he graduated he went abroad instead of going to work. He had enough money to use cocaine for years. If he fought, it was because he thought that would get him more power. Read what his teachers in Indonesia had to say about him liking to boss the other kids in class around. Pretty scary if he still has that same mentality, which it appears he does. His idea of "unifying" the party and the country is telling everyone what to do and them doing it.

    No way, no how, nObama

  • Posted By: techresmgt @ 08/26/2008 9:25:09 PM

    Oh, we're all giddy. Enough, some of us are 'Oprahma'ed OUT'. Oprahma; the great baloney slicer.

  • Posted By: Bisong @ 08/26/2008 3:45:42 PM

    Barack Obama's success in life debunks chauvinistic theories that always see troubled children in youngsters brought up by female single parents.

  • Posted By: Davole @ 08/26/2008 3:25:46 PM

    McCain uses Vietnam ordeal against jibes over wealth
    REUTERS by Andrew Gray Aug. 25, 2008

    BURBANK, California (Reuters) - John McCain, who often invokes his ordeal as a Vietnam war prisoner to show his devotion to his country as he runs for U.S. president, drew on the experience again on Monday -- this time to deflect sniping over the number of houses he owns.

    McCain's Democratic rival Barack Obama last week accused the Republican senator of being out of touch with ordinary people after he was unable to say in an interview how many houses were owned by him and his wife Cindy, a wealthy heiress to a beer distributorship.

    In an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, McCain, 71, said his priority was to keep Americans in their homes in tough economic times.

    Then he recalled his Vietnam experience.
    "I spent 5 1/2 years in a prison cell without -- I didn't have a house. I didn't have a kitchen table. I didn't have a table. I didn't have a chair," he said.
    "I spent those 5 1/2 years ... not because I wanted to get a house when I got out."

    U.S. HOUSING WOES
    Rising energy prices and the faltering economy have become central issues in the race for the White House. The next president will inherit problems including a mortgage crisis that has cost many Americans their homes.

    McCain said he was prepared to deal with that and sought to play down the controversy over his family's assets.

    "I'm proud of my record of service to this country and it has nothing to do with houses. What it has to do with (is) putting Americans in houses and keeping them in their homes. And that's what I know how to do," he said to loud cheers from the studio audience.

    On the show the Arizona senator listed four homes he and his wife have -- one in the Washington area, two in Arizona and one in California. Media reports and Democrats have said the couple have at least seven properties when investments are included.

    McCain said he was proud of the way his wife's father had built up a large business after fighting in World War Two.

    With the Democrats engaged in their convention in Denver this week that will formally nominate Obama and the Republicans due to meet next week, polls show the two candidates locked in a dead heat in the popular vote. McCain predicted a tight finish in the November 4 election

    Obama's house in the affluent Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park is worth more than $1.5 million, and he has made millions from the publication of two autobiographical books.

  • Posted By: Davole @ 08/26/2008 2:59:19 PM

    Republicans Spread Message of Democrats??? Disunity
    The Hill by Sam Youngman Aug. 25, 2008

    DENVER ??? Republicans have infiltrated the Democratic National Convention as they seek to exploit and widen the divisions between supporters of presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and his former primary rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

    The Republican National Committee (RNC) has set up shop in downtown Denver, and a number of high-profile Republican surrogates are making the media rounds at the Democrats' convention. They???re pushing the idea ??? disputed by Obama (Ill.) and Clinton (N.Y.) aides ??? that the Democratic Party is badly divided and Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is poised to peel off Clinton supporters.

    The Republicans are breaking somewhat with tradition, launching a much larger presence at their opponents' weeklong party than in the past. While rapid-response teams from both parties are generally dispatched to the opposing party's conventions, this year Republicans are being much more aggressive.

    Alex Conant, the RNC press secretary, said Monday that he doesn't think this year's effort is more aggressive than the one in 2004, but he said that the accommodations this year are more convenient and more "media ready."

    The RNC has two-dozen staffers on the ground in Denver, Conant said, and they will have at least one high-profile McCain surrogate in town every day of the convention. Victory 2008 Chairwoman Carly Fiorina was in town Monday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will be in town Tuesday, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Thursday. Pawlenty and Romney are considered finalists to be McCain's running mate, and Giuliani is the keynote speaker at next week's Republican convention.

    At the heart of the GOP's efforts is a Democratic convention that still has an 800-pound gorilla of a question ??? party unity. Republicans continue to point to a poll last week that showed only 52 percent of Clinton supporters lining up behind Obama, with 21 percent saying they will support McCain.

    And CNN released a poll Monday that showed 66 percent of Clinton supporters are now backing Obama. That's down from 75 percent in the end of June. And 27 percent of her supporters now say they'll support McCain, up from 16 percent in late June.

    "We didn't create all the disunity in the Democratic Party," Conant said. "I think Barack Obama did. We'll do all we can to shed light on it with the goal of reaching out to Hillary Clinton supporters."

    Conant added that all the Clinton supporters in the convention hall "are not the product of the RNC."

    Because of the Republican offensive, senior advisers to Obama and Clinton were furiously trying to extinguish constant reports of party unrest Monday morning before the convention had even officially begun.

  • Posted By: repub4obama @ 08/26/2008 1:03:58 PM

    In typical fashion the right wing conservatives can take something as beautiful as a son loving his mother and wanting to be strong for her and help her out as something negative.
    Just shows you an insight on what the right wing conservative movement is all about. It's all about hate and spite. They can't stand it when something good and pure happens in the world, something honorable. They have to spin it into something negative.
    These right wing conservatives are so full of hate, and try to make everyone as miserable as themselves.

    • Posted By: Davole @ 08/26/2008 2:55:53 PM

      repub4obama -

      Can you support your claim with valid facts, or is it all about your feelings?

  • Posted By: tonybryantart @ 08/26/2008 2:53:02 PM

    Everyone is welcome to participate in "A Dream We All Can Believe In". This campaign is a tribute to Barack Obama and his American Dream. Proudly display your support For Obama '08, in the eye catching T-shirt created by artist Tony Bryant. Don't miss out on this opportunity, to be a part of the Obama movement, "A Dream We All Can Believe In". Can be found on the website that is for "we the people." at http://www.tonybryant.net.

  • Posted By: rastawoman @ 08/26/2008 12:49:25 PM

    My sister raised a son by herself. Although she was financially comfortable and capable of taking care of herself, her son was "protective" of her. Was he misogynist or loving or just aware he could become an orphan?

  • Posted By: rastawoman @ 08/26/2008 12:48:00 PM

    My sister raised a son by herself and although he is now 26 and she has always been financially comfortable, he still tries to "protect" her. Does that make him misogynist or loving?

  • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 08/26/2008 10:24:19 AM

    How misogynist is he? His mother needed to be "protected" because his biological father left?

    Please!!!! No wonder he is so dismissive of HRC. Apparently women aren't able to take care of themselves.

  • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 08/26/2008 10:20:02 AM

    "Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now" -- Barack Obama

  • Posted By: Davole @ 08/26/2008 4:21:52 AM

    Senior Dems Concerned Over McCain Gains
    The Hill by Alexander Bolton Aug. 25, 2008

    DENVER ??? Senior Democratic politicians are signaling concern about Sen. Barack Obama???s (Ill.) slip in the polls and are urging him to regain his edge against GOP rival Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

    Rep. John Dingell (Mich.), the longest-serving House Democrat, said Obama must realize the primary season is behind him and Republicans will ???run a very rough campaign against him.???

    Dingell???s critique comes in the wake of polls showing that McCain has gained ground on Obama since the Democratic senator left the campaign trail for a family vacation in Hawaii. A CNN poll released Monday showed McCain and Obama in a dead heat.

    ???The campaign has not yet taken off,??? said Dingell in a telephone interview. ???He???s got to address things that go into a presidential campaign as opposed to a primary campaign. They???re very different campaigns.???

    Even Obama???s allies, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the co-chairman of Obama???s campaign, acknowledge McCain has gained ground. Durbin said Obama???s absence from the news cycle during his Hawaii vacation, combined with Russia???s invasion of Georgia, gave McCain a chance to dominate the race over the last 10 days.

    ???We realize over the last week or 10 days that John McCain has had a 12-0 run in this basketball game,??? said Durbin, who hastened to add: ???We know the momentum can shift.

    ???My observation is, and I talked a little bit about it with Barack after [his] tour overseas with dramatic positive results, that we expected an evening of the playing field,??? he said.

    Dingell said Obama can regain momentum if he addresses substantive issues such as a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, rebuilding of the nation???s roads and infrastructure, and the lack of health insurance for an estimated 47 million Americans, including 1 million in Michigan.

    Dingell???s words carry weight because of his seniority in the House and his knowledge of Michigan politics. The AFL-CIO, an important ally of the Democratic Party, has identified Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania as the three most important battleground states of the campaign.

    Durbin said Obama???s family vacation was ???well-deserved,??? but blamed Russia???s invasion of Georgia for focused media attention on McCain???s national security credentials. McCain is a former prisoner of war and senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

    ???All those things came together in a moment giving McCain the field ??? I mean, a stronger position than he might have otherwise have had,??? Durbin said.

  • Posted By: Davole @ 08/26/2008 4:16:59 AM

    Senior Dems Concerned Over McCain Gains
    The Hill by Alexander Bolton Aug. 25, 2008

    DENVER ??? Senior Democratic politicians are signaling concern about Sen. Barack Obama???s (Ill.) slip in the polls and are urging him to regain his edge against GOP rival Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

    Rep. John Dingell (Mich.), the longest-serving House Democrat, said Obama must realize the primary season is behind him and Republicans will ???run a very rough campaign against him.???

    Dingell???s critique comes in the wake of polls showing that McCain has gained ground on Obama since the Democratic senator left the campaign trail for a family vacation in Hawaii. A CNN poll released Monday showed McCain and Obama in a dead heat.

    ???The campaign has not yet taken off,??? said Dingell in a telephone interview. ???He???s got to address things that go into a presidential campaign as opposed to a primary campaign. They???re very different campaigns.???

    Even Obama???s allies, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the co-chairman of Obama???s campaign, acknowledge McCain has gained ground. Durbin said Obama???s absence from the news cycle during his Hawaii vacation, combined with Russia???s invasion of Georgia, gave McCain a chance to dominate the race over the last 10 days.

    ???We realize over the last week or 10 days that John McCain has had a 12-0 run in this basketball game,??? said Durbin, who hastened to add: ???We know the momentum can shift.

    ???My observation is, and I talked a little bit about it with Barack after [his] tour overseas with dramatic positive results, that we expected an evening of the playing field,??? he said.

    Dingell said Obama can regain momentum if he addresses substantive issues such as a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, rebuilding of the nation???s roads and infrastructure, and the lack of health insurance for an estimated 47 million Americans, including 1 million in Michigan.

    Dingell???s words carry weight because of his seniority in the House and his knowledge of Michigan politics. The AFL-CIO, an important ally of the Democratic Party, has identified Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania as the three most important battleground states of the campaign.

    Durbin said Obama???s family vacation was ???well-deserved,??? but blamed Russia???s invasion of Georgia for focused media attention on McCain???s national security credentials. McCain is a former prisoner of war and senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

    ???All those things came together in a moment giving McCain the field ??? I mean, a stronger position than he might have otherwise have had,??? Durbin said.

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 08/25/2008 11:43:48 PM

    8 TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST, MICHAEL PHELPS HAD AN ABSENT FATHER TOO, MICHAEL WAS BULLIED, PICKED AT AND DIAGNOSED WITH (ADHD) ...

    DID IT DESTROY HIM OR MAKE HIM A BETTER HUMAN BEING ?

    IT MADE HIM A BETTER HUMAN BEING..FACT

    BILL CLINTON ALSO HAD AN ABSENT FATHER...

    WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO, WITH THE PRICE OF TEA IN CHINA.

    CINDY LOU MCCAIN: HAS TWO OLDER SISTERS, ONE FROM AN OUT OF WEDLOCK RELATIONSHIP AND ONE FROM A PRIOR MARRIAGE (DIVORCED)

    YET THE "PORCELIN BEER PRINCESS" CLAIMED SHE WAS AN "ONLY CHLD" !!!

    HOG WASH !!!

    THERES MORE WHITE CHILDREN, FATHERLESS THAN WHAT IS BEING SHOWN, MORE WHITE CHILDREN ADOPTIONS, ABANDONMENT AND WHITE MALES TEND TO DIVORCE MULTIPLE TIMES AN LEAVE BEHIND CHILDREN FROM THOSE BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS.

    MORE HAS TO BE DONE TO EXPOSE THESE FACTS.

    SOME PEOPLE HAVE THEIR FATHERS PRESENT AND THEY MGHT AS WELL BE ...ABSENT.

    STRENGTH OF WILL,CHARECTER AND MIND WILL PREVAIL.
    -----------------------------------------------

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 08/25/2008 11:42:55 PM

    ALL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES AND FORMER PRESIDENTS WE'RE MEMBER S OF (CFR) ...

    COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

    DAVID ROCKEFELLER: HE RUNS THIS COUNTY AND BOTH PARTIES AND ITS CURRENCY (THE FED.) YOU LIVE IN A SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT, YOU DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FOOLIG...SURELY, ONLY YOURSELVES !!!

    FOUNDED BY DAVID ROCKEFELLER

    DAVID ROCKEFELLER IS AN UNAPOLOGETIC, UNASHAMED SOCIALIST AND BIG TIME CAPITALIST.

    SO YOU (SOCIALIST FEAR MONGERS) SHOULD STOP WITH THE FEAR MONGERING AND SOLELY,TRYING TO TAG & LABEL OBAMA AS A "SOCIALIST"

    BECAUSE JOHN MCCAIN, RONALD W. REAGAN, BOTH GEORGE H.W. BUSH & SON GEORGE W. BUSH JR. BILL AN HILLARY CLINTON ARE ALSO (CFR MEMBERS) AS WELL AS OTHER KNOWN PRESIDENT.


    ITS A (MONOPOLY) ITS CALLED BEING SMART, BY CONTROLING BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES, WHATEVER THE POLITICAL PERSAUSION, YOUR AGENDA IS FOLLOWED AND ADHERED TO.

    DAVID ROCKEFELLER IS (SOCIALIST-CAPITALIST-ELITIST-INTELLECTUALIST)

    SO ARE ALL CFR MEMBERS AND YOU LIVE IN A SOCIALIST-CAPITALIST WORLD...ANYWAY

    MOST OF THE WORLD IS SOCIALIST (W, EUROPE ) ARE SOCIALIST-CAPITALIST. THEY ARE NOT COMPLAINING, AT ALL, ARE THEY ?

    NOTE: JOHN MCCAIN IS A CFR MEMBER AND HIS SOON TO BE RUNNIN MATE "MORMON" MITT ROMNEY AN ALSO BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN...

    YOUR PRES. AND VICE PRES. WILL BE CFR MEMBERS, NO MATTER WHAT...NO MATTER WHAT !!
    -----------------------------------------------------------

    NOW GO AHEAD AND CALL "SEMI-SENILE" JOHN MCCAIN & "MORMON" MITT ROMNEY (SOCIALIST)...

    YOU LOW LIFES !!!!
    ---------------------------------------------------

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 08/25/2008 11:38:05 PM

    Un-Holy Roller: The same Damn Played Out Song....

    Hawaii is the 50th State in the Union...OK

    Youe Messiah John "Semi-Senile" McCain was Foreign Born...(Panama) !!

    Call me when You Prove Hawaii the 5oth State in the Union, has Severed it's Ties, Allegiance and Loyalty to the USA and is now an Independent State....Please

    Un-holy Racist-Madness: You are saying, The Sate of Hawaii, The FBI, The CIA, The American Secret Service, The State of illinois and City of Chicago,Columbia & Harvard Universities are Incompetent, when it comes to Indentification and Perpetrating a Fraud of Epic Proportions, for some Ulterior Purpose....

    Thats Borderline-Bull-Spit, an thats all that you are Packaging and trying to Sale the Very Paranoid, Racist, Bias & Simple Minded of People....Like Yourself !!!

    Try as you May, Your Bull-Spit is just that...BULL-SPIT !!

    CONTINUE TO KEEP HATE, FEAR, RACISM AND BIAS BEHAVIOR...ALIVE !!

    YOU BETTER CHECK JOHN MCCAIN'S PANAMANIAN BIRTH CERTIFICATE OUT..

    I FORGOT...AS LONG AS HE'S WHITE...HE'S ALRIGHT
    ---------------------------------------
    KEEP THE WHITEHOUSE WHITE, AT ALL COST......

    YOU, KKK, ARYAN BROTHERHOOD, NAZI'S OF AMERICA, CITIZENS COUNCIL !!!
    -----------------------------

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 08/25/2008 11:31:22 PM

    Un-Holy Roller: The same Damn Played Out Song....

    Hawaii is the 50th State in the Union...OK

    Youe Messiah John "Semi-Senile" McCain was Foreign Born...(Panama) !!

    Call me when You Prove Hawaii the 5oth State in the Union, has Severed it's Ties, Allegiance and Loyalty to the USA and is now an Independent State....Please

    Un-holy Racist-Madness: You are saying, The Sate of Hawaii, The FBI, The CIA, The American Secret Service, The State of illinois and City of Chicago,Columbia & Harvard Universities are Incompetent, when it comes to Indentification and Perpetrating a Fraud of Epic Proportions, for some Ulterior Purpose....

    Thats Borderline-Bull-Spit, an thats all that you are Packaging and trying to Sale the Very Paranoid, Racist, Bias & Simple Minded of People....Like Yourself !!!

    Try as you May, Your Bull-Spit is just that...BULL-SPIT !!

    CONTINUE TO KEEP HATE, FEAR, RACISM AND BIAS BEHAVIOR...ALIVE !!

    YOU BETTER CHECK JOHN MCCAIN'S PANAMANIAN BIRTH CERTIFICATE OUT..

    I FORGOT...AS LONG AS HE'S WHITE...HE'S ALRIGHT
    ---------------------------------------
    KEEP THE WHITEHOUSE WHITE, AT ALL COST......

    YOU, KKK, ARYAN BROTHERHOOD, NAZI'S OF AMERICA, CITIZENS COUNCIL !!!

  • Posted By: thejourneyman'swife @ 08/25/2008 10:33:39 PM

    I have a question/ comment about people referring to Obama as "the first black president". If Obama's parents were both white and black, why is he considered the black.?
    Why are so many focused on the whole "the first black president" idea?

  • Posted By: rwal @ 08/25/2008 8:51:37 PM

    First, McCain signed up for a tour of duty in Vietnam, dropping Napalm on innocent third world children, basically, frying their skin off while they were alive. Then, he deserts his crippled wife, who helped get him out of the P.O.W. camp for a younger, richer woman. Next, he is a key participate, inlcuding the cover up, in the 1980's savings and loan scandal. Finally, he cheats on his second wife with a lobbyist. And Obama needs a shrink!!!

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