Is Barack Obama Jesus?

The Official Obama Handshake 0 comments

I felt the crowd down front tighten as many of us stood on our toes, stretched our bodies forward while reaching out to Barack. I noticed that a six foot tall guy who was standing in front of me had stretched far enough above the crowd and shook hands with Barack. As the guy drew back his hand I asked him, "You shook his hand didn't you?" Happily the guy said "Yes." I then said, "give me some of that" and the guy shook my hand with the same hand he had just clasped with Barack's. A woman friend of mine who was standing next to me saw me shake hands with the guy. I turned to her and said "He [the guy] just shook hands with Barack," to which she responded..."Hey, give it up." We then shook hands. She then turned to the person next to her and shook hands. This chain of hand shakes went on for about five or six more persons.

I did not know the tall guy in front of me; he is white, I am black. But at the moment we shook hands, I felt some solidarity with this stranger, consummated by a handshake and signifying some unspoken agreement presumably about Barack Obama and his core message of UNITY!

I call this hand-shake scenario the "BAM" because, descriptively, it takes a bit of Obama's name and it's the sound of a collision, of People Coming Together!

It was more like church 0 comments

Maybe it was the representation of youth in the crowd that lends the oft-cited air of a rock concert that has been attributed to Obama rallies.

But that wasn't quite it, not entirely. It was more like church – not the stuffy kind, but roof-shaking soul church where people testify and dance in the aisles when the spirit's upon them.

"It's electric! Can't you feel it?" said one man, who told me he was headed for work at the IRS after the rally. I could feel it, because it's a fundamental element of crowd psychology that the expectation of "electricity" creates it. . . .

The main event, of course, was the speech, which I have heard before. I just sat back and felt the key phrases wash over the crowd: "new," "change," "Kennedy," "Scooter Libby justice," "wiretaps," "Katrina."

The lady sitting next to me dipped into a bucket of popcorn and murmured the phrases back: " 'If you believe.' 'The time is now.' That's right," she agreed.

She was a little disappointed, in fact, when the rally ended: "Why didn't he do, 'Yes we can'?" she asked a friend, as if a concert had ended, the biggest hit not performed.

. . . about a half-hour into a speech here, the Illinois Democrat announced that he had to take a quick break. "Gotta blow my nose here for a second," Obama said.

Out came a Kleenex (or perhaps it was a hankie), and he wiped his nose.

The near-capacity audience at the Reunion Arena, which his campaign said totaled 17,000, broke out in a slightly awkward applause.

Obama will DEMAND that you shed your cynicism 0 comments

Barack Obama WILL REQUIRE YOU to work. He is going to DEMAND that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation and that you move out of your comfort zone. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage.


Barack will NEVER ALLOW YOU to go back to your lives as usual – uninvolved, uninformed – you have to stay at the seat at the table of democracy with a man like Barack Obama not just on Tuesday but in a year from now, in four years from now, in eights years from now, YOU WILL HAVE TO BE ENGAGED.

is trying to make a statement? 0 comments

In the last generation, a motivated, organized "religious right" has flexed its considerable muscle in both electing candidates and shaping American public policy.

But what if God is trying to make a statement in 2008 through the meteoric rise of a new symbol -- a charismatic, eloquent senator from Illinois who is turning conventional American politics on its head? That food for thought will form the basis of Sunday's sermon by Pastor John Van Sloten at New Hope Church, . . .

Van Sloten admits he's become an unabashed fan of Barack Obama after watching his TV speeches and reading his book The Audacity of Hope.

"I know Obama has been criticized for being all about vague ideals and not about specific policies," Van Sloten says.

"But unless you have ideals, nothing is going to change. You have to be able to dream outside the box."

"... an almost mesmeric fervour ..." 0 comments

Mary Tyszko, a white, 50-year-old health worker, clutched her hands. “He has given me hope. I really believe in him. And I just trust him.”

Then Mr Obama took to the stage. The noise was deafening, a long, exultant roar with all the force and overwhelming power of a jet engine before take-off. “Obama! Obama! Obama! Obamaaaaaaaaa!” they chanted

From four giant screens hanging from the ceiling, Mr Obama’s image could be seen from the farthest reaches of the stadium, waving, clapping at this adoring crowd, as they stared up at him with an almost mesmeric fervour. At one point in his speech, delivered in the religious cadence of Dr King, Mr Obama had to blow his nose. “Obama!” they chanted and clapped again, as their idol wiped his face.

This is a daily ritual for Mr Obama. Only 24 hours earlier, he appeared in a Mexican-American enclave of western San Antonio and drew a crowd as big as that which greeted Pope John Paul II when he visited the same area in September 1987. . . . he is greeted by massive crowds, never before seen during a presidential primary campaign, filled with young and old, black and white, men and women, steelworkers and fund managers, nurses and accountants. No wonder he believes the White House is now within his reach.

On Center Stage, a Candidate Letting His Confidence Show 0 comments

Mr. Obama is on an electoral roll, polls show him pulling closer in Ohio and Texas, crowds show him the Big Celebrity Love, what’s not to like? A touch of cockiness is discernable in his manner now; he is like a gambler convinced his every dice roll will come up double sixes.

His rally in Austin, Tex., on Friday evening fitted his hoped-for-narrative. Fifteen-thousand people, maybe 20,000, jam into the streets in front of the soaring State Capitol, with the usual Obama-as-electoral-rave giddiness. University of Texas guys with painted faces flash the longhorn symbol with their fingers, red-white-and-blue beach balls bounce through the crowd, a band plays “Obama-alujah” and thousands stand in the chill night ready to be rapturous. . . .

On Center Stage, a Candidate Letting His Confidence Show New York Times February 24, 2008.

Dawn had not broken, and yet the television images showed Dallas' Reunion Arena and a long line of silhouetted people already gathering for an event not scheduled until noon.

They were awaiting the messianic figure of a presidential candidate who had just added two more wins to his victory column and who the night before had ignited a crowd of about 20,000 in Houston.

Barack Obama was coming to town. . . .

Inside the arena, the unprompted crowd was yelling, "O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!" a full 90 minutes before the candidate would appear. And just like at sporting events there in days gone by, one section spontaneously led the others in the "wave."

"Old" warriors such as longtime community leader Rene Martinez and activist Roy Williams marveled at the enthusiasm among the diverse audience and said they had never seen anything quite like this.

"If I died today, it would be all right," Williams told me, indicating he was witnessing something he never expected he would live to see.

Parents had taken their children out of school because they were keenly aware this was a special moment in history. Some high school kids from Fort Worth had skipped classes and taken the early train to Dallas.

When finally taking the stage, Obama basked in the outpouring of affection as his followers stood in awe of the man whom they had waited so long to behold. He was well into his speech when he thought to remind the crowd that it was all right for them to sit down as he delivered the rest of his comments.

Some have made fun of his charismatic nature, inspirational tone and continual reference to hope. Many wonder if that wonderment and glorified exuberance can last through the rest of the campaign.

Well, based on what I saw, this movement won't peak until November.

"Barack Obama is the Hope of the Entire World" 0 comments

Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said Sunday that presidential candidate Barack Obama is the "hope of the entire world" that the U.S. will change for the better.

The 74-year-old Farrakhan, addressing an estimated crowd of 20,000 people at the annual Saviours' Day celebration, never outrightly endorsed Obama but spent most of the nearly two-hour speech praising the Illinois senator.

"This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better," he said. "This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama's audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed."

Farrakhan compared Obama to the religion's founder, Fard Muhammad, who also had a white mother and black father.

"A black man with a white mother became a savior to us," he told the crowd of mostly followers. "A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."