M. Charles Bakst: Barack Obama on White House and Whitehouse
2006-10-12
Source: Providence Journal
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rss feedWhen Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois appears here today for Sheldon Whitehouse's Senate campaign, many who hear him will be hoping they're listening to a future president. The Senate's lone black member, 45, is only a first-termer but is a gifted orator, a drawing card for Democratic candidates around the country and adored like a rock star.
The memo on media arrangements for a $50-a-person Whitehouse fundraiser at Rhode Island College's recreation center - credentials, camera locations, etc. - is nearly as detailed as for a presidential visit.
On the phone the other day, Obama ruled out trying for president in 2008 and nicely deflected a question about the burden on him of expectations that some day he will run. "It's a high-class problem to have," he said, and other people face tougher challenges. "A burden is when, you know, you're laid off your job or you don't have health insurance and your kids get sick."
One reason Obama was looking forward to being here is that his brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, is Brown University's new basketball coach. After the 5:30 RIC event and a 6:30 $1,000 Whitehouse/Democratic Party fundraiser at the home of Jack and Sara McConnell, Obama speaks at 9 at Brown's Salomon Center, a speech open to the public free of charge.
Obama hosted an Aug. 7 Chicago fundraiser that brought Whitehouse more than $50,000.
Obama says Republican Lincoln Chafee is a decent guy, but the election will be "a referendum on the Republican leadership in Congress." He says Chafee is unable, and the GOP Congress unwilling, to hold President Bush accountable for bad decisions, and he decried a failure to move ahead on issues such as health care.
Chafee often parts company with Mr. Bush and the Republican line. But Obama says, "He does not break on that first vote to determine who's going to be the leader of the Senate."
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