DBWI: Obama a Chicago politician???

It has been nearly a decade since US Rep Barack Obama (D-HI) won the 2002 special Congressional election to replace Patsy Mink who died in office, and became Hawaii's first African-American Congressman.

His rise in Congress has been meteoric. In 2004, he was an early supporter of John Kerry's candidacy for President and gave the keynote address at the national convention. In his second full term, then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi named Obama as Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Obama campaigned and gave speeches for 75 Democratic candidates in 2006 (68 of them were elected). Touted as a candidate for statewide office, he endorsed his colleague Neil Abercrombie for Governor of Hawaii in 2010.

Currently, Obama is running to succeed Daniel Akaka in the US Senate and he currently leads an unnamed Republican by nearly 30 points in the polls.

In his autobiography, Obama wrote that he contemplated running for Congress or the Illinois legislature in the late 1990s while teaching law school in Chicago. But in 1997, Obama accepted a job offer at a prestigious Honolulu law firm. So, he and his wife Michelle packed their bags and moved back to the state where he grew up. The rest is history.

Just wondering if Obama would have had an equally successful career in politics if he had stayed in Chicago.
 
No where near the level he's at now.

Look, Hawaii is a lot easier than Chicago. Honolulu is ameteur hour compared to the seasoned pros who run Chicago politics. Obama is an inspirational guy, yeah, but I think the Chicago political machine would just chew him up and spit him out. Finally, there's the name. 'Barack Obama' works because its an exotic name from an exotic place (Hawaii); most people don't realize his dad was from Africa (Mozambique or Tanzania, I think). 'Barack Obama' from CHICAGO?!?! No way. The USA is more diverse now, but seriously - 'Barack'?

More likely, I see Obama getting out of politics, and getting into more community or faith-based organizations. He is an outstanding orator, and seems like a real smart guy, so whatever he does (outside of politics) he'd be successful at.

Mike Turcotte
 
I've heard Obama might be a candidate for a Supreme Court position if Hillary wins a second term and one of the current justices retires...
 
I've heard Obama might be a candidate for a Supreme Court position if Hillary wins a second term and one of the current justices retires...

I kind of doubt that. Even though Senate Democrats have a strong majority (57) and Hillary owes Obama for his major backing in the primaries, there probably isn't enough Republican support to put Obama onto the highest bench directly from Congress. If he gets some more judicial or law enforcement experience, maybe. Here's a thought-If Whitehouse retires as Attorney General, he could go to the Court and Obama could be the next AG, but would Obama want to give up his Senate seat, having just won it?
 
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I kind of doubt that. Even though Senate Democrats have a strong majority (57) and Hillary owes Obama for his major backing in the primaries, there probably isn't enough Republican support to put Obama onto the highest bench directly from Congress. If he gets some more judicial or law enforcement experience, maybe. Here's a thought-If Whitehouse retires as Attorney General, he could go to the Court and Obama could be the next AG, but would Obama want to give up his Senate seat?

For AG? I hope so, he would make a great one. I've heard he isn't happy in the Senate. He's the only black guy, other than Allen Keys, and we all know how well they get along. I'll never forget that CNN "Head-to-Head" John King did with the two of them... :p
 
OOC: Please people, read. The first post says Obama is running for Senate, and is currently in the House of Representatives.
 
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