Given the Caroline Kennedy endorsement joining the Ted Sorenson endorsement, perhaps it will be possible to say "The torch has been passed to a new generation, the one where children were born about the time JFK became President" .

That, perhaps more than his racial makeup, may be what makes Obama the bright new candidate---at least to this person who is old enough to remember JFK being elected.

Yes we can!

Compared to poor John Edward's speech, this was truly inspiring. Hillary's out of it, but may not know it yet. So's Edwards, but he may stay in slugging it out - I hope so. The race has started to really gather some quality.

The end of idiot rule is near at hand!

Beautiful speech. This stands out for me. "Because in the end, we are not just up against the ingrained and destructive habits of Washington, we are also struggling against our own doubts, our own fears, and our own cynicism. The change we seek has always required great struggle and sacrifice. And so this is a battle in our own hearts and minds about what kind of country we want and how hard we’re willing to work for it."

The narrative of the generational "passing of the torch" is continued now with the report that Ted Kennedy is endorsing Obama on Monday. The cynics may wish to diminish political and national mythology, but these are the meaning-making stories that hold a country together and move us toward common purposes.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/01/ted-kennedy-to.html

Governor Kulongoski and Rep. Hooley -

I am calling on you to renounce your support for Hillary Clinton and pull your endorsements. Clinton's dirty, dishonest campaign should not be tolerated. If you don't pull your endorsements, you will be enabling her damage to our party.

I second that motion. The Clinton tactics in Nevada and South Carolina have been an embarassment and need to be rejected.

Go Obama!

RE Caroline Kennedy's endorsement of Obama. Interesting. Kennedy as a demi-God. Their money came from bootlegging. And I'm pretty sure all the Kennedy men cheated on their wives. I'm not one who expects perfection in my elected reps, and don't care about their sex life... but it does sort of speak to character. But it's a bad idea to put someone on so precipitous a pedestal the slightest tremor can topple them. I don't think there will ever be a presidency like Kennedy's again. First of all it was short. Who knows what would have happened if he'd had more time & opportunity to f-k up? Secondly, the country will never be that sweetly naive again. Innocence lost, gullibility intact. Third, you could never duplicate the aura of the era. If an administration tried on the Camelot glitz that took the country's breath away, and was a big part of Kennedy's fan base...with so many people hurting and hungry and our constitution simply hijacked....well let's just say the press is not as polite and discrete as it was during Kennedy's time. They are more upscale paparazzi than journalists these days. Policy is less interesting than personality and polls. How would Kennedy have fared in the age of information?

Obama could never be like Kennedy. And Caroline is living in an ivory tower on that score. Teaching in a public school is not the same as barely surviving from paycheck to paycheck with cockroaches for roommates. Whatever demons she lives with, she'll never face that sort of fear or fate. And which new generation is she talking about? The ones who attend private schools and Harvard, or the ones who cannot afford community college and see the their jobs being shipped off to third world countries? With corporations running the country does anyone really think trade agreements like NAFTA will be reversed? And I think that is the only thing that can save this country....if you really want to relive the '60's, bring livable wage jobs to the US. I think Edwards would try, but probably be crushed.

I've grown beyond being impressed by, or being tempted to believe in, pretty speeches and platitudes. Where's the substance; what does the candidate intend to do to bring peace and prosperity, and how will it be paid for?

"Where there is no vision the people perish"-Proverbs

"I've grown beyond being impressed by, or being tempted to believe in, pretty speeches and platitudes. Where's the substance; what does the candidate intend to do to bring peace and prosperity, and how will it be paid for?"

You may have chosen cynicism as a defense against the world, but human beings make meaning with story, and big stories that inspire and link our lives with others in common purpose are not only necessary to break out of isolative alienation but they are what great political leaders do to win elections and create movement toward accomplishing great things. It is so easy to throw dirt on everything and everyone, but cynicism accomplishes nothing. We may never know what John Kennedy might have done, but we do know that he inspired a generation of people to believe that government matters, and that common purpose matters, in the exploration of space, in breaking down barriers, in confronting communism, and bridging peoples. Millions of Americans were inspired to make life decisions based on those ideals. The meme, "The New Frontier," was perfect for the times, just as "The New Deal" as a meme for redefining the social contract was perfect for confronting the Great Depression. Americans are ready for a new start and having hope that we can live up to our best ideals. Without any we will indeed perish and languish in our cynicism and mutual contempt and rancor. Simple policy-wonking won't move us beyond that.

Well, MCT, we all know the Clintons are as pure as the driven snow...

As someone in high school both when JFK was elected and when he was killed, I was not impressed by the "demi-god" crack.

A college friend was born in Boston to an old Boston family, and one of his ancestors who worked for the Kennedy family had died with an estate which contained more money than the family thought he had earned honestly. Thus my friend was a Eugene McCarthy supporter and absolutely thrilled at the results of the 1968 Oregon primary. "A Kennedy concession speech! We may never see one again!".

But there is no denying that the influence JFK had on many young people my age is similar to the effect Obama has on many young people today. Or that there are 60 year olds and above who can still tell you that when they supported Bobby Kennedy they had a cause and an optimism which was lost forever (or for many years) after Bobby was shot.

There is an old saying, "Scratch a cynic and you will find a dissapointed romantic".

"It is so easy to throw dirt on everything and everyone, but cynicism accomplishes nothing."

No I am not throwing dirt on everything....I'm saying lets be pragmatic and thorough in our voting research. And I am NOT a Clinton fan. I am not a fan of any candidate who's taken special interest campaign contributions.

If I am a cynic, it is because I've lived through a lot of elections and heard a lot of promises that sounded so rosey and right, but were not kept. And I am a cynic because I've seen how corporate owned media has brushed aside and ignored John Edwards...the only candidate not taking PAC contributions, and the one who would try to put an end to campaign funding and lobby bribes...in other words he'd go for the very throat of the corporate power that Clinton & Obama are beholden to.

If you didn't watch the actual debates, all you saw was Obama and Clinton cock-fights with no real reporting on the substance of their answers...or even what the questions were! And you sure as hell didn't see the calm, informed answers Edwards gave. (And I'd sure like to have a president who doesn't lose his or her temper every time their button is pushed, the way the other two did!) The only place to see them is on utube & Edwards' website....but don't look if you don't want to be impressed with reason and passion. I KNOW the lack of media coverage of Edwards has effected his campaign. I believe this was calculated by the powerful conglomerate media, and yeah...that makes me cynical.

I'm just not hearing any substance from either Clinton or Obama. I just feel like I'm being hard-sold by the media holding up those two as the only choices. We all know what the problems are, but I don't hear them being addressed by Clinton or Obama in terms that lead me to believe they have a PLAN. MLK Jr. gave great speeches too, and dreams are great, gotta have them. But we are still waiting today for the dreams of MLK Jr. to be fully realized. Anyone here think we have 40 years to wait for solutions to our problems?

Word is that Ted Kennedy will endorse Obama on Monday.

Lin Qiao "I'm just not hearing any substance from either Clinton or Obama. I just feel like I'm being hard-sold by the media holding up those two as the only choices. We all know what the problems are, but I don't hear them being addressed by Clinton or Obama in terms that lead me to believe they have a PLAN. MLK Jr. gave great speeches too, and dreams are great, gotta have them. But we are still waiting today for the dreams of MLK Jr. to be fully realized. Anyone here think we have 40 years to wait for solutions to our problems?"

Pragmatism is another way of saying "indifference to principles". You are not seeing substance in Obama because you do not want to see it. I doubt there has been another election in which candidates have drawn out such elaborate plan about every major domestic and foreign policy issue. Go to their websites, go beyond the speeches. The "lofty rhetoric, no substance" narrative was fielded by the Press. Howard Kurtz just did an extensive piece in the Washington Post where journalists who cover Obama are sometimes conflicted in being a journalist and being swept in the energy of his rallies. They come out more as participants than as journalist. Narratives drive stories - they had already put Clinton in the "policy wonk" corner. Patrick Sullivan, a reporter at the Atlantic, wrote once that he went to an Obama policy session and wasn't inspired. On his way out he caught himself and remarked, that "I have just been bored by on nitty-gritty policy stuff by an African American contender for the White House. If you want substance you will see it.

I have watched that speech 6 times now and it still gives me chills.

Especially that story about the woman who worked for Strom Thurman.

Yes we can change. YES WE CAN.

Yes, I did watch the speech again....I will admit it is very very moving. And of course this disappointed romantic will give Obama my vote if he is nominated. I would be thrilled to relive my youth through the youth of today as a vocal and active force in the path to the future. I'd love to see an unstoppable force Good instead of.....the opposite.