<p>razorsharp, I don’t believe Obama was valedictorian of his law class (do law classes even have valedictorians?) though he did graduate in 1991 magna cum laude. He was actually the first African-American ever voted (by his peers) as president of the Harvard Law Review.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Chicago Law School > Barack Obama](<a href=“http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/obama]University”>http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/obama)</p>
<p>Obama graduated first in his law class. Perhaps he wasn’t called Val, but he was ranked number 1.</p>
<p>And is that the basis to elect him president?</p>
<p><a href=“The Office of Hillary Rodham Clinton”>The Office of Hillary Rodham Clinton;
<p>Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In | Meet Barack Obama</p>
<p>John Edwards for President</p>
<p>I VOTE FOR HILLARY’S AS MOST PROFESSIONAL WITH THE BEST USABILITY AND GRAPHICS.</p>
<p>WHO HAS BOTHERED TO LOOK?</p>
<p>“And is that the basis to elect him president?”</p>
<p>Not necessarily. It was a comment that flowed from a discussion about him being a Constitutional Scholar and his credentials.</p>
<p>Number 1 at Harvard Law isn’t a bad credential.</p>
<p>Those credentials have nothing to do with his ability to lead…book smart…sure, but where is his credentials? Show me his leadership abilities in the global arena. Show me a bill he sponsored as a senator…Show me some proof that he has followed though his promises as a senator.</p>
<p>Momof2,</p>
<p>Read both his books (Even got a raised eyebrow from the DW when I walked up to the counter at the book store with “Audacity of Hope” under my arm. My answer to her: “only the ignorant refuse to hear both sides of every issue”). Even went to his web-site several times to get his take on the issues (and what’s up with having to register on his web-site with personal information, so I will then get a barrage of e-mail asking to send him money, just so I can review his stance on issues that are important to me? That turned me off a little.). So, I do have a good general idea about his policies. </p>
<p>But does every American considering him have to go out to Barnes and Noble to get a copy of his plan? </p>
<p>Maybe I’m being too harsh. I really do like him personally, a lot. He is one of the few candidates that I am inspired by when he speaks. He has a clear vision of the America he would like to lead, something I find lacking in most candidates, who would rahter wait to see what the polls are saying. Do I agree with all his points? No, and I haven’t found a single candidate that I can say this for. I just want him to answer a question succintly in a public forum, without the rhetoric.</p>
<p>My fear is most Americans won’t spend the $20, or the time, to read his books, or investigate his web-site. My fear is most Americans will vote for the guy (or gal, no offense meant to the Hillary supporters) they “like”, not for the one who meets thier needs because they agree with his plan for the next 4 years. </p>
<p>Is it great to feel inspired by him? You betcha. But before you go tell it on the mountain, give us more to your opinion than “I like the way he makes me feel when he talks” </p>
<p>I’m the guy looking on the car lot saying, “Yeah, this corvette sure is pretty”. What I expect to hear next from the saleperson is “Yeah, and it does 0 to 60 in 3.7 secs. and it has XXXX MPG, and it has a 10 year warranty, etc.” Perhaps the car salesman analogy isn’t the best, given the current reputation for that particular field of employment…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>socraticgf, can you provide any credible source for this information? It looks like you are either making it up or just plain wrong.</p>
<p>Thanks momof2inca.</p>
<p>Sorry Razorsharp, I don’t care to do your research, but it is fact. Prove it isn’t.</p>
<p>I used a Google search and could not find anything saying he was number one at Harvard Law School. Sorry, but I don’t believe you. I think you are making it up.</p>
<p>“Those credentials have nothing to do with his ability to lead…book smart…sure, but where is his credentials? Show me his leadership abilities in the global arena. Show me a bill he sponsored as a senator…Show me some proof that he has followed though his promises as a senator”. post 46</p>
<p>Try some research. Library or Internet. Asking strangers on a college website isn’t the way to become informed. Sounds lazy to me.</p>
<p>socratigf,</p>
<p>If you know this is a fact, please share it with us, but don’t say to another poster it is your job to prove me wrong. You obviously did the research, we all want to be the most informed, so it would e to your benefit to link us to your info.</p>
<p>"Yep, I knew you made it up. " post 50</p>
<p>Try some research. Library or Internet. Asking strangers on a college website isn’t the way to become informed. Sounds lazy to me.</p>
<p>After 9/11, I could never vote for a candidate because of their “plan” on this or that. No president can foresee what the future will bring. So I want to vote for the person whose temperament and judgment, as I perceive them, best suits the person to lead the country. </p>
<p>Look at what Bush did to this country - not just Iraq, but also (and to me, almost more importantly) what he didn’t do after 9/11. He could have taken advantage of a country more united than ever in our history, and more willing than at any other time to look to a leader to lead us to a higher and better place. But Bush didn’t do that. Instead, he used his approval ratings as a platform to create a bitter adversarial gulf between Americans (the patriots vs the “hate Americans”), and revamp the balance of power by whittling away the Constitution.</p>
<p>Can you imagine Obama doing that? I can’t. He may be short on specifics, but he has described a vision of what he wants this country to be like, and I agree with his vision. I’m willing to take a chance.</p>
<p>socraticgf,</p>
<p>It’s not a matter of being lazy or just relying on a college web-site for our information. YOU made a claim in a public forum. Others are asking you to prove this claim. To tell them to look it up themselves smacks of someone who can’t back up that claim. </p>
<p>If I was a scientist publishing a new theory, my answerto other scientists asking for proof wouldn’t be: “prove it yourself”</p>
<p>Socraticgf</p>
<p>I am not relying on you or anyone else. Obama has missed 38% or 166 votes of 422 in this session. He is not a sr. member of any committees. He stated to Russert in Jan. 2007 that he had no intention of running and only to represent his state, yet here he is and what has he done for his state…at least Hillary kept her promise to NY and did not run during her first term.</p>
<p>You are asking us to now do your research, if you know it than prove it, otherwise you have lost any credibility with me</p>
<p>Hayden, under your rationale, then why not Richardson, Edwards or Clinton, why is that you feel Obama is the only candidate (no sarcasm here, I’m just looking for rational reasons)</p>
<p>Socraticgf, according to U of Chi law school webpage, Obama graduated magna cum laude. He he did not graduate summa cum laude. Thus, he was not at the tip top of his class and could not have been number one. In short, you are wrong.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Chicago Law School > Barack Obama](<a href=“http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/obama]University”>http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/obama)</p>
<p>bulletandpima,
Well, I do understand what you are saying and I know what you mean (the car analogy is not a bad one but I know that when we bought our new car last year, H and I spent days on different websites comparing specs, reviews, etc… before we ever test drove and before we asked a saleswoman to give us her version of ‘why to buy’). I think what you are looking for is a short list of specifics, a bullet-point plan for Obama. I don’t have the time to create one, nor do I think his candidacy can be aptly summarized by one. I think he is being a lot more specific in his stump speeches in Iowa and NH than he was in the debate last night or the speech after the Iowa caucuses. Today, for example, I happened to watch a brief segment on CNN where he was addressing NH voters and he was talking about his ideas for education. Now, he didn’t get into dollar amounts, but his position on education reform sounded concrete enough. For example, on NCLB, he would like to change it (not try to get it repealed) so that, for instance, schools and teachers are not punished for bringing a child up two grade levels rather than three. Currently, if the child is not proficient (at grade level) the schools are termed failing (obviously not for one child, but you know what I mean). It doesn’t matter if the 5th grade kid started the school year reading at the 2nd grade level and improved to 4th grade… that teacher “failed.” It’s draconian and punative (and demoralizing for teachers and kids in some ways), and NCLB has never been funded fully, so schools in different states have different recources to meet this federal requirement. Obama said he would like to see NCLB reworked so that schools are rewarded for improvement, so that they are given funds to target kids who need help, and so that one bubble test per year is not the only way teachers/students/schools are assessed. He also said it’s a shame that the focus on NCLB testing has squeezed out art and music. </p>
<p>That’s just one position point on education. He also has a plan to help people afford college. Here are two more ideas, from his website:</p>
<p>Recruit Teachers: Obama will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location.</p>
<p>Prepare Teachers: Obama will require all schools of education to be accredited. He will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively. Obama will also create Teacher Residency Programs that will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need schools.</p>
<p>I think these are the ideas he talks about while campaigning, you just don’t hear it on the news or see it covered in depth by any media.</p>
<p>tobascogal, I prefer Obama at this point, but I would be okay with Clinton, happy with Richardson, and uncomfortable with Edwards and the rest. </p>
<p>I want to re-build the country to the ideals (justice, democracy) I feel we have abandoned. I prefer Obama to Clinton for this reason: When I want to build a house, I first want an architect, not a bricklayer. Obama seems to me to have the architectural blueprint in his head, and I am willing to trust that he will circle himself with craftsmen to build. With Clinton, I think I am hiring a smart and competent craftsman, but one who wants the job without having the vision. </p>
<p>I’d be happy with Richardson, but frankly I don’t think he can win. Nothing but pragmatism.</p>
<p>No president acts alone, so we have to pick someone who will in turn pick good people. </p>
<p>I don’t like Edwards. I have nothing against trial attorneys, but I don’t see the skillset as teaching leadership skills. Other than one uncompleted term as senator, he has done nothing since 2000 but run for president. That’s not a qualifier to me.</p>