Obama's most painful experience

obama ur crying now?ur dramatic- stop it. go back to the senate and have some experience..

Well that was a mouthful. And he asks himself these same run-on sentence questions each and every morning when he gets out of bed? The whole process would exhaust me and I would never get up.

Laura, I think you're confused. Barack Obama probably doesn't read these comments, so I'm not sure it's worthwhile to address him directly in this venue. You can always write or email, though! I'm sure he'll be glad of your thoughtful advice. That said, I'm not sure how one would "go back and have some experience." Time machine, perhaps?

Shelia, if introspection is too much for you in the morning, perhaps you're not getting enough sleep? I find exercising for 30 minutes in the evening really helps my sleep pattern. Also, a small glass of red wine is very relaxing.

Glad I could help.

Obama '08!

Obvious both Sheila and Laura are hard asses who support Hillary. Hmm, how would Hillary respond, girls? I bet it goes like this: (First one of her deep belly cackles that lasts 10 seconds) "I have no pain. I'm tough. A @*$h like me can take anything. Why, when my Bill was sleeping around all those nights I didn't even flinch. I just asked him if he wore a raincoat, and told him 'I'm your girl'."

The most painful, character building experience for me was reading through this twaddle.

obama ur crying now?ur dramatic- stop it. go back to the senate and have some experience..

Posted by: laura | October 3, 2007 7:58 PM

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Well that was a mouthful. And he asks himself these same run-on sentence questions each and every morning when he gets out of bed? The whole process would exhaust me and I would never get up.

Posted by: Sheila | October 3, 2007 8:02 PM

Good work Bruce, your check is in the mail.

Ahhh. Nice answer, but methinks the whole episoded was pre-scripted: an Obama plant to ask him a seemingly hard question to answer on the spot -- unless you rehearsed it all beforehand of course. Yeah, I'm one of those "cynics".

Nice try though. And Swamp bit, unsurprisingly. Or did Swamp simply choose to overlook the obvious?...

I believe Obama's comment was insightful, thoughtful, and extremely brave. He didn't have to share with the public, but he did and that's important to me. Someone who learns from their pain and mistakes and who doesn't make America pay for their own personal vendetta(s)(that cause senseless wars)is a presidential favorite in my book. We all have skeletons in the closet, but when you can share those skeletons with the public and move forward. Instead of letting them haunt you, it shows true character which shines the light on jaded Americans. Maybe his voice is what we need to begin the healing process, and love our fellow man, no matter ones past mistakes.

Why didn't he just tell the truth and say,The most painful experience was when I found out that my father gave me the middle name "Hussein" and the most character-buliding experience was when I paid those 17 year old parking tickets....a few months ago.

Paulo

I think Obama should think twice before he answer something. I believe he is worst the Bush. And I hope he returned to the senate and never gets the presidency 'cause if this happen I'm out of this beutiful country...

It seems to me that none of the individuals posting have ever lost their father. I have and I am struck by Senator Obama's incredible response. I too was very young when my father died and it does shape much of your response to the rest of your life. Senator Obama's response has depth and the understanding that only deep reflection can bring. When you have such understanding you also have authentic empathy.

The political calculating move would have been to spout off about how painful it was to see Congress vote to approve the war or something like that. Instead, Barack goes a completely different way and sheds light on who he is as a person.

Barack is the best candidate out there and this anecdote just helps to shed additional light on his many admirable personal qualities.

Vote Obama!!!

With his arrogant, flirty smirk and vacant mind, Obama is melting like an ice cream cone on a 45 degree day. Melting slowly, but melting nonetheless. Tick tock.

Senator Obama shows the character traits of a great leader. He has demonstrated with his words and his actions that he will be the best president in recent history. I am sure that so many Americans can relate to your experience. If you can show them that they, too, can grow from the pain and go on to make a difference in the world, you have achieved a great success. I look forward to having a president that I can be proud of.

Grow up Paulo!

I thought the article was going to be about when he realized he was the luckiest person alive, and that he's not really god's gift to politics. He won an election to the US Senate that was impossible for anyone to lose, you could have put a sack of potatoes against Alan Keyes and won. He hasn't had to do anything for the people of Illinois who unfortunately elected him, except for campaign for president since he's been in the Senate, seriously name one thing he's done to benefit Illinois. And guilty white people like him so they can say that they support a black politician even though they can't name one thing he has done.

Hrmph... The question was personal and required introspection to answer. So Obama gives an intelligent, thoughtful response and gets hammered. There's no pleasing some people. Personally, I like the guy.

Wow, there are a lot of cynical people whose spirits really could use a bit of a lift. Or perhaps they are in need of some better experiences with political leaders. I suspect they have not met the man and talked to him. It's too bad he's hard to get ahold of these days. Six years ago, it would have been easy to have sat down and talked to him about his ideas for a better America. I've known Barack Obama since fifth grade, when neither of us had our mother or our father for a semester in Mrs. Hefty's class. I do believe him when he speaks candidly about this. I'm a bit ashamed for some of your readers that they are so untrusting, but I understand what Illinois and Chicago have been through recently. We've all had a lot of bad leaders. To me, Obama is the solution, not the problem. If anyone would like to email me and ask what I think of the man, after 36 years of watching him (we are not what you would call friends -- just classmates), I would be happy to give my most honest opinions. (Obviously, I might get a lot of requests with such an invitation, so forgive me if it takes a while to respond.) loui@cse.wustl.edu

John McCormick tells us about a softball question that was obviously posed by a plant, a shill -- as if this guy is just an ordinary, active, concerned citizen who happened to be there.

Why? Is McCormick really that naive, or just plain dumb? Of course not; he's a shill too.

Most of the negative remarks on this blog are from people that are thoughtless, ignorant people. The man was asked a question and he provided an honest answer. You people find the most ridiculous reasons to bash Obama. There is so much hate that it's unbelievable. Some of you people need God in your life, but 1st, you need to get a life.

I like Obama. His answer was thoughtful and sincere.

He would certainly make a better president than Hillary/Mitt/Rudy.

And why are people jumping ugly on his middle name? How childish is that? It's not like he chose it.

It is so sad to read negative comments about Mr. Obama's answer. If you guys were born with a golden spoon in your mouths it's good for you but remeber this. You will one day suffer. You will taste for sure and we will be there asking you about your negative comments. On ther other hand, I think you have brain disorder you need to see a Psy!

Wow! That was cool. As a young African American this is one of the reasons why I relate to Mr.Obama. My father wasn't around either. I remember when I was in middle school maybe younger I had to go to work early and help my grandmother bring money in the house. I stocked and cleaned delis and swept floors at the local barbershops. All under the table work lol. It set me up to realize I had to make something out of my life. I did not want to follow the path of my father. I guess him not being around was a gift for me like Obmama. In a way seeing how he lead his life it taught me how to stand on my own two feet and push on.

There are those on this blog who will make fun of what Obama said because of their ignorance or you’ve had it easy and/or you are still angry at your own lives. Be intelligent, Obama answered the voters question. At every turn just because you don’t agree with someone you don’t have to try to tear him or her down. This type of good Godly judgment is what angry bloggers like some of you have seemed to miss. I pray for you and wish Mr. Obama well. Obama 08! Obmama 08!

The ignorant fools who bash Obama prefer a President who answers these questions by responding that he doesn't put himself "on the couch" and the proceeds to tell us who he is by rattling off a list synonyms for strength and decisiveness.

Scripted or unscripted.. I don't care. Obama has good points and doesn't slaughter the English language making them. Bush is painfully embarrassing to listen to. I still don;t understand how somebody like him can get elected.. twice!

And what's this BS about experince? Ron Reagan who was loved by many.. what experience did he have?