Then President-elect Barack Obama hugged actor Denzel Washington in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration At The Lincoln Memorial" on Jan. 18 Washington was among the speakers that day. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
by Mark Silva
Don't you love those combo descriptions -- so and so is a combination of so and so and so and so?
From across the pond, from the mouth of Lord Neil Kinnock -- you remember him, Joe Biden certainly does -- comes a report of Biden's onetime combo description of his then-political rival, Barack Obama:
Denzel Washington and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
It's deep in an interview with the Labor Party lion that the U.K.'s Big Issue gets into an encounter that Lord Kinnock had with Biden early in the 2008 presidential campaign:
Kinnock attended Obama's inauguration as an invited guest of Vice President Biden. "It was like Christmas morning with two million kids opening their presents."
"Kinnock and Biden have been buddies since 1987, after the US presidential candidate was caught up in controversy over apparently-plagiarised chunks of the Labour leader's speech,'' The Big Issue notes. "He recalls a meeting in October 2007 in which Biden, again a presidential candidate, picked out the likely front runners.
"I remember speaking to Joe and him saying it was going to be Barack Obama up against John McCain. He said; 'You can put money on it - Obama's a genius'. I said; 'What kind of genius? Like who?'. He said, 'Well, there isn't one person I could compare him to, but he's like a cross between Denzel Washington and Franklin Roosevelt'."
So, seeing as this is Friday, we ask you:
Is Obama a combination of Denzel and FDR, or a combination of some other duo? And Biden? And Lord Kinnock?
Comments
"Is Obama a combination of Denzel and FDR, or a combination of some other duo?"
No, he is just the messiah.
Posted by: BDD | April 24, 2009 11:26 AM
Well, he's clearly the greatest candidate the Democratic Party has produced since FDR.
But FDR has a few things on him.
Three little ones come readily to mind.
He led the nation through the Greatg Depression.
He led the nation through to ultimate victory in World War II.
He laid the foundation for American supremacy in the Twentieth Century and beyond.
O, and a 4th little thing:
He was elected President 4 times.
Not too bad for a paraplegic who wasn't expected to live past 1929.
Posted by: ornery | April 24, 2009 3:56 PM
"No, he is just the messiah."
Posted by: BDD | April 24, 2009 11:26 AM
I don't think he looks anything like George W. Bush.
Remember, it was GWB who said that GD talks to him, and he was doing his father's(not 41, but the BIG MAN) work on earth.
Posted by: barkleyg | April 24, 2009 3:57 PM
Now, for a serious opinion of what Biden meant.
He meant that Obama had that "safe", easy look and demeanor of a successful politician with the wisdom and philosophy of FDR, who knew the gravity of what lay ahead of him, and did not flinch when called upon by both believers and detractors.
Posted by: barkleyg | April 24, 2009 4:03 PM
Not too bad for a paraplegic who wasn't expected to live past 1929.
Posted by: ornery | April 24, 2009 3:56 PM
His best line was: A conservative is a man with two good legs,however, has never learned to walk forward.
Posted by: bill r. | April 24, 2009 4:51 PM