Sunday, January 27, 2008
It was on a November day in 2005, near the end of Barack Obama’s first year in the Senate, when he was asked to deliver a keynote address at a ceremony commemorating the 80th birthday of Robert F. Kennedy.
The invitation was extended by Ethel Kennedy, who at the time referred to Mr. Obama as “our next president.”
“I think he feels it. He feels it just like Bobby did,” Mrs. Kennedy said that day, comparing her late husband’s quest for social justice to Barack Obama’s. “He has the passion in his heart. He’s not selling you. It’s just him.”
From the Left 
(((as a huge Bobby Kennedy person from the 60’s, I feel like in many ways that what she said is SOOoooo true….wow)))….I have been waiting for that since 1968….that energy, vision and passion…..I loved that she said it…I had no idea about the Speech…thank you for sharing that…
Enigma4Ever,
I just stumbled on it and had to share it.
Ethel Kennedy was “there,” I think, even before Obama saw his potential to run for president.
Here’s the thing…I still have a video- that is made from his 2004- the Highlights- over on my blog- I always list it as my favorite( 2nd post down) and here is the thing that is interesting – THAT speech has much of WHAT he says now- he KNEW then how much trouble , how broken our country was even then….and that it needs to be united …and that we need EPluribus Unum again….pretty amazing that his heart even then was moving in this direction….
and you are right…Ethel was “there”….
In Democratic circles, Ethel Kennedy is still a force to be reckoned with. I think her cache is equal to, and possibly greater than, her niece Caroline Kennedy, or her brother-in-law, Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Billary must be furious at what he sees as a slap across his face by the family he most copied and tried to emulate. Was it his womanizing while president that turned the Kennedys against him? We may never know.
The Clintons can roam the country, Hillary giving her canned stump and Billary using race baiting to try and destroy his wife’s chief rival but, at the end of the day, one fact remains: the negatives surrounding the Clintons are growing and their tag-team approach to winning the 2008 election for president is turning people off to them in droves.
I saw Obama interviewed on CNN a short time ago and he was asked about the Kennedy endorsements.
He was very coy and suggested he had been in contact with Sen. Kennedy for “some time.”
I immediately thought, who else is going to endorse and Obama is keeping mum on them?
This is really turning into a horserace!
Thank you for sharing her words with us, Christopher. I knew she supported him, but I had never read this and I’m really glad to know exactly what she said.
As I was watching his speech last night after the SC win, I felt just exactly what she’s expressing here. I even said to my husband, “Look at his eyes. This is coming from his heart — he really means this.”
Like Ethel Kennedy said — he’s not selling us. What makes him a great orator is not some flowery style of speech like Reagan had (who was playing the character of President when he spoke). Barack is so effective because it’s so authentic. I’m not old enough to really remember much about Bobby Kennedy, but I think I’m beginning to understand what so many people are talking about when they make comparisons.
ah the Clintons are being hoisted on their own petard. Legends in their own minds, first bush 1 says errr no i don’t think so..regarding the world tour he had been assumed to be taking with slick willy, ie no one told him about it…and now this, even the old guard “populist” dems icons are saying …opps sorry we can do better
and you know what..I couldn’t be happier. Obama is doing some selling, there is no doubt..but there is also no doubt , that deep in his heart , he will tangle with the rabid dogs in the political sector, and do the best he possibly can to advance , social/economic justice for the outsiders,the workers, the people ..and for our constitution and the rule of law . He was a constitutional law professor..that is one credential that gives me real HOPE. He knows deeply how our government was intended to work, and where our processes have been perverted.
My comments keep disappearing but once again this is another one the Clinton’t blew.
I read about the endorsement of Caroline Kennedy. See Caroline Kennedy
I also read that Hillary was trying to get the endorsement of Ted Kennedy. See Ted Kennedy
Now you have the news that Ted is actually going to endorse Obama! I wonder how Hillary is feeling now?
Great news, link, and great post!
My last comment did not post. I was saying that Obama has already picked up the endorsement of Caroline Kennedy. See Caroline Kennedy
Then I read that Hillary was trying to get in contact with Ted Kennedy for his endorsement. See Ted Kennedy
Now you have a link with the fact that Ted will endorse Obama!
I wonder what Hillary is thinking now?
Great post, link, and story!
Larry,
I recently switched to Firefox so I wonder if it’s somehow related to this? My time/date stamp and the code for it also erased, so I’m still tweaking things a bit.
Winnie H.,
Ethel Kennedy carries a ton of credibility and her words resonate with people.
last night wordpress was doing some brief maintence around the time i posted my comment in this thread, the trouble ought to be gone by now…hopefully. Its doubtful that its FF, but heck ..technology..who knows really..
A common thread seems to run through his words now as it did in 2005: http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2005_ObamaSpeech/