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Obama's Political Past May Hold Key To '08 Run
POSTED: 6:45 pm CST December 20,
2006
UPDATED: 6:54 pm CST December 20,
2006
CHICAGO -- Next month, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has promised to announce whether or not he will run for president in 2008.
But on Wednesday, NBC5 political editor Carol Marin looked not so much to Obama's future as to his past.
Obama says he makes a mean bowl of chili, likes the music of Miles Davis and the comedy of Chris Rock.
But the pursuit of trivial information and fascination will soon give way to an examination of his legislative record.
It begins as a political neophyte, elected to the Illinois Legislature in 1996.
According to an Associated Press account, Obama proposed hundreds of new laws in the Illinois General Assembly. Most died in committee.In what he called one of the toughest votes -- and one that could become a presidential issue -- Obama voted against a bill allowing gun owners to claim self-defense when using their own gun in their own home. He said he worried it would take away local governments' right to regulate themselves.In the legislature, he received strong backing by organized labor and got bad marks from the the Illinois Manufacturers' Association over votes deemed bad for business. He voted overwhelmingly along Democratic party lines, but still received praise from Republicans.
Like most politicians, Obama was not averse to bringing home the bacon. According to published reports, Obama secured $100,000 in Illinois FIRST funds from then-Gov. George Ryan. The money went to the Museum of Science and Industry for an exhibit on the concept of time.Whether or not this is the time, politically speaking, for Obama remains to be seen.But days after being elected to the Senate, Obama spoke with NBC5 in a City Desk interview. He strongly denied any presidential ambition for 2008."I do not think it is appropriate for me … to even consider being on the national ticket," the senator-elect said at the time.In 2004 during his Senate run, Obama told the Sun-Times his worst campaign moment was when former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Bill Bradley came to Chicago to endorse him. They called a press conference and no one showed up. That scenario is not likely to happen to Obama again anytime soon, Marin reported.
| Related Content: Video: Watch Carol Marin's Report | |
But on Wednesday, NBC5 political editor Carol Marin looked not so much to Obama's future as to his past.
Obama says he makes a mean bowl of chili, likes the music of Miles Davis and the comedy of Chris Rock.
But the pursuit of trivial information and fascination will soon give way to an examination of his legislative record.
It begins as a political neophyte, elected to the Illinois Legislature in 1996.
According to an Associated Press account, Obama proposed hundreds of new laws in the Illinois General Assembly. Most died in committee.In what he called one of the toughest votes -- and one that could become a presidential issue -- Obama voted against a bill allowing gun owners to claim self-defense when using their own gun in their own home. He said he worried it would take away local governments' right to regulate themselves.In the legislature, he received strong backing by organized labor and got bad marks from the the Illinois Manufacturers' Association over votes deemed bad for business. He voted overwhelmingly along Democratic party lines, but still received praise from Republicans.
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