BARACK OBAMA THE NEW JFK ? NOT HARDLY - THE SUNDAY COMMENTARY
The Democrats are fast approaching a show down between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. March fourth which brings Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania to the Primary table is possibly a make or break situation for Clinton. Obama has the clear momentum though he has yet to garner enough delegates Super or otherwise to insure that Clinton cannot win the nomination.
Obama's popularity has been the subject of many commentaries and discussions. He has taken on the persona of a , "Rock Star, " in liberal politics with thousands standing mesmerized at the Senator from Illinois who talks with the clarity and charisma of another Democrat that he has repeatedly been compared to, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Yet when asked who Obama is, what his qualifications are to be President and pressed about his experience, few Democrat voters can site a single accomplishment from Obama. But the comparison with JFK continue to mount. Many actually refer to Obama as , "this generations JFK."
While they both share a charismatic nature and the ability to mesmerize an audience are there truly any other comparison between the Illinois Senator and the 35th President of The United States ?
Both share a youthful age for Presidential candidates with Kennedy being the younger. Obama is 46 and when JFK was assassinated he was 46. When assuming the Presidency in 1961 Kennedy was 43 years old, the youngest man ever elected President.
Both graduated from Harvard and both served as United States Senators. This is about where the comparisons between JFK and Obama actually end. Taking a look a some of the issues that have common ground now and in the early sixties as well as experience before entering office, Barack Obama is a far cry from John F. Kennedy.
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE - JFK served from 1947 -1953 as a Representative in the House from the 11th Congressional District of Massachusetts. In 1953 he was elected to the Senate and served there until his election as President 1960. So before assuming the Presidency Kennedy had held Federal political office for 13 years.
Barack Obama served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 until 2004 at which time he was elected to the United States Senate after a failed run for the House and has served in that capacity since, after assuming office in January of 2005. So prior to his run for President Obama served seven years in State office and two years at the Federal level.
During his tenure in the House and Senate Kennedy served on numerous Committees and along with his brother Robert Kennedy was a key player in the investigation against organized crime in The United States. Both also were highly involved in legislative initiatives for Civil Rights.
Obama has had a lackluster tenure in his two years in the Senate. He worked with Russ Feingold to eliminate travel gifts by lobbyists. Supported the McCain/Kennedy Amnesty bill and sponsored several amendments to already pending bills.
FOREIGN POLICY - JFK would have been consider a hawk today because of his strong stand against the Soviet Union and especially during the Cuban Missile Crises. Kennedy supported a strong military and an aggressive foreign policy which included strong anti-communism initiatives in the Latin America and a firm stance against the Soviets in Germany after the rise of the Berlin Wall. Kennedy believed in a foreign policy from the stand point of American strength.
Kennedy was against any negotiation with the Castro regime in Cuba and during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crises in which the Soviet Union introduced Nuclear Missiles into Cuba aimed at the United States, Kennedy's steadfast stand on the removal of those missiles caused Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to back down and remove the missiles under United Nations observation. It was later learned that a side deal to remove obsolete US missile from Turkey already scheduled for removal was brokered with the Soviets in turn for a pledge that the US would not invade Cuba.
Barack Obama has already indicated that upon assuming the Presidency he would immediately move to pull our troops out of Iraq regardless of the consequences to both Iraq and the Middle East. Obama has a very obvious anti-military attitude and believes that the best way to handle terrorism is through talking with Islamic Fanatics such a Usama bin Laden. He has also indicated that he would quickly begin talks with Raul Castro the new, "President, " of Cuba a stand that is in direct opposition to US policy that has been in effect since the Kennedy Administration. Obama does not see having a strategic advantage as part of US foreign policy
SANCTITY OF LIFE - JFK was a Catholic and his personal beliefs were against abortion. His one appointment to the Supreme Court opposed Roe vs Wade. Kennedy supported several initiatives while in the Senate and as President to make adoption easier to allow the finding of families for children both born and unborn.
Barack Obama voted against the ban on partial birth abortion, supports Roe vs Wade, voted against parents of minors being notified about a daughters pending abortion has a 0% rating with pro - life groups.
TAXES - President Kennedy was the first President to institute a tax cut as a means to spur the economy. He also was pushing for tax reform to simplify the tax code and the way that taxes are filed to reduce the tax burden on the American people.
Barack Obama has indicated that in order to fund his many spending proposals he will raise taxes. While serving in the Senate Obama voted against every measure before the Senate to reduce taxes. He has garnered a 100% rating by the CTJ indicating he favors progressive taxation.
John F. Kennedy understood the necessity of working with both his Democrat Party and members of the GOP. Kennedy even installed several Republicans as members of his cabinet in order to get views from both sides of the political spectrum as he made the hard decisions of his day.
Barack Obama is highly partisan and in fact was rated as the most liberal Senator in the United States Senate for the year 2007.
Kennedy's optimism about our nation was based on Americans working for the betterment of the nation. He said, " Ask NOT what your Country can do for you, ask what you can do for your Country.'
Though not saying it our right Obama is saying, " Ask not what you can do for your Country but what your Country can GIVE to you!?
Those who are attempting to use the iconic status of John F. Kennedy within the Democrat Party and also those who respect and admire the 35th President who are not Democrats, as a means of bolstering the candidacy of Barack Obama are barking up the wrong tree.
The differences between JFK and Obama are more numerous than those that have been mentioned in this post. Kennedy while having his well publicized short comings was a far cry from the liberal, anti war, tax and spend Barack Obama.
Ken Taylor
Obama's popularity has been the subject of many commentaries and discussions. He has taken on the persona of a , "Rock Star, " in liberal politics with thousands standing mesmerized at the Senator from Illinois who talks with the clarity and charisma of another Democrat that he has repeatedly been compared to, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Yet when asked who Obama is, what his qualifications are to be President and pressed about his experience, few Democrat voters can site a single accomplishment from Obama. But the comparison with JFK continue to mount. Many actually refer to Obama as , "this generations JFK."
While they both share a charismatic nature and the ability to mesmerize an audience are there truly any other comparison between the Illinois Senator and the 35th President of The United States ?
Both share a youthful age for Presidential candidates with Kennedy being the younger. Obama is 46 and when JFK was assassinated he was 46. When assuming the Presidency in 1961 Kennedy was 43 years old, the youngest man ever elected President.
Both graduated from Harvard and both served as United States Senators. This is about where the comparisons between JFK and Obama actually end. Taking a look a some of the issues that have common ground now and in the early sixties as well as experience before entering office, Barack Obama is a far cry from John F. Kennedy.
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE - JFK served from 1947 -1953 as a Representative in the House from the 11th Congressional District of Massachusetts. In 1953 he was elected to the Senate and served there until his election as President 1960. So before assuming the Presidency Kennedy had held Federal political office for 13 years.
Barack Obama served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 until 2004 at which time he was elected to the United States Senate after a failed run for the House and has served in that capacity since, after assuming office in January of 2005. So prior to his run for President Obama served seven years in State office and two years at the Federal level.
During his tenure in the House and Senate Kennedy served on numerous Committees and along with his brother Robert Kennedy was a key player in the investigation against organized crime in The United States. Both also were highly involved in legislative initiatives for Civil Rights.
Obama has had a lackluster tenure in his two years in the Senate. He worked with Russ Feingold to eliminate travel gifts by lobbyists. Supported the McCain/Kennedy Amnesty bill and sponsored several amendments to already pending bills.
FOREIGN POLICY - JFK would have been consider a hawk today because of his strong stand against the Soviet Union and especially during the Cuban Missile Crises. Kennedy supported a strong military and an aggressive foreign policy which included strong anti-communism initiatives in the Latin America and a firm stance against the Soviets in Germany after the rise of the Berlin Wall. Kennedy believed in a foreign policy from the stand point of American strength.
Kennedy was against any negotiation with the Castro regime in Cuba and during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crises in which the Soviet Union introduced Nuclear Missiles into Cuba aimed at the United States, Kennedy's steadfast stand on the removal of those missiles caused Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to back down and remove the missiles under United Nations observation. It was later learned that a side deal to remove obsolete US missile from Turkey already scheduled for removal was brokered with the Soviets in turn for a pledge that the US would not invade Cuba.
Barack Obama has already indicated that upon assuming the Presidency he would immediately move to pull our troops out of Iraq regardless of the consequences to both Iraq and the Middle East. Obama has a very obvious anti-military attitude and believes that the best way to handle terrorism is through talking with Islamic Fanatics such a Usama bin Laden. He has also indicated that he would quickly begin talks with Raul Castro the new, "President, " of Cuba a stand that is in direct opposition to US policy that has been in effect since the Kennedy Administration. Obama does not see having a strategic advantage as part of US foreign policy
SANCTITY OF LIFE - JFK was a Catholic and his personal beliefs were against abortion. His one appointment to the Supreme Court opposed Roe vs Wade. Kennedy supported several initiatives while in the Senate and as President to make adoption easier to allow the finding of families for children both born and unborn.
Barack Obama voted against the ban on partial birth abortion, supports Roe vs Wade, voted against parents of minors being notified about a daughters pending abortion has a 0% rating with pro - life groups.
TAXES - President Kennedy was the first President to institute a tax cut as a means to spur the economy. He also was pushing for tax reform to simplify the tax code and the way that taxes are filed to reduce the tax burden on the American people.
Barack Obama has indicated that in order to fund his many spending proposals he will raise taxes. While serving in the Senate Obama voted against every measure before the Senate to reduce taxes. He has garnered a 100% rating by the CTJ indicating he favors progressive taxation.
John F. Kennedy understood the necessity of working with both his Democrat Party and members of the GOP. Kennedy even installed several Republicans as members of his cabinet in order to get views from both sides of the political spectrum as he made the hard decisions of his day.
Barack Obama is highly partisan and in fact was rated as the most liberal Senator in the United States Senate for the year 2007.
Kennedy's optimism about our nation was based on Americans working for the betterment of the nation. He said, " Ask NOT what your Country can do for you, ask what you can do for your Country.'
Though not saying it our right Obama is saying, " Ask not what you can do for your Country but what your Country can GIVE to you!?
Those who are attempting to use the iconic status of John F. Kennedy within the Democrat Party and also those who respect and admire the 35th President who are not Democrats, as a means of bolstering the candidacy of Barack Obama are barking up the wrong tree.
The differences between JFK and Obama are more numerous than those that have been mentioned in this post. Kennedy while having his well publicized short comings was a far cry from the liberal, anti war, tax and spend Barack Obama.
Ken Taylor
posted by The Liberal Lie The Conservative Truth | 12:32 PM
5 Comments:
My grandfather, a conservative Democrat who was a great fan of John F. Kennedy, would have been utterly disgusted if he were around to hear the likes of Obama being compared with JFK.
But then, given the direction the Democrats in general have gone in the few years since Pop passed away, he would likely have died a Republican.
This is all rather moot. Most voters cannot remember JFK because he was President almost 50 years ago.
Trying to compare the two may be a fun exercise, but it has nothing to do with whether Obama will be elected President.
The fact is this, that Obama represents the best of what is possible in America. He was born to a bi-racial couple that got divorced. He did not grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth, he worked hard to get to where he is today. If a black man named Barack Hussein Obama can actually be a national front-runner for President of the United States of America, then we have certainly come a long way.
He has run a campaign that is built on optimism and hope, and appealing to the best in people. It is resonating with Americans from across the political spectrum. Contrary to what you may think, he has very substantive plans that he has laid out (go to his website) that detail his agenda.
He won't win because of a speech or because of luck. In the end, Americans will have to judge him for his plans and agenda.
There is still a long way to go and he may not win, but I can say for certain that whether he wins or not will have nothing to do with whether people compare him favorably or unfavorable with JFK.
Maybe I will vote for him if he dumps that "not proud of America" wife of his.
But since that won't happen I feel pretty secure that I will not have to vote for him.
Comparing JFK to Obama is a good exercise, most every individual lives comparing things (whether they notice it or not).
There are plenty of people who remember Kennedy and I am one of them. I watched him being killed on live television as it happened and it's as clear to me now is it was then. Kennedy would turn over in his grave if he knew anyone was comparing him to Obama. It does him a terrible injustice. As always, this is an excellent post, Ken, and I don't consider it "moot" at all!
So Gayle, how do you compare John McCain to JFK? Is that how you select all your presidents? By comparing them to JFK? Really?
I had to laugh at your Kennedy turning over in his grave comment. It rings pretty hollow when you consider the fact that Caroline is so strongly supporting Obama. I didn't realize that you knew JFK better than his own daughter and his own brother.
Wow. I didn't realize you were so well connected.
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