by John McCormick
In one of the biggest tests yet of his candidacy, Sen. Barack Obama delivered his assessment of America's race relations last week. He ended that Philadelphia appearance, a response to controversial comments from his longtime Chicago pastor, by telling a short story about someone he barely knows.
"There is a young, 23-year-old woman, a white woman, named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign,"Obama said, before explaining that the woman's mother had cancer when she was young and lost her job because of the illness.
"She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches," he continued. "That's the mind of a 9-year-old."
Obama had first mentioned Baia in Atlanta, when he spoke in late January from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. He told her story again from another pulpit, at an evangelical church in Macon, Ga., the morning after he won the South Carolina primary.
Her story re-emerged last week as religion and race once again intersected in Obama's narrative and he sought to suggest that he can help bridge divides. But Baia's is just one of many personal stories Obama, a best-selling author and powerful speaker, rotates through his speeches.
His knack for storytelling, an art relied upon by some of the nation's best politicians, has strong similarities to Ronald Reagan's, according to a biographer of the 40th president. In many ways, Obama is the Great Communicator in Training.
See the rest of the story in the Tempo section of today's Chicago Tribune:
And like Reagan, whose embellishments were well documented, Obama sometimes blurs the line slightly between fact and fiction (see sidebar). As any good storyteller or filmmaker knows, compressing all the details, while trying to build drama or emotion, is harder than it looks.
In his travels across the nation, Obama collects anecdotes and personal narratives that he then weaves into his narrative. They bring his speeches alive and seek to remind voters that he remains connected to the hardships of everyday life.
Since kicking off his presidential bid more than a year ago, he has introduced several people in his speeches, often moving his audiences to smiles or tears.
There is Pauline Beck, a home-care worker in Oakland he worked with one morning caring for an elderly man as part of a union's effort to make sure Democratic candidates know what it is like on the front lines.
There is Edith Childs, a South Carolina woman who inspired one of his favorite campaign slogans and chants, "Fired up, ready to go."
And there is Katherine Marcano, a college student from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who after class cares for her sister who has cerebral palsy, then gets up at 1 a.m. to work the overnight shift at FedEx to pay the bills.
Lou Cannon, a retired newspaper reporter and author who spent his career writing about Reagan, said he sees similarities in Obama.
"He has a narrative reach, and Reagan did too," Cannon said. "He entertained them with his stories, and Obama does the same thing."
It was Reagan, after all, who brought people seated in the audience into his State of the Union addresses, recognizing them in the balcony and making his speeches more human.
Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director, has worked with the candidate on his delivery since 2004 and says his boss often starts practicing a potential anecdote almost as quickly as he hears one that moves him in some way.
"It comes somewhat naturally to him," Gibbs said, noting that Obama has told his own life story many times, both in written and verbal form.
Obama often says he is deeply involved in his speech writing, but he also has several speechwriters.
Most often, Obama has witnessed the anecdotes he uses. But not always, as in the case of Baia, who was called by his campaign at 1:30 a.m. for an interview the same morning Obama first spoke about her. In the case of Marcano, the Cedar Rapids woman who cares for her disabled sister, Obama brought her into his stump speech within a few hours of meeting her.
"He was talking to us about that as soon as the event ended," Gibbs said. "Did you hear that story? Can you believe that's what she has to do?"
During a Tribune interview this year, Obama said it took him several months to find his "voice" on the stump, as it did when he ran for U.S. Senate in 2004.
"During the summer, I was spending a lot of time introducing myself to voters and showing mastery on some of the subject matter and talking about policy positions," he said. "Into the fall, I became much more comfortable talking about why I was running and what particular skills and vision I brought to the race."
Cannon, the Reagan biographer, said the candidate he used to cover could meet a farmer and almost immediately include him in his speeches.
"He made other people a part of his own narrative, and that's what Obama is doing," he said. "By doing it, it expands his reach because he isn't necessarily just another partisan Democrat."
Humans have been telling stories since the beginning of time, but Cannon said most politicians are unable to do it very well.
"It's harder to do than it looks," he said. "Obama has a narrative gift, but he always practices, and Reagan did the same thing. He practiced all the time."
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Comments
"There is a young, 23-year-old woman, a white woman,
Huh oh! Here we go again. Obama said "white woman". This is proof once again that he is a racist...right guys?
Posted by: bill "Hussein" r. | March 25, 2008 8:15 AM
Clinton's Knack:
From "Head of State"
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/03/i-misspoke.html
"Monday, March 24, 2008
I Misspoke
It was a treacherous night landing. Ice had formed on both of our wings, and as I looked out the port window, I could see it breaking into shards, flying off into the night sky with each near barrel roll of our C-50, highlighted by the flares shooting past on either side of the cabin, turning them into falling prisms of wildly careening light.
As the cabin lurched back and forth and the sounds of rocket fire percussed the urgent, faltering rhythm of our right engine, I unfastened my seat belt, and, finding my center of gravity, rose from my seat, moving past aides shock still in their chairs, arms locked like girders against their arm rests in terror, and walked up the center aisle to the pilot's cabin.
"How long to Kosovo"? I shouted over the screaming whine of the altimeter's alarm, marking our steep descent. The pilot turned, looked at me in shocked recognition--"How...how did you make it up here? No one has ever walked up here in these conditions before! How..."
"Never mind that!" I barked, with what I hoped was a not too stern forcefulness, combined with sufficient steel and empathy to create the appearance of a firm imperturbability. "Check the master FMC! Is it working or has it failed?"
The pilot, paused, as if in amazement at my readiness, and then himself awakening to crisis, looked to the Control Display Unit . "It's down! It's down!" he shouted. A bead of sweat began to form on his brow.
I knew what I had to do. "Get out of there!" I commanded, and pulled him from the seat, from where he crumbled to a fetal position on the floor behind me. Stepping over him, I took the chair behind the console.
"Check the Central Maintenance Computers and activate the NAV RAD for alternate radio tuning capability!" I shouted to the co-pilot. He, too, had broken down in tears, his head buried in his hands. I looked to his ID on the console. Another newbie.
Well, this was another one where I would have to go it alone.
Quickly, I tore the scarf from my neck and fashioned it into a crude lasso that could be used for EFIS/EICIS control. Catching the lever with my right hand, I activated the cabin loudspeaker with my left. I knew that the passengers had likely been gulled by the earlier soft patter of the pilot. "Brace yourself! Get ready! These aren't just words!" Then I pulled the lever back hard, sending us rocketing towards the runway.
"You'll never make it!" I knew that voice, and turned. Richardson! How did he trundle up to the cabin? "Out of here, Judas! And take that quivering beard with you!"
I could feel bolts straining against Pennsylvania steel as I pushed the '50 down, down, down to the ground below us. Suddenly, an explosion punctuated the sky--Hand held rocket fire at 3' o'clock!
I quickly performed the evasive maneuvers that I had learned for so long, and so well. My face became angry, then sad, then gentle, then intensely serious, then was finally rocked by a powerful squealing, an unnatural burst of laughter. That did it! The rocket exploded harmlessly behind us.
Now. Now it was time to take the stick and bring this shaking, careening flight, parts straining against themselves until nearly ready to burst, down to the ground. I put my arms to the twin arms of the FO-AP, set the APC, and with all of the strength remaining in me, began to push the levers down. Straining, I pushed harder. And harder. I could see the runway rising before us in the glare shield. I would have to find the remaining strength to bring it down.
Finally, as if a burst of superhuman might had been somehow delegated to me, I pushed the levers into locked position. I could hear Penn in the cabin shouting "We're landing...We're going down!" as I felt the rough shock of the landing gear snapping into place.
Sparks flew as we hit the runway, bullets ricocheting off of the cabin, one wheel touching pavement. I looked straight through the windshield--the militia, arms at the ready stood at the runway's end. The last obstacle.
I turned the craft hard, sending it hurtling sideways across the pavement. It swept the militia away in a single screaming motion that combined with the screaming that arose from the cabin, as we continued to move towards the small, makeshift terminal, where the dignitaries, negotiators, and heads of state awaited for my arrival.
I did not close my eyes. I did not let go of the wheel. I watched--as we ground to a halt just before the doors of the terminal.
I looked fore, at the dignitaries protecting themselves from the sniper fire that raged around them. I looked aft, at the passengers, shaken but safe.
We had arrived. All was good.
Just a moment...
Due to the discovery of a video of the above described occasion, I would like to make few small corrections. The flight was in fact actually a regularly scheduled chartered flight that was actually flown by the pilot and co-pilot--although the pilot did have a cold, and during the flight, I did at several times give serious attention to our flight conditions (notes indicate that I found it "a bit bumpy") I would also note that the dinner, Salmon with Creamed Potatoes, was undercooked, and was served with a Riesling that was unusually dry. It is also true that we were met not by a militia but by a girl's youth soccer team. However, it was necessary for me to dodge a soccer ball as team members demonstrated their often aggressive skills. No other shots were fired.
In short: I misspoke."
Cite:
Head of State
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/03/i-misspoke.html
Posted by: Robert Hewson | March 25, 2008 8:17 AM
So Obama has been compared to Reagan, MLK, NFK, and Lincoln by the media. Yeah no bias here. Maybe we should let him accomplish something before we start comparing him to the greatest presidents and people in AMerican history.
Posted by: Vinny | March 25, 2008 9:05 AM
This is an insult to the memory of the great communicator. When Reagan told stories they weren't smokescreens for his racist supporters.
Posted by: Jeff | March 25, 2008 9:10 AM
There is no more accurate word to describe Obama as the one used in this article that being "STORY TELLER". That is all he has done since he got in the race for president. He is a very accomplished teller of tales. He must tell tales because he doesn't have much to relie on in real life. Unless you want to talk about his church pastor Rev. Wright, maybe Rezko association, wife's job etc. These are real life issues but won't get much out of him about those except for a bunch of spin doctoring speeches to take the attention off of them and put it on racism, Change (whatever the hell that is) he still hasn't described that completely except to say it is good ? ? The man is nothing but a story teller and a teller of tall tales. Don't vote for him or else you will paying for it for 4 years.
Posted by: quills | March 25, 2008 9:15 AM
Here is something very interesting and no one is talking about it in Media. Watch all this clip and decide who is more corrupt?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq8aopATYyw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMfUajhL24I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sBL-sqe6zk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls9yD4ZC6tA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuTqgqhxVMc&feature=related
Posted by: TJS | March 25, 2008 9:15 AM
This is an insult to the memory of the great communicator. When Reagan told stories they weren't smokescreens for his racist supporters.
Posted by: Jeff | March 25, 2008 9:10 AM
After taking office in 1981, Reagan began a sustained attack on the government’s civil rights apparatus, opened an assault on affirmative action and social welfare programs, embraced the White racist leaders of then-apartheid South Africa. During his presidency, Reagan fired members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights who criticized his civil rights policies, including his strong opposition to affirmative action programs. One of the commissioners recalls that the judge who overturned the dismissal did so because “you can’t fire a watchdog for biting.” Reagan also attempted to limit and gut the Voting Rights Act and he slashed important programs like the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act that provided assistance to many African Americans.
Some people remember things differently Jeff.
Posted by: bill r. | March 25, 2008 11:05 AM
Vinny:
Which President was NFK???
Posted by: BobHusseininATL | March 25, 2008 11:52 AM
Bill r, there is a difference between being a typical white woman, "acting black," "acting white," and a white woman.
If this makes Obama a great communicator along the lines of Reagan so is Hillary. To say that Obama is some how different because he channels the Reaganiesque bring the audience into speech is a myopic assertion.
Her speeches HAVE ALWAYS brought in people to the subject at hand. This evident in her speeches and her debates. I'm sure you didn't miss that both Obama and Clinton do this. Or most politicians. Also, they both have been acknowledged for their written work. Clinton her graduation speech, her "woman rights is human rights" speech, and her book It Takes a Village. Obama has the Iraq speech, the Race speech, and his book, the Audacity of Hope.
Posted by: no story here | March 25, 2008 12:21 PM
This is an insult to the memory of the great communicator. When Reagan told stories they weren't smokescreens for his racist supporters.
Posted by: Jeff | March 25, 2008 9:10 AM
Nope, the Reagan supporters were pretty open with their racism, no smoke screens required.
"Welfare Queens", remember?
Posted by: JT | March 25, 2008 12:32 PM
bill r, anyone who believes raygun was a great communicator or president is either too young to know any better or has swallowed whole the republic historical re-write. how many hiv/aids patients do you suppose died as a direct result of his refusal to admit an epidemic? war on drugs, amnesty, iran-contra......no wonder the republics loved him. some day they'll look back fondly on the great shrub years.
Posted by: crud | March 25, 2008 1:00 PM
Yeah, I remember welfare queens and all of that stuff. Reagan was right then and Clinton was right in the '90s. WELFARE IS AND WAS A HUGE FAILURE.
Removing people from the cycle of dependency by forcing them to look for work is what finally started reducing the rolls.
You might think it's racist to be against affirmitive action, Bill r., but that doesn't necessarily make it so. There's a very logical argument to be made that being for affirmitive action is the truly racist position, because it implies that minorities need affirmitive action to fairly compete for college admission and jobs. I know many who are so capable that they would find any such insinuation to be an insult.
Posted by: Jeff | March 25, 2008 3:59 PM
Yeah, I remember welfare queens and all of that stuff. Reagan was right then and Clinton was right in the '90s. WELFARE IS AND WAS A HUGE FAILURE.
Removing people from the cycle of dependency by forcing them to look for work is what finally started reducing the rolls.
You might think it's racist to be against affirmitive action, Bill r., but that doesn't necessarily make it so. There's a very logical argument to be made that being for affirmitive action is the truly racist position, because it implies that minorities need affirmitive action to fairly compete for college admission and jobs. I know many who are so capable that they would find any such insinuation to be an insult.
Bonus: None of them are named Stroger.
Posted by: Jeff | March 25, 2008 4:00 PM
Crud, you're aptly named. What will be truly remembered about the Reagan years is the collapse of the Soviet Union, the historic trouncing of Mondale in every state in the union except two and the positive attitude that permeated the nation during his presidency. Sorry pal, but those are things that nearly all Americans voted for and celebrated, not just republicans. The revisionist history is coming from your side, pal.
Posted by: Jeff | March 26, 2008 11:44 AM