Just to Clarify A Few Things

Well, well, well. Quite an interesting response from Kevin and John about Obama's success at the NAACP forum. I would just like to respond and clarify a few things:

1. OBVIOUSLY, Barack Obama has "home field advantage" by being second in the polls and who quite possibly may become the first African American Presidential candidate to win the Democratic nomination. I am not disputing this fact, for there was a bias in the crowd due to the high attendance of African Americans, but that is not my point. A few weeks ago, the Democratic candidates attended another Black forum at Howard University, and Barack did not come away with the greatest positive response. In fact, Hillary was the candidate who stole the show that night. There will continue to be a struggle between the African American community in how they are going to cast their vote in the upcoming Democratic primaries. As of now, the Black vote is split between both Obama and Clinton. When I said Obama "shined" (which he did according to many news sources), I mean to say is that he made a great comeback from the last Black forum and received a more positive response than Hillary did.

Overall, my point was that there was the same amount of bias at Howard University as there was at the NAACP Convention, and yet two different outcomes occurred. Therefore, I say, yes, Barack did in fact shine at this event.

2. Kevin was absolutely correct - this was not an official debate, but a forum. However, this forum had a very similar format to debate style, in which case all the candidates were placed on stage next to one another and each spoke. I would also agree and can admit that Obama has not come off the best when thinking on his feet at the recent debates. Yet, at the NAACP convention, Barack definitely rose above that critique and showed the people "he has what it takes" to stand strong against the other candidates. In fact, according to the Chicago Sun-Times:

DETROIT -- Sen. Barack Obama is indeed a quick study. After looking surprisingly unpolished in a nationally televised forum targeting black audiences nearly two weeks ago, Obama held his own against his closest rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, at the 98th NAACP National Convention at Cobo Hall in Detroit on Thursday morning.

Obama, who is pitting change against experience in the 2008 Democratic primary, got off more than a few crisp one-liners while crafting a message that at times elicited thunderous applause that drowned out some of his words, but obviously bolstered his confidence in the debate arena...On Thursday, Obama seemed to have found his stride.

3. Obama has consistently stayed in second place in the polls (trailing Hillary, the front runner) and although he dropped a few percentage points in the last month or two, he definitely regained his loss in the last week. People have a strong affinity for Barack Obama and he has become much more than just a "rock star" in the last few months by defining his policies and taking on issues. Even at this convention at the NAACP, Barack showed he was willing to take on challenging issues in the African American community, as the Chicago Sun-Times writes:

Accused by critics of being too "skittish" to address black issues head on, Obama's spirited responses seemed crafted to put those critics to rest.

So after making my clarifications, I hope you can see that there is in fact, more to Barack's "shining" at the NAACP Convention than just what critics may believe to be just expected applause from a biased crowd.