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Baragh O'Bama?

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March 17, 2008 8:52 PM

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: Barack Obama? Not on St. Patrick’s Day. Instead, call him O’Bama -- Baragh O’Bama.

The Democratic senator from Illinois spoke before the Society of Irish Women’s dinner in Scranton, Pa., and talked up his Irish roots, and newfound Irish name.

He told the women that he could relate to the Irish Americans' struggles because, “I have Irish heritage. I’m not talking about my cousin Dick Cheney. I actually have a great grandfather who came from Ireland and settled nearby in Ohio.”

Indeed, there is a village in Ireland, called Moneygall, where Obama’s distant roots have been traced back.

And on the name, Obama explained, “I know some of you have seen the signs with the apostrophe after the O, that indicated my bloodlines, but I also want you to know that Baragh is an old Celtic name.”

Obama admitted that his bit of Irish heritage is beneficial as a candidate. “It never hurts to be a little Irish when you’re running for office in the United States.” He also mentioned the endorsements of two famous Irish Americans, Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd.

Obama said, if elected, Ireland would have a friend in the White House and told the audience he started his St. Patrick’s Day talking with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. He also touted his work on comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate. “I was proud to walk shoulder to shoulder with so many Irish Americans in Chicago in support of immigration reform in the summer of 2006.”

Not all the women in the crowd were responsive to Obama’s speech, as a few tables in the back donned Hillary Clinton blue stickers and didn’t stand up or clap when Obama entered the room.  As Obama’s motorcade rolled past, there was a fierce sign battle with as many Clinton supporters chanting as those waving O’Bama signs, in a location where Clinton has family roots.

Obama, the Irishman, almost made a big blunder on the most Irish of days: he said he lost track and forgot to wear green, instead donned a pale blue tie all day. But knowing his Irish audience, he snatched a green tie from a staffer who had “confiscated it” from a supporter at the bar.

“We will change before the Irish Women’s Dinner tonight,” O’Bama said.

March 17, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (72)

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I am sure he has some "IDIOT" in him also. He just needs a holiday to exploit it, oh yeah it will surely be tomorrow, following his speech.

Posted by: D | Mar 17, 2008 9:04:27 PM

Am I supposed to laugh or cry after listening to this joker?

Now he is Irish because his great grandfather came from Ireland, but he is not Kenyan nor a muslim. Who cares about a father or grandfather. Irish great grandfather is all that matters. Isn't it?

Posted by: Someone | Mar 17, 2008 9:16:05 PM

That's clear now: hatred is the last Clinton's supporters.

Posted by: Mark Webb | Mar 17, 2008 9:18:26 PM


In one place unapologetically black and afro-centric, another place Kansan, and then Hawaiian, and yet another place Irish, and for the rest of "a uniter" - What else?
Some crucial cultural heritage seems to be forgotten. Why not recognize that as well. After all, Mr. Obama is for transparency, right?
What a way to pander? All candidates do it - some more than others.

The church and the pastor are not the problems in this election, the disciple is!!

Posted by: Onlooker | Mar 17, 2008 9:24:45 PM

hatred is a harsh word isn't it. we have been hearing it for months about Hillary. Only thing is we don't hate Obama, we new all along the true Obama, and it FEELS GREAT THAT HE IS FINALLY CALLED TO THE CARPET!!!

Posted by: D | Mar 17, 2008 9:25:34 PM

Jay, tonight you have lost the DcVoter and the WestCoastMessanger, could you be a bit friendly toward Obama? Hillary is not electable in November and we all know that. Anybody who understands Obma's roots will be proud of him because he cannot be what people wants him to be i.e. a racist or unpatriotic. He will win the nomination and win the presidency and we all will work with him to lift-up America, and lift-up the world. Together, yes we can.

Posted by: BKMC | Mar 17, 2008 9:38:29 PM

He is Irish now??? what a tool he sure is giving a new meaning to the words a politician will say anything to get votes.

Posted by: SJ | Mar 17, 2008 9:48:18 PM

Again...Obama will not win the nomination.....it is clear...this is his last week in politics....tomorrow he is going to mess up so bad in the press conference that he wished he wouldnt have come into politics.

Hillary has fought all the haters in RNC, the media and whatnot.

Obama has had an easy ride. This election will define Hillary as the one who overcame all odds to become President.

Posted by: MattOhio | Mar 17, 2008 9:51:57 PM

I still cant stop laughing at the Baragh is an old Celtic name and I know some of you have seen the signs with the apostrophe after the O.

Geez is this man for real !!!! lol

Posted by: SJ | Mar 17, 2008 9:56:20 PM

D, hilarious! Thanks for making laugh.

Posted by: irma | Mar 17, 2008 10:08:26 PM

In the Jeremiah Wright affair, Barack Obama is most certainly lying about something.

He now insists that he is "shocked, shocked" (in the style of Claude Raines in "Casablanca") to hear that anti-Americanism had anything at all to do with Wright's ministry.

He has also claimed to be a "devout Christian" who attends church every week and is deeply involved in the life of Wright's congregation (where he's been a member for twenty years).

What is Barack Obama lying about?

Posted by: Jeff | Mar 17, 2008 10:19:01 PM

Barack Obama's speech tomorrow will rival those of John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King. And when it's done, more people than ever will say...

YES WE CAN.

Posted by: He is the one | Mar 17, 2008 10:33:50 PM

what's that blarney? LOL

Posted by: DCVoter | Mar 17, 2008 10:47:15 PM

RCP average has Clinton with a slight lead in the polls as of yesterday.

Posted by: DCVoter | Mar 17, 2008 10:48:49 PM

Anyone who was duped into voting for Obama must be furious.

The Democratic Party is now stuck with a racist, old school Black Nationalist and con man as its nominee for president.

Good luck with that "uniter" thing Obama. We see how committed you and your "uncle" have been to uniting the country over the last 25 years together.

As if that's not enough, Obama and his whopping two years of federal experience (most of which he has simply spent campaigning for president) are supposedly going to lead America and the world during these especially challenging times.

My God. Unbelievable.

Posted by: Jack | Mar 17, 2008 10:55:47 PM

The heading of that CNN poll is so incredibly biased as well as incorrect ("Poll: Majority of Democrats prefer Obama"). Based on the margin of error listed in their story, there is no reasonable statistical evidence to suggest that Democrats prefer Senator Obama over Senator Clinton.

Obama: 47.5% - 56.5%
Clinton: 40.5% - 49.5%

There confidence intervals overlap which means that it is a statistical tie. This kind of bias reporting is a joke.

Posted by: LOM | Mar 17, 2008 10:59:04 PM

What fun! His father was Kenyan, and his mother Kansan. And somewhere there is an Irish tie. Doesn't surprise me. My wife is from Africa, though we both share Irish heritage. Barack (what a name!) is poised to lead this country ... not because of any heritage, but because he is best able to carry this country forward. His policies, presidential demeanor, and proven intellect on constitutional law, make him our best candidate in at least two generations.

Posted by: malthusian77 | Mar 17, 2008 11:01:49 PM

hiya LOM yep I saw that too... but most of us know CNN has unreliable polling

Posted by: DCVoter | Mar 17, 2008 11:02:46 PM

MattOhio: I have posted the following before:
Clinton would need to get 64.2% of the remaining pledged delegates in order to catch Obama. That is HIGHLY unlikely. Interestingly, if we have a revote in Fl and Mi, and Obama retains his 200 some superdeletates, then he only needs a little over 45% of the remaining delegates to clinch the nomination. Get used to him folks, the numbers are on his side.

Posted by: malthusian77 | Mar 17, 2008 11:06:34 PM

I have to agree with the post not believing the bigotry. Being in Scranton and a supporter of Obama, I am amazed at the meanness of the Clinton supporters. I had a couple of people at the St Patricks day parade ask if they could burn the sign I was holding, but only if I kept holding it. Nice, thing to say in front of kids. Another today outside the Irish womans dinner...a sign in a Hillary person's hands "Lies are not change" I wanted to say to them...no and Hillary should know that all to well. He isn't done. History itself will prove who wins. One of the three willhold the white house.

Posted by: Lori | Mar 17, 2008 11:06:54 PM

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