Chicago Mag (1993): In the final, climactic build-up to November’s general election … the number of new voter registrations hit an all-time high. And the majority of those new voters were black. More than 150,000 new African-American voters were added to the city’s rolls….
…At the head of this effort was a little-known 31-year-old African-American lawyer, community organizer, and writer: Barack Obama.
… By 1991, when Obama, law degree in hand, returned to Chicago to work on a book about race relations – having turned his back on the Supreme Court clerkship that is almost a given for the law review’s top editor – black voter registration and turnout in the city were at their lowest points since record keeping began … Six months after he took the helm of Chicago’s Project Vote!, those conditions had been reversed.
…Within a few months, Obama, a tall, affable workaholic, had recruited staff and volunteers from black churches, community groups, and politicians. He helped train 700 deputy registrars, out of a total of 11,000 citywide. And he began a saturation media campaign with the help of black-owned Brainstorm Communications…
….The success of the voter-registration drive has marked Obama as the political star the Mayor should perhaps be watching for. “The sky’s the limit for Barack,” says Burrell.
Some of Daley’s closest advisers are similarly impressed. “In its technical demands, a voter-registration drive is not unlike a mini-political campaign,” says John Schmidt. “Barack ran this superbly. I have no doubt he could run an equally good political campaign if that’s what he decided to do next.”
Obama shrugs off the possibility of running for office. “Who knows?” he says. “But probably not immediately.” He smiles.
“Was that a sufficiently politic ‘maybe’? My sincere answer is, I’ll run if I feel I can accomplish more that way than agitating from the outside. I don’t know if that’s true right now. Let’s wait and see what happens in 1993….”
Full article here
Thank you Dotser 😉
The Obama Diary 
“I have no doubt he could run an equally good political campaign.” How prophetic those words turned out to be. PBo has always had that something that has made him a natural leader. I try not make him more than he is, which is a remarkable man by any standards, but it does seem that he was meant to be president at this crucial time in our history. Everything in his life has led him to this place.
“it does seem that he was meant to be president at this crucial time in our history”
Right. I used to listen to this astrologer on our local am talk radio, and when asked if Barack Obama would become president, the astrologer said simply “Barack Obama was born to be president”. However, he did not elaborate since it was during the hard-fought primaries with Hillary, but this person asked the caller to talk with him privately about it. I had been watching since then to see how good his prediction was and voila!! And, I had a dream in April of 2008 that Barack Obama not only won the primary, but the presidency. So, I will be watching for these signs come 2012, and God willing, we will be celebrating once again.
The Bible says that Our LORD and Savior knew us, from the time we were In our Mother’s Womb. It’s a God thing, I tell you. He nor We, had or have NO control over that. He was pre-destined by GOD ALMIGHTY, Is my Belief. So then, I say THANK YOU LORD 🙂
Chipsticks, you’re doing great at playing catch-up today. This is a fantastic article!
Loved it too GGail, thanks again to Dotser for letting us know about it.
ABSOLUTELY!!
This is the man Donald Trump tried to say no one knew!!! Guess his staff doesn’t know how to do the simplest research!! These are enlightening and definitive articles. This man is constant within himself, and many people do not know how to handle that, because they waffle all over the place. His consistency drives these people nuts.
Agreed. It’s also them using Fear. It’s them trying to plant the seeds of paranoia. Those creeps know what they’re doing and they know the level of ‘intelligence’ of low-information voters who are too lazy to pick up a book, much less google. Ah well. Their loss!
THIS IS OUR EMOTIONALLY MATURE PRESIDENT…HE DOESN’T HAVE TO SPRINT LIKE A COWBOY OR STRAP ON A HOLSTER TO MAKE A POINT. HE’S ALSO ‘COMFORTABLE’ IN HIMSELF…A MIX OF HUMILITY…YET CONFIDENT…THIS IS WHERE THE ‘CALM’ COMES FROM! A FAR CRY FROM ‘RAMBO THE ROOSTER!’
Chipsticks, thanks for putting us in the wonderful frame of mind to not forget who we voted for in 2008, and how we have seen this remarkable man work so hard to show us he is not ‘That One’, but rather ‘Our One’. Now we will show him again that we are ‘The Ones’ who will support him, help him to continue to make the change, and show the world, “YES WE CAN AGAIN.” Here we come 2012!And may God’s favor be upon us and our President. I do not speak carelessly about God, so I speak with belief and love, and respect.