Came across this story today and thought there may be some interested readers on the forum. The story is 4 pages long so I've just pasted the first couple paragraphs to entice you to read the rest.

Long before he became a political rock star with designs on theWhite House, Barack Obama was known to friends in the Illinoislegislature as a fearsome card player.

During weekly games ofTexas Hold 'Em, he played a tight style of poker -- patiently waitingfor the right cards, folding when dealt a bad hand and taking fewunnecessary risks.

"He knew the chances of winning and he knew hewas going to walk out of there even or ahead almost every time," saysTerry Link, an Illinois state senator and former poker partner who hadhis wallet emptied by Mr. Obama on many occasions. "He never went intoa game like a riverboat gambler."

Mr. Obama used the same strategy as he weighed the risks of running for the presidency in 2008.
The rest of the story is here
http://www.canada.com/national<WBR>post/news/story.html?id<WBR>=0130165f-82d7-4c5a-85bc<WBR>-64d52aaf8318&k=36044

good to hear

pssh, f askesis, obama all the way. My mom went to go hear him speak today, I thought he was accouncing his candidacy today but I could very well be wrong.

Barack Saddam Hussein Osama Obama ...

That's his full name. Don't vote for this wacko even if he does play poker.

He is from Illinois. Vote for him.

stupid idiot americans. You think GWB was qualified in any sense. His qualifications include being from a former white house family with a lot of money, which got him into an ivy league school. Anyone with half a brain realizes how dumb your president truly is. Obama is an insanely intelligent, well spoken, charasmatic man who would bring a whole different approach to the white house which is exactly what your fucked up country needs. I love America but your country is turning into a joke bc of your president and his corrupt administration

flame away!!!

-thaaj2004

if you would stop being ignorant and research you would realize Obama is very qualified

Besides being a first-term senator, what qualifications does he have?

When I ask for his qualifications, and I get a response simply that he "is very qualified", you aren't exactly making a strong case.

Qualifications for the Office of President


Age and Citizenship requirements - US Constitution, Article II, Section 1

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

Term limit amendment - US Constitution, Amendment XXII, Section 1 � ratified February 27, 1951

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.

Looks like he qualifies...

No, that means that he is ELIGIBLE

"Eliminate the 18-30 year old in the vote and the Repbublicans win by a landslide everytime."

One of the most absurd statements of 2007 on p5s.

post the stats from the last 8 elections on voting by age....if i am wrong then i will take it back and bend over. But i am positive that as people get older they tend to get more conservative.

Maybe not by a landslide, but they will definetely have a significant higher percentage of votes.

Prove me wrong.

Dear MODS,

I'm sorry. I didn't mean for the thread to turn this way, but, I should have known it would. My bad.

My guess is most of you didn't even read the friggen article. I haven't read one reference to it yet.

GG me.

Personally, for the first time in my life, I am excited about the spirit of hope that this man brings. He addresses our generation (the young generation) like no other politician since JFK, probably because he knows that we are the least likely to judge him based on the color of his skin or even his name for that matter. And yes, being a great public speaker can be enough to lead you to the Presidency, look at the aforementioned JFK and Abraham Lincoln. He can choose plenty of experienced cabinet members to counteract his inexperience (although we can argue that 12 years as a politician isn't inexperienced at all), but to deny his charisma is crazy, and me being a social bleeding heart liberal w/ dreams of a small, fiscally consertative government, I agree w/ alot of his platform anyway.

OBAMA IN 08!!!!!!!!!!

Why stop there?

Eliminate the blacks, hispanics, asians, jews, muslims, hindus, buddists...oh and don't forget the women and the gays...

...then you'll get the Dubya and Dick show every time

Tiger Woods, the Williams sisters, Michael Jordan, etc...are these not great Americans?

The worst Americans I've seen in my lifetime: George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Nixon, Kenneth Lay, Floyd Landis: what do they all have in common?

I'm not American but America would get so much more respect from the world if it had a president like Obama - from that perspective he has great qualifcations

btw: I am white, middle-aged and married