A Few Obama Thank-Yous

By Colbert I. King
WashPost
Saturday, November 8, 2008

In his Tuesday night acceptance speech, President-elect Barack Obama appropriately offered "thank-yous" to his family, campaign aides and voters who supported the Democratic ticket.

Now he may be dashing off thank-you notes to others who helped bring about his electoral college landslide. Here's hoping his list includes:

· Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine. The allegiance of Obama's Democratic party allies should be measured against the standard: "BATK" (Before or After Tim Kaine.) Kaine endorsed Obama in February 2007, far in advance of most Congressional Black Caucus members and statewide elected officials outside of Illinois.

· Bill and Hillary Clinton. Obama could not have asked more of the Clintons. Despite her bitter defeat in the race for the party's presidential nomination, they went all-out for Obama, urging disappointed supporters to get behind the Democratic ticket. The Clintons should be thanked for that. But there's another reason to thank them.

Obama wouldn't be set to become the nation's 44th president were it not for the toughening-up he got from the Clintons in the primaries. Everything was thrown at Obama: his inexperience and questionable associations, his so-called oratorical skills vs. a lack of substance, his supposed unreadiness to become commander in chief -- charges that were also used by John McCain in the general election race.

(More here.)