Obama upbringing in Hawaii not the American experience

Submitted by lisdel (United States), Jan 20, 2008 at 21:46

Can't wait for the responses on this thought:

Has anyone ever considered Obama's upbringing in general. He was born in Hawaii, went to indonesia, back to hawaii. He did not come to the mainland until he was 18 and entered college. I KNOW he is an American, I get that. BUT how much? Hawaii is a world away, a different culture, lifestyle. It cracks me up that he compare himself to Martin Luther King? a great man who was raised in the racist south, having to persevere discrimination, rising above and making change.

Obama was raised in Hawaii, bet that was rough, what could he possible have in common with Martin Luther King? I consider him an American without the American experience let alone the black experience. Consider this, Arnold Schwarzenegge came from Austria at 18 also, he is as American as Obama but cannot run for president, because he was not born here. Yet he has had the same American experience as Obama.

Question is do I want a man who never lived in the 48 states until he was 18? Does he know what we think, feel, how we were raised, our day to day struggles. Has he ever lived in suburban America? rich or poor, it doesn't matter. There are illegal immigrants with more time living in America than he has! Let him live and work among us for a while before he tries to lead us.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".