Ill. Senate President Jones took Obama, the 'pushy' organizer, under his wing in 1985

[Kire]

Jones took Obama, the 'pushy' organizer, under his wing

August 24, 2008Recommend (9)

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter/[e-mail]
What stood out about the skinny, 25-year-old community organizer the first time Emil Jones met him?

"He was a little pushy," the president of the Illinois Senate recalls of Barack Obama.

Jones was just a state senator back in 1985 when he noticed a handful of people gathering down the block from his South Side district office. Jones walked over to see what they were up to.

It wasn't till he read about it in Obama's book, years later, that he realized the group had been gathering to organize a protest.

"I sort of startled them by warmly greeting them," Jones said, sitting in his state office in Chicago's Thompson Center. "They were organizing to get some attention for the dropout rate at Fenger High School. I had the same concerns, so I invited them in to my office. We sat down and had a dialogue. They weren't just there to complain. They actually had solutions to the problem. "

Years later, Jones would welcome Obama into the state Senate and help shepherd him into the U.S. Senate.

But back then, Obama was just a "pushy" community organizer who Jones still found himself liking.

More: http://www.suntimes.com/news/1123166,CST-NWS-jones24.article

I would like to learn more about his time as a community organizer. Some GOP'ers say he didn't do much, and I don't know how to respond to that.

[FrenchieCat]

1. here......

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-1993/Vote-of-Confidence/

[Kire]

2. thanks so much

I'll be reading it now.

[Kire]

3. Somebody should tell McCain that Obama didn't think he was ready, either.

That's why he left Chicago for Harvard Law School to get more skills.