No Joke! Six Brazilian politicians officially rename themselves "Barack Obama"

[scheming daemons]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/15/brazil.barackobama

Walk into a polling station in Belford Roxo, an impoverished city on the fringes of Rio de Janiero, on October 5 and you will be faced with an historic choice. You could vote for Alcides Rolim, the Workers' Party mayoral candidate promising a "city for all" or Elizeu Pitorra, a local communist who believes it is "time for a change". Most voters, however, will probably opt for Barack Obama, a 39-year-old Brazilian who, until recently, was known as Claudio Henrique dos Anjos.

Welcome to Obama-mania, Brazil-style. Few countries have embraced the idea of the US's first black president as enthusiastically as Brazil, a country with one of the largest Afro-descendant populations on Earth yet where black faces remain a minority in politics. Obama T-shirts are everywhere while chat shows and newspaper columns are filled with talk of the 47-year-old Illinois senator.

Now even Brazil's politicians are lining up for their piece of the pie. Due to a quirk of Brazilian law, candidates are allowed to run under the name of their choice. As a result, at least six Brazilian politicians have officially renamed themselves "Barack Obama" in a bid to get an edge over their rivals in October's municipal elections.

"In truth it was an accident," says Belford Roxo's Obama, an IT consultant who is bidding to become the city's first black mayor. "I'd been on the television wearing a suit and people thought I looked a bit like him so they started calling me Barack Obama. They'd see me in the street and shout: 'Hey! Barack!" So I decided to register it."
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[TooRaLoo]

1. Wow that's crazy!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. So, how many is that

anyway?

[BlueStateGirl]

3. How many's a Brazilian? n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

4. Six Brazillion? That's a lot of Barack Obamas

[Cha]

5. How many little

babies will be named after him in the ensuing years?

I had a dream the other week that this really cute baby was named Biden ..his parents named him after Joe Biden in my dream:)

Funny, about the Brazillian politicians..the whole world is mostly waiting for us to do the right thing.

[Aqaba]

6. ARE THEY ON THE SAME BALLOT?

ALL CAPS RULES!

Hehe.

[LiberalHeart]

19. Ha. I wish our ballots would have just that name.

[SharonRB]

7. ...

:rofl:

You all beat me to the obvious, but it's still funny.

[SharonRB]

8. ...

:rofl:

You all beat me to the obvious, but it's still funny.

[rateyes]

9. Damn, do I wish I had been the first one to reply to this thread!

I was too fucking slow to claim the DUzy I knew was coming to the one who was the first.

:rofl:

[protect our future]

10. ..........choking with laughter here ........

[crispini]

11. Six Brazilian Obamas!

Hee.

[jmondine]

12. Mind if we call you Barack Obama just to keep it clear?

Barack Obama here is in charge of the sheep dip. :D

[FlyingSquirrel]

13. My name is Barack Obama

And I approved this post.

:D

[mcctatas]

14. ....

:spray:

now that cat thinks I'm crazy!

[hootinholler]

15. Wasn't this a Monty Python skit?

:rofl:

-Hoot

[Meshuga]

16. I saw that last week. Great marketing strategy! :-) n/t

[eshfemme]

17. Oh Christ, I can just imagine the avalanche of Brazilian Baracks after Obama takes the White House.

:rofl:

[protect our future]

18. An avalance of six brazillian Baracks could be quite devastating.

[Phx_Dem]

20. That is hilarious! I bet it's fun trying to figure out who's who.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

21. Well, they're running in different cities AFAIK. -nt