Breaking: Obama’s grandmother passes away
posted at 5:17 pm on November 3, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Madelyn Dunham, the grandmother of Senator Barack Obama, has died today from complications of cancer. She passed away a day before voters go to the polls to determine whether Obama or John McCain will occupy the White House for the next four years:
A day before the presidential election, Barack Obama announced the death Monday of his grandmother, who helped raise him and who he praised as the cornerstone of his family. The Democratic presidential candidate announced the news in a joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng. He said his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, had died peacefully after a battle with cancer.
He said: “She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances.”
The candidate learned of her death Monday morning while he was campaigning in Jacksonville, Fla. He planned to go ahead with campaign appearances.
It’s a good thing that Obama took a couple of days to see her last month. Reports said that her health had seriously deteriorated, and Obama would not likely get another chance to see the woman who had been his primary guardian for a good portion of his childhood. Unfortunately, those reports proved only too prescient.
Obama made the right decision at that time, and he’s making the right decision now. With hours to go, both campaigns have to focus on getting out their message to voters in the battleground states and around the nation. This country deserves a complete debate on the merits and demerits of each candidate, and there simply is no more time for delays.
Our prayers are with the Obama family and the candidate himself. Mrs. Dunham sounds like a remarkable woman who led a good life.
Update: Those commenters “questioning the timing” need to get a life. Those wishing ill on Senator Obama or his family (in the past or present day) will find their comments deleted. Get classy and stay that way, please.
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Rest in peace.
carbon_footprint on November 3, 2008 at 5:18 PM
My condolences to her family. May the lord accept her and may she rest in peace.
William Amos on November 3, 2008 at 5:19 PM
UUUUUUMMMMMMM….why do i not believe this???
cadds182 on November 3, 2008 at 5:19 PM
Very sad.
carl todd hand on November 3, 2008 at 5:19 PM
Condolences to the Obama family…. Now, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still gonna get his ass kicked tomorrow!!!!
Delaware Vol on November 3, 2008 at 5:20 PM
May God see the coming of the ways.
upinak on November 3, 2008 at 5:20 PM
BTW MSNBC is reporting they found Steve Fossett’s body today as well.
William Amos on November 3, 2008 at 5:20 PM
I’m sorry Mrs.Dunham passed away….last week.
virtue gal on November 3, 2008 at 5:20 PM
God bless her. Now lets move on and win this election.
triple-p on November 3, 2008 at 5:21 PM
Condolences to the Obama family. By all accounts, this was a loving and caring woman, who took care of her grandson and sacrificed for him. He was very lucky to have her.
JustTruth101 on November 3, 2008 at 5:21 PM
Sad, but she lived a long life. There’s some comfort in that.
Btw, am I deaf? Why have I never heard of his sister?
sheesh on November 3, 2008 at 5:21 PM
Upcoming tanning bed meme:
“Obama promises to bankrupt the coal industry? How can you be so callous to a man who just lost his grandmother?! You’re a heartless fiend if you vote for Oldie McOlderson instead!”
CarpeFishem on November 3, 2008 at 5:21 PM
I thought she was recovering from hip surgery???
May she rest in peace.
Ladywolfnl on November 3, 2008 at 5:22 PM
That’s very sad.
ocbrat on November 3, 2008 at 5:22 PM
My condolences to the family.
-Dave
Dave R. on November 3, 2008 at 5:22 PM
God forgive me, but this election more than any other has made me very cynical…. and skeptical.
creatocon on November 3, 2008 at 5:23 PM
Why do I feel bad for questioning the timing? Is that how dirty politics has become?
nickj116 on November 3, 2008 at 5:23 PM
This cuts through all the other noise — it’s very sad, particularly in light of the fact that her grandson (as much as I don’t want it to happen) may very well make history just one day later. God Bless her…
D2Boston on November 3, 2008 at 5:23 PM
Things like this almost make you buy into the fated nature of Obama’s candidacy. Very sad, I wish him the best in dealing with the bitter sweet nature of this.
DeathToMediaHacks on November 3, 2008 at 5:23 PM
kept under wraps until today to maximize sympathy on the eve of election? nah.
uncalheels on November 3, 2008 at 5:24 PM
May God bless and keep her. May his mercy shine upon her. And may God forgive her grandson for all he is about to do.
FiveWays on November 3, 2008 at 5:24 PM
No, it has been out there, half sister with his stepfather.. She is probably off the table until Nov 5th for any interviews etc.
Marine_Bio on November 3, 2008 at 5:24 PM
Yes it’s sad BUT we stil have a job to do VOTE MACUDA VOTE EARLEY AND DRIVE TO THE POLL AND VOTE AGAIN NAAAAH just ONE TIME
driver on November 3, 2008 at 5:24 PM
May she RIP.
Finally.
pambi on November 3, 2008 at 5:25 PM
RIP.
Ponz on November 3, 2008 at 5:25 PM
My condolences to Ms. Dunham’s family and Senator Obama. He seemed to very much regret not making the trip to see his mother when she passed, so I’m glad he was able to see her one last time.
RIP
Kel-C on November 3, 2008 at 5:25 PM
My sorrow for the family in last week’s loss…
Now would someone PLEASE deport the Aunt?
docjohn52 on November 3, 2008 at 5:25 PM
David Axelrod knows why: “I think people are suspect about stories that surface in the last 72 hours of a national campaign.”
misslizzi on November 3, 2008 at 5:26 PM
Very sorry to hear it. Am sure she’s proud of her grandson, no matter what the election results say tomorrow.
I pray that if he should be elected, he’ll govern in a way that will bring her honor, and glory to God.
inviolet on November 3, 2008 at 5:26 PM
You’re kidding. How about you team up with Andrew Sullivan? This way he can demand a birth certificate to prove that Trig is actually Sarah’s, and you can demand a death certificate to prove she died when they say she did.
amerpundit on November 3, 2008 at 5:26 PM
Nickj116 I question it too. The statement from Obama and his sister doesn’t indicate when she died.
I wish he would have taken his children to see her when he went to Hawaii to visit her. She was a grandma who stepped up to the plate to raise a grandson, she deserved a last visit from her great grandchildren.
Was she Obama’s sister,Maya’s, grandma too?
Beledibelle on November 3, 2008 at 5:27 PM
RIP
mantis on November 3, 2008 at 5:27 PM
I don’t think their is anyone more special then that “special grandma”.
They can do no wrong…my prayers for him.
The loss will be tragic (both of the losses).
right2bright on November 3, 2008 at 5:27 PM
This is sad news.
AbaddonsReign on November 3, 2008 at 5:28 PM
Its normal. I did it too. For me, the main reason to question the timing is that its the kind of thing that Obama could have chosen not to announce until after the election. Not that I’m accusing him of politicking with his grandma’s death, but…
jimmy the notable on November 3, 2008 at 5:28 PM
Ed Morrissey, did you see what seejanesmom wrote? As I said above in the headlines:
If anyone thinks I am exaggerating, I assure you I am understating.
Christoph on November 3, 2008 at 5:28 PM
Sorry but I don’t buy that she passed away the day before the election. I think BHO will use anyone and anything to win. Maybe I’m wrong and if I ‘am may she rest in peace, at least she didn’t live to see her grandson get his a$$ handed to him tomorrow.
mcplumbercuda on November 3, 2008 at 5:28 PM
My grandmother also passed away this weekend, she was 106. i definitely understand his.
Chudi on November 3, 2008 at 5:29 PM
So sorry to hear about this. The loss of a loved one, especially soemoen who’s been such an integral part of your life is hard to deal with.
RIP
todler on November 3, 2008 at 5:29 PM
Not buying it. The sympathy card doesn’t work for me. i do believe she may have passed….but how do “fall ill” to a broken hip??? Now it’s cancer? Didn’t know she had that either….Honestly, I think she passed away a week or so ago…it just another big dark secret Obama and his camp was hiding and waiting to use to his advantage….whatta sucker!
cadds182 on November 3, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Also as I said above, God bless Madelyn Dunham and may she rest in peace.
Christoph on November 3, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Typical?
Sefton on November 3, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Losing a family member is always tough. Especially one that had such a hand in his upbringing.
Sponge on November 3, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Let’s please not be tacky and “question the timing.”
Beo on November 3, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Deepest sympathies to the Obama family. Sadly, this will be soften the blow for another loss tomorrow.
portlandon on November 3, 2008 at 5:31 PM
Because you’re a jackass?
doubleplusundead on November 3, 2008 at 5:31 PM
RIP. If she is in Heaven now, I bet she is shocked at what a lying POS Commie socialist her grandson turned out to be.
If she could return to earth tomorrow, I’d bet she’d vote for McCain.
TexBob on November 3, 2008 at 5:31 PM
My most heartfelt condolences for Sen. Obama and his family.
Glenn Jericho on November 3, 2008 at 5:32 PM
Holy crap, can we stop with the Obama Derangement Syndrome?
There are so many things we can hit him with without seeing things in the shadows. Besides, the people who would do a sympathy vote are already voting for Obama.
eforhan on November 3, 2008 at 5:32 PM
RIP
Torch on November 3, 2008 at 5:32 PM
My sympathies to the Obama family
Techie on November 3, 2008 at 5:32 PM
Bulls=it.
LtE126 on November 3, 2008 at 5:33 PM
The Tanning Bed Media hasn’t seen fit to enable this prior to today, and there’s little reason to believe they’ll do so now. Instead we’ll be treated to breathless media accounts of this side issue.
As for some of the cynicism in this thread…I don’t want to excuse it, but I do believe it’s rather telling that even in this event it’s more-than-semi-reasonable to wonder if Obama is being entirely truthful about it. He threw his grandmother under the bus before, after all.
JohnTant on November 3, 2008 at 5:33 PM
I see the Mobies are out.
Techie on November 3, 2008 at 5:33 PM
cadds182 on November 3, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Stop being an asshole.
Torch on November 3, 2008 at 5:33 PM
I believe his maternal grandfather has also passed. Does anyone know the cause of his death or that of his father in Kenya? IIRC, his father died in a car accident, but I’m not sure.
a capella on November 3, 2008 at 5:34 PM
My condolences.
-o0- on November 3, 2008 at 5:34 PM
My condolences to the Obama/Dunham family. May she rest in peace.
acleaver on November 3, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Sad news. I am glad he got to spend some time with her last week.
Prayers and best wishes to her family.
Elizabetty on November 3, 2008 at 5:34 PM
condolences…
KDANAZ on November 3, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Wow, that was convenient.
Let’s roll.
ex-Democrat on November 3, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Beo on November 3, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Agreed, but you and I both know that doesn’t hold a candle to 9 pages of posts on the LA Times website cheering Tony Snow’s death.
Ryan Gandy on November 3, 2008 at 5:35 PM
This is horrible news, and my sympathies go to the family. But I pray to God that this doesn’t turn out any sympathy votes among the undecideds.
Sir Corky on November 3, 2008 at 5:35 PM
it’s funny how the liberals come over and start posting in a conservative blog and get all upset when something negative is said about the Messiah…you guys make me laugh!
RIP grandma obama…may god be with you.
cadds182 on November 3, 2008 at 5:35 PM
Get lost, creep.
Elizabetty on November 3, 2008 at 5:35 PM
That is sad. Am sorry to hear it.
inviolet on November 3, 2008 at 5:36 PM
FWIW, it took my brother’s fractured shoulder (and persuant tests) to reveal his ALS. Happens.
pambi on November 3, 2008 at 5:36 PM
You are no better than the truthers.
RIP grandma Obama
Zetterson on November 3, 2008 at 5:36 PM
She has been in failing health for some time.
a capella on November 3, 2008 at 5:36 PM
So, how many of these death conspiracy posts are from trolls that signed up today to post crappy stuff and make HA look bad? I wish this board showed the sign0up dates of each user.
Hmm…
cannonball on November 3, 2008 at 5:37 PM
Bingo!
Cynical? Perhaps, but Obama’s entire campaign has made me so.
misslizzi on November 3, 2008 at 5:37 PM
Pretty much sums it up. God rest her soul. Nothing more to see or comment on.
Move along, folks, and let us attend to the business at hand: getting John McCain elected. Only the Kos Kidz enjoy playing with the dead and registering them to vote.
We are among the living and only the living can get the vote out for John McCain.
Make it happen, people.
Let’s bring this shit HOME.
ManlyRash on November 3, 2008 at 5:37 PM
Sad news.
Anyone have any idea where her cancer was?
Del Dolemonte on November 3, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Well…it is sad. Regardless of when it actually happened.
The only thing that makes me cynical is how Obama used the death of his mother from cancer to vilify the insurance company that DID PAY her bills, despite the fact that she had just returned from Indonesia where she had no insurance.
He is known for scoring a cheap political point when it is there for the taking…
MidPointMan on November 3, 2008 at 5:38 PM
RIP
phronesis on November 3, 2008 at 5:39 PM
Sincere condolences to the Obama family.
Hog Wild on November 3, 2008 at 5:39 PM
It’s a DEAL!!!
misslizzi on November 3, 2008 at 5:39 PM
In Indiana, at least part of the day, Del.
Dan Collins on November 3, 2008 at 5:39 PM
My condolences to the Obama family.
baxtrice on November 3, 2008 at 5:40 PM
TO BAD MICHELLE AND THE GIRLS DIDNT GO SEE HER.
DELL on November 3, 2008 at 5:40 PM
86 years is allot of history. May she rest in peace.
Kevin in Washington State on November 3, 2008 at 5:41 PM
Having just found out that my own mother passed away last night, I can only wish Barack and his family peace and comfort.
My sympathy will not change my vote.
sjphoto on November 3, 2008 at 5:44 PM
Sorry if you don’t like what’s being said about the Messiah…If you don’t like it then go back to your liberal blog site and stay outta here
cadds182 on November 3, 2008 at 5:44 PM
Since when is being cynical and heartless in the midst of the greatest battle since the civil war a bad thing? Only if you care what the enemy hypocritically says of you on some other blog. Only if you care about “looking bad”. The lefties don’t care about looking bad, they are winning this thing and have the biggest, most successful blogs to drive the election to prove it. So much for Queensbury rules.
keep the change on November 3, 2008 at 5:44 PM
I’m sure she held on as long as she could. I hope her passing was not painful, as I’ve heard cancer can be. I will keep the Obamas in my thoughts, because I know how painful it can be to lose a family member at a tense time.
Anna on November 3, 2008 at 5:45 PM
RIP…
It will look bad if next week somebody looks at the death certificate and it says Thursday, October 30.
Of course, it won’t matter at that point. Not sure it matters now…
If it is really close, then we can cry foul. Of course, that won’t matter either.
MidPointMan on November 3, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Like all our beloved grandmothers, may the lady rest peacefully.
I’m readying myself for the interminable and effusive media wailing, all in the sole pursuit of Barack Obama’s greatness, and great moment in history. Fortunaely I tuned them out a long time ago.
Entelechy on November 3, 2008 at 5:46 PM
OK, let’s postpone the election for one week. That’s only proper.
SC.Charlie on November 3, 2008 at 5:46 PM
right on cue!
Ok, Did they take her off life support? just asking
way to much DRAMA, we will never know, not allowed to ask.
People we are in for a wild ride
Bridgette on November 3, 2008 at 5:47 PM
My condolences to the Obama family.
rbj on November 3, 2008 at 5:48 PM
Did they give her a blanket? That’s the least they could have done.
Dan Collins on November 3, 2008 at 5:49 PM
Cancer? Since when? And she dies 12 hours before election day?
Come on!
angryed on November 3, 2008 at 5:49 PM
Sorry but I don’t buy that she passed away the day before the election
Holy crap, can we stop with the Obama Derangement Syndrome?
There are so many things we can hit him with without seeing things in the shadows. Besides, the people who would do a sympathy vote
arehave already votinged for Obama.eforhan on November 3, 2008 at 5:32 PM
I thought all the earlier voting already favored Obama, so I made the above correction,
Chewy the Lab on November 3, 2008 at 5:50 PM
Oh, droll…
It is pretty poignant that she doesn’t have a chance to see the outcome of the election. I do hope she’s witnessing it from a better place.
mikeyboss on November 3, 2008 at 5:50 PM
Calm the cra*p, folks.
We are NOT the left.. let’s stop sounding like them.
Sheesh.
pambi on November 3, 2008 at 5:50 PM
To take on the task in middle age of raising a boy who has been abandoned by his mother takes great effort and devotion. I believe his grandmother was a far more kind, generous woman than his birth mother, who obviously put other priorities ahead of raising her son. Obama had the decency (even if political motivation played even a large part in his most recent visit) to know this and insure a visit to the woman who truly mothered him before she died. Seeing him one last time must have been a blessing for her sweet soul.
That said, Obama is still wrong for America for more reasons than I will list here. It is still one of my most profound wishes that he lose tomorrow.
marybel on November 3, 2008 at 5:50 PM
I am sorry for Senator Obama’s loss. I am sure that he loved his grandmother as much as he can love anyone. I hope that our nation keeps this in perspective–that it is a personal loss for the Obamas, but not a reason to vote for him (I suspect that the people who would vote for him because of this were already planning to vote for him, anyway).
DrMagnolias on November 3, 2008 at 5:50 PM
May God be with you. I dread that day.
mikeyboss on November 3, 2008 at 5:51 PM
Condolences to the family. As was stated, this lady lived a long life. And she will be missed by many.
now, onto the election!
NJMaire on November 3, 2008 at 5:52 PM
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