Barack Obama

1 Comment Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals

bittergate

So Obama said some inartful things about the good citizens of Pennsylvania while speaking to some fat cats in San Fran, about which Republicans are supposed to be outraged at the great slight he made to average Janes and Joes everywhere in this country.  Do I have the story correct here?   That seems to be the common interpretation of my friends on the right.  This campaign season has already gone on too long, and we have run out of things to say about this race.  That’s why all these little slip-ups take on such great importance. I have no doubt that Obama regrets saying what he said the way he said it, but I’m not really surprised that he would say something like this.

The honesty is refreshing.  Wouldn’t we rather have a candidate who tells us how he really feels, instead of this mindless pandering we see every presidential election? What we have here is someone who, despite all of the photo-ops done by both Democrats and Republicans with the cheesesteaks and the beer and various average-Joe activities like hunting,  doesn’t really identify with those people.  There’s nothing shocking about this revelation.  That’s part of Obama’s whole appeal — that he is something greater than all of the average people and that he alone has the ability to rise above the masses and above partisan bickering to actually get things done for the country.

He is different from John Kerry because he can overcome mistakes like this.  People will still like Barack no matter what he says, and they will always prefer him to the ultimate Washington insider Hillary Clinton.

Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals

something we should all agree on

Chris Matthews is not an objective journalist, and he says some really dumb (some might say a bit creepy) things.

Like this, for example(on Barack’s speech):

We’ll have much more on this momentous day and what I personally view as the best speech ever given on race in this country. One that went beyond “I have a dream,” to “I have lived the dream but have also lived in this country.”

Better than Martin Luther King’s speech? You have got to be kidding.

Or this:

I think this is the kind of speech I think first graders should see, people in the last year of college should see before they go out in the world. This should be, to me, an American tract. Something that you just check in with, now and then, like reading Great Gatsby and Huckleberry Finn. Read this speech, once in a while, ladies and gentlemen. This is us. It’s us with the scab ripped off.

No exaggeration here. A speech Barack felt compelled to give to keep the Wright matter under control is now on par with great literature by F.Scott Fitzgerald and Mark Twain. Uh huh.  Chris Matthews checks his objectivity at the door when he clocks in to work every day.  I don’t know how much more proof we need that he has a glaringly obvious bias to Democrats in general and Barack in particular.

I liked Barack’s speech.  I’ll leave the micro-analysis of it to others, because I have no interest in dissecting every single argument he made yesterday. I will say this, however — if the desired objective was to get the Wright matter settled, I don’t think that his speech achieved that objective.  This will follow him into November, unless the media gets tired of the story.  Don’t be surprised if this happens.  Without new information, stories like this die.  The media is in the tank for Barack, and it will do everything in its power to protect him, including not asking the hard questions of someone who wants to be president of this country.

Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals, Random Musings

barack attempts to answer the critics

From RCP (originally posted at HuffPost), here’s Barack’s answer to those who question his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He’s drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide some context.

As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It’s a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.

Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he’s been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

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31 Comments Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals, Random Musings

questionable alliances

First it’s former NY Gov Eliot Spitzer and his high-priced call girl. He had to resign and he did.  It’s hard to feel any sympathy for a guy who wasn’t smart enough to recognize that he’s not the only government official capable of busting up prostitution rings.  It’s always annoying when politicians condemn activity they themselves engage in, so Spitzer isn’t getting a free pass by the public and the media.  That said, I’m not sure how strong the legal case is against him going forward.  If all he loses is his political career, that would still be a significant loss, so I’m not sure whether they should go ahead and prosecute him. Now, that’s not to say that cheating on his wife is acceptable behavior, or that politicians shouldn’t be treated the same as everyone else when they break laws. But in this case, I’m not sure there is much benefit to putting the guy in jail.

Side note to my friends on the other side of the aisle:  Democratic hypocrisy is not justified or excused by Republican hypocrisy.

Then the MSM finally gets around to questioning Barack Obama’s relationship with his controversial pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. This is different than people like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell endorsing Republican presidential candidates with which they only have a passing acquaintance.  As we now know, Obama and Rev. Wright have a closer relationship than that, and it is troubling that Obama doesn’t see the problem with having a friend like this.  Obama says that he doesn’t see his church as controversial.  I think he should get a second opinion on that.  Whether or not Obama shares some or all of Rev. Wright’s views — and for the record I don’t believe that he does — he must distance himself far from this guy, or this friendship will end up hurting him in the general election.

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2 Comments Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals

zombies

From the very quotable Andrew Sullivan:

The Clintons have always had a touch of the zombies about them: unkillable, they move relentlessly forward, propelled by a bloodlust for Republicans or uppity Democrats who dare to question their supremacy. You can’t escape; you can’t hide; and you can’t win. And these days, in the kinetic pace of the YouTube campaign, they are like the new 28 Days Later zombies. They come at you really quickly, like bats out of hell. Or Ohio, anyway.

Heh. There’s something to this analogy, though. It’s hard to believe that Hillary Clinton, who has wanted this job her whole life, would easily surrender her claim to the throne to Barack Obama. As Sullivan points out, the Clintons have been fighting and clawing to gain political power for themselves their whole political lives. Why would it be different now? Hillary and Bill have (so far) refused to believe that the Democratic party has moved on from Clinton nostalgia. This is a wise choice for the Democrats. Despite the overwhelmingly positive views of them by a few lib holdouts, the average Dem knows that their future isn’t with the past. The Clintons aren’t the guiding force behind the party anymore, and it’s a hard realization to make for both of them.

Even though the Clintons don’t have as much political power now as they think they do, it’s still enough to keep Barack from scoring a decisive knockout in the early rounds. Hillary is not to be underestimated. That zombie-like quality she has to keep surviving when people keep counting her out makes her a tough opponent — both to Barack and to John McCain. That’s why I question the wisdom of Republicans who crossed over to vote for Hillary in TX and OH. Did they really want to take the chance that she would get the Democratic nomination? She has destroyed all of her former Senate opponents. Anybody remember Rick Lazio? Jeanine Pirro? Rudy Giuliani (whose Senate and Presidential campaign was over before it began)? Don’t expect her to take it easy on John McCain.

The strategy that works against those evil Republicans doesn’t work against the Man of Hope. Until recently, she hasn’t been able to land any punches on Barack Obama. Wouldn’t it be ironic if that red phone ad questioning Barack’s readiness to be Commander-in-Chief ended up hurting him in the general election? Hillary has no choice but to go for the jugular if she still wants to win. But it’s a tough balancing act she will have to do here. Saying that Barack isn’t as qualified as herself and John McCain is dangerous if she isn’t 100% + sure she will win the Democratic nomination. Whatever happens in this Democratic contest…it will be a lot of fun to watch from the sidelines.

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2 Comments Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals

barack questions hillary’s experience

About time someone did. This, from the CBS news blog(h/t: kos):

“I have not seen any evidence that she is better equipped to handle a crisis,” he said. “If the only criteria is longevity in Washington, then she’s certainly not going to beat John McCain on that. “

He goes on:

One of the things that I hope people start asking is what exactly is this foreign experience that she’s claiming? I know she talks about visiting 80 countries. It’s not clear, was she negotiating treaties or agreements or was she handling crises during this period of time? My sense is the answer is no.

Heh. Of course they are both less experienced than John McCain. Does this matter as much to Democrats as it does to Republicans? Byron York suggests that it does not.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll, finished a couple of weeks ago, asked Ohio Democrats to name the most important issue in their choice of a presidential candidate. Thirty-four percent said the economy and jobs. Thirty percent said health care. Nine percent said the war in Iraq, by which they most certainly meant a rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops. Three percent said ethics and honesty in government. Three percent said “change.” Two percent said education. And one percent said terrorism and national security. (The Post and ABC asked the same question in Texas, and the answers were similar; one percent named terrorism and national security as the top issue.)

Those numbers are supported by the experience of just walking around in Ohio. I ask a lot of people why they support, or don’t support, Hillary Clinton, and no one tells me it is because she would be a better or worse commander-in-chief than Barack Obama.

The economy will be a major issue for both parties. The depth of the misery is debatable, but Republicans cannot afford to ignore the economy and talk about national security 24/7. Most voters aren’t single-issue voters, even though Republicans see national security as a primary reason to vote McCain over Hillary and Barack. McCain needs to show that he has an alternative plan to deal with the other concerns of voters, including health care and the economy. National security and the fear of liberals screwing up the country wasn’t a good enough argument in the ’06 midterm. It won’t be enough in November.

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7 Comments Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals

atheists to the gospel of hope

This time, it’s the Economist.  They are just a bit skeptical of Obama and his economic views. 

FOR a man who has placed “hope” at the centre of his campaign, Barack Obama can sound pretty darned depressing. As the battle for the Democratic nomination reaches a climax in Texas and Ohio, the front-runner’s speeches have begun to paint a world in which laid-off parents compete with their children for minimum-wage jobs while corporate fat-cats mis-sell dodgy mortgages and ship jobs off to Mexico. The man who claims to be a “post-partisan” centrist seems to be channelling the spirit of William Jennings Bryan, the original American populist, who thunderously demanded to know “Upon which side shall the Democratic Party fight—upon the side of ‘the idle holders of idle capital’ or upon the side of ‘the struggling masses’?”

There is no denying that for some middle-class Americans, the past few years have indeed been a struggle. What is missing from Mr Obama’s speeches is any hint that this is not the whole story: that globalisation brings down prices and increases consumer choice; that unemployment is low by historical standards; that American companies are still the world’s most dynamic and creative; and that Americans still, on the whole, live lives of astonishing affluence.

Both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama speak the same way on this, but it is Barack Obama who is seen as the change agent.  Obama is seen as someone who can fix everything that is broken about America and close the inequities he sees between the working class and the people who employ the working class.  It is a common refrain of the political party trying to gain the White House that the economy is bad and that working people are getting hosed, because, after all — if people are satisfied with the status quo, why change parties?

The Economist goes on to suggest that we ignore what Obama says about the bad rich people, because he’s not really a “capitalist-hating demogogue”.  I agree that he’s not, but it’s hard to listen to Obama, Clinton, and Huckabee talking about corporations as evil and that punishing them would help the struggling middle class.  They all believe that government can fix inequities that government was never meant to fix. This kind of mindset enables the fiscal chaos the federal budget is in. 

The Democrats say that they will be more fiscally responsible, yet they have no plan for reforming the entitlements that keep us from getting a handle on federal spending.  Yes, I realize that spending has been one of President’s Bush’s weaknesses, but I don’t see how Hillary and Barack’s new spending proposals get us where we need to be on the budget. 

Even if we pull out of Iraq, there are still spending cuts and reforms to be made if we really want to see the kind of change Barack promises….

Unless these are the same kind of promises Democrats make (and don’t keep) every 4-8 years.

 

7 Comments Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals

it’s over

Hillary continues to struggle in these debates. She had some substantive things to say, but her attacks on Barack Obama did not achieve the desired objective. They didn’t change the mind of Obama voters. It doesn’t matter that she may know more on foreign policy, or that she has a detailed health care proposal. She is, and will always be, the kind of Washington insider and divisive figure that cannot be a agent of change. Barack Obama offers not only a clean break from President Bush, but also a clean break from the D.C. Democrats and from the Clinton nostalgia that has held the Democrat party captive since Bill left office. In some ways, the change Obama offers is radical. But most of his ideas aren’t new or original.  They are the same Democratic boilerplate policies that have failed in the past, and will continue to fail in the future.

The media has called this race for Obama, and they will continue to be biased and ask Hillary tougher questions.  You saw some of this last night in the debate.  Hillary got the majority of the hard questions, and Obama was able to dodge his few tough questions and emerge unscathed from the encounter.  The only hope Hillary Clinton has was for Barack to stumble, and so far he has not.   All her arguments for herself and against Obama have fallen flat.   Texas and Ohio will have their say, but Barack Obama will still be the Democrat nominee, because the Democrats are ready to move on from the 90’s.

There have been many articles written about the failures of the Clinton campaign to get Hillary to the nomination with all the built-in advantages she had in the beginning.  I don’t argue that Hillary’s team has run the most competent campaign.  They have made mistakes.  However, Hillary Clinton is (and always was) a flawed candidate, and it’s a credit to her team that she’s made it this far. I really did want the pleasure of voting against her, but if the Democrats end up rejecting her and picking Obama instead, I will be ok with that too.

McCain must get his game face on, because the media will continue to give Obama favorable coverage.  He needs to have a better game plan against Obama than Hillary did, or he will suffer the same possible fate as she does now.

2 Comments Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals

nader and the dems: the love affair continues

The nation collectively yawns as Ralph Nader announces to Tim Russert that he is once again running for President. Time to re-think which candidate is the most liberal. The Democrats still blame Nader for contributing to Al Gore’s loss in 2000, and they tried to keep him off of the ballot anywhere they could in 2004. Apparently he hasn’t forgiven those Dems for actively working against him. He says that Barack Obama doesn’t have a challenging record. Nader’s into recycling… he recycles the same attack lines used by everyone else against Obama and the same criticisms of corporations that John Edwards already made earlier in this campaign. There’s nothing new to see here, and Ralph Nader won’t get any Republican or Democrat votes this time either. The Dems will be happy with Obama and the Republicans have no reason to vote for Nader over McCain — he’s much more liberal than either of the Democrats or McCain.

Hillary and Barack are not amused by this.

Hillary: “Wow, that’s really unfortunate. I remember when he did this before. It’s not good for anybody, especially our country”.

Barack: “Ralph Nader deserves enormous credit for the work he did as a consumer advocate. But his function as a perennial candidate is not putting food on the table of workers.”

I am amused. Nader’s time has passed, but if he hangs around to annoy the Democrats, that’s enough reason to cheer his doomed candidacy.

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2 Comments Posted on '08 Election, Democrats, Liberals

rookies

That’s another term for people taking their first major swings in the big leagues — like Barack and Michelle Obama. Barack should be given credit for saving the good citizens of Illinois from the scary proposition of having Alan Keyes as their senator. That’s a worthwhile accomplishment. At some other point in time, it might not matter that the most attractive Democratic candidate who promotes change, hope and non-partisanship does so because that’s his strongest argument for himself. He can’t knock down McCain’s resume as easily as he could with Hillary’s. Forget for a minute that most of Obama’s policies break no new ground. Like Hillary, he says what his audience wants to hear. There are some hard choices the next president will have to make. Sometimes the best intentions fall short against foreign dictators and men like Ahmadinejad, Chavez, etc. The right person for the job of the presidency of the United States should know the good guys from the bad guys by their actions, not only by their words. I’m not looking for a candidate who can read the souls of foreign heads of state.

Speaking of souls, Barack’s wife Michelle said something interesting about that.

“Barack knows that at some level there’s a hole in our souls,” she said. This was a variation on her normal line that “Barack Obama is the only person in this race who understands that, that before we can work on the problems we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation. “

As if it wasn’t scary enough to have Barack Obama’s big spending proposals and expansion of government bureaucracy as a threat, now we add a religious element to the mix. This is taking the role of the President to a whole different level. Michelle Obama is correct that people have broken souls, but it’s not the job of the federal government to fix broken souls. It’s not Barack’s job. It’s the responsiblity of the church.  If Michelle and Barack have this as their mission, maybe they should have chosen a different career path.

Michelle Obama could have put this a different way.  She is only trying to make the case for Barack as the candidate who will be the strongest candidate the Democrats could put up this year, and she doesn’t have much practice in this kind of bright spotlight. Mistakes were inevitable, and it’s a credit to her that it took this long to say something stupid like this, or the more controversial — “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country.”  Because America is hungry for change.  It was a sign of political immaturity and temporary loss of message discipline in the campaign, but not anything more serious than that. Michelle Obama doesn’t hate America.  How could she?  It has given her and her husband great opportunities to succeed, and the Obamas have taken advantage of those opportunities.

Michelle Obama is no Teresa Heinz Kerry.  She is not a loose cannon.  Democrats don’t need to worry about that (although you can be sure you will see some of those soundbites in future McCain ads).  Barack Obama will stand or fall on his own merits — which should be a more serious cause for concern than anything Mrs. Obama says.