I like the idea of Barack Obama. The country really needs new leadership and energy. It needs someone who can transcend race and the BS of baby boomer politics. It needs someone who can articulate the new American dream, who can appeal to diverse cultures, who can restore American stature abroad.
I’m just not sure that this Barack Obama is that guy. It never meant much to me that his pastor was a loose cannon with some wacky political views, but I’m very concerned by the fact that, even though he has a 20-year relationship with the man, he has been unable to bring him under some measure of control. If he can’t bring his own pastor into the big, new, political tent he envisions for America, then how will he bring in the people in small towns who cling to their guns and religion, or blue collar union guys, or white men in general?
And if he can’t do that, he is left with nothing much more than college students and the wine and cheese set under his tent. Come November he’ll be George McGovern with a better jump shot.
I’m also bothered by his passivity relative to Senator Clinton. I think a President has to be a little tougher, but even if you disagree on that point, surely you’ll agree that the Republicans are going to come after him much harder than the Clintons come Labor Day, and if he can’t counter-punch (or better yet – throw a few straight rights of his own), they are going to crush him.
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7 comments:
For some voters, this election will be about the candidate or party. But for others it might be about voting on the negative side of the equation. Out of work, fed up with the way this country is going: if McCain doesn't distance himself from GWB, the contagion might be more of a problem than Obama has with Reverand Wright. Some voters can't abide Hillary, others have issues with skin color.
The deck has plenty of time to get shuffled before November. Perhaps Obama will show the backbone we are all hoping he has.
Controlling Jeremiah Wright is like controlling Dennis Gulyas.
Current oxymoron: Wright is wrong...
People that need a reason other than race to vote against Obama now have a safe haven for doing that. The question is "how many people like that are there?" The secondary question is "where do these people live?"
It's hard to know where the social and cultural tectonic plates are in this country. Some places divide on race, others on religon, and others on class. I suspect all of these are in play in PA, OH, and to a lesser extent Indiana. That's why I think the "elitist" tag worked so well against Obama in these areas.
Hillary's gas tax relief proposal has been getting hammered by everybody that knows about it and polling shows what a transparent election gimmick it is. Whether or not this will have an effect on tomorrow's primary will be interesting to see. I think it will reinforce the lack-of-trust issue that's been dogging her. I also think that playing slap and tickle with the likes of Bill O'Reilly will also fall flat.
Once McCain gets an opponent that will hang GWB around his neck like an anvil, I think we'll see his numbers fall significantly. Republicans are going to have a very tough election in November. They lost Hastert's seat and yesterday lost a house seat in Louisiana that's been republican since dinosaurs roamed the earth. The GOP is short on money, ideas, and good candidates. Not a good formula for success.
Birdman -- never underestimate the Democrat's ability to blow a sure thing.
I don't underestimate that at all. We've seen it happen to often to dismiss the possibility. I don't think, however, that the Lee Atwater/Karl Rove tactics will work nearly as well on independent voters this time.
I don't know why you would think that. Clinton is essentially using those tactics now on Obama and they are working fine. But she has to hold up a little in the spirit of "we're all Dems here." McCain will be under no such restraints.
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