As I have gotten to know Obama more, I have been far less neutral on him and I really do not want him to be President. That being said, my irritation with him has subsided substantially now that the ridiculous Messiah act has finally started to wane.
Unfortunately, what is left in its place is an Obama who is getting suckered into a horrible rope-a-dope by the Republicans. He is responding to the electric Palin effect in a very short-sighted way. Why on earth is the top of the Democratic ticket spending any time at all attacking the bottom of the Republican ticket? He should just ignore her and stay on his own message. Attacking her just makes it look like the race is Obama-Palin and all that does is diminish him.
What's more, Obama is showing his inexperience badly at this stage. The interview in the link above is a case in point. Don't get on the political talk shows and start talking about how you wish you had said something different a month ago. It looks weak. And the line about considering joining the military? Come on, Barack. We all know politicians pander, but good ones are not so ham-fisted about it. The fact is you didn't join the military, so just move on and go to places where you are stronger.
Another bizarre strategic blunder is sending out Hillary Clinton to attack Palin. All that does is remind people that you probably could have sewn this thing up if you had picked her, but you went with Joe Biden because you were insecure about your foreign policy experience. I still cannot understand the Biden choice. All it does is imply weakness for Obama, both in foreign policy and with white working class voters. If Obama loses, this will be high on the list of bad choices. And the notion that Biden, the 36-year Senator, is going to appeal to Joe Six-pack over Palin is looking awfully weak now.
I think we are starting to see the soft underbelly of Obama the Candidate; the man is very, very thin-skinned. Steve Schmidt in the McCain campaign has managed to get deep inside Obama's head and Obama is starting to flail. On Friday, Obama was at a fundraiser at Bon Jovi's house in New Jersey and he blustered that he would not be "bullied." This is the kind of talk that gets donors fired up, but it is also the kind of talk that telegraphs "we are on the defensive" and Obama is at his best when he is on offense.
As a side note, the Bon Jovi fund raiser also highlights one of the big downsides to Obama's reversal on accepting public campaign funds. He is going to have to take time off from campaigning to raise money during the final stretch. McCain is done with that and the RNC coffers are full, especially as the Palin pick has electrified a base that had not previous donated much. There will be no money gap. Obama made a bad choice on that front. He gained nothing and handed his opponents a charge that he goes back on his word. A bad decision driven by hubris.
The race is very close and the result will come down to ground organization in battleground states. Obama is way ahead on this front and that is a tribute to some very smart strategic thinking early on. Until Palin, McCain was probably stuffed on that front as the base was not very enthusiastic. Palin changes that and, what's more, the excitement over her pick will still be fresh on Election Day. Obamania, by contrast, has been going for a long time and, people being people, they tend to get a little bored.
It's going to be a very interesting two months.
8 comments:
I haven't got to all my feeds yet this morning, but I get the feeling the 7-8 point bounce McCain got is being grossly under reported. It was story three on the Today Show as I woke up. It was followed by a Hillary clip in which she denounced Palin and it indeed sounded weak and a bit ridiculous. It was only mentioned once briefly on the radio on my way in. The guy goes from 3-4 points down to 3-4 point up and barely gets a cough from these news outlets.
Unless somebody says something incredibly stupid prior, I suspect the polls will stay they way they are until the debates. The whole thing could actually hinge on them. I think both McCain and Palin stand a good chance of coming out on top, but it'll come down to how that plays in the battleground states as you mentioned.
There was a good article by Clive Crook in today's Financial Times about the problem that keeps killing the Democrats. They claim to represent the middle class and the poor, but they look down on them as idiotic redneck rubes. This is why they keep losing elections. (Can't provide a link as it is subscriber only.)
McCain's comeback is remarkable, but it won't be remarked on until it is a little more long-lived. That's probably reasonable as it is a standard convention bounce.
True dat re: "idiotic redneck rubes". Since this is also how the Dem brain trust and leadership look upon anybody who calls themself a church goer too it creates a bipartisan alliance amongst these folks. Imagine how big a lead they'd have if they just shut the hell up and not utter anything derogatory about people of faith? I think they simply can't help themselves. Obama used to be able to stay insulated from it by claiming he's a man of faith himself and that it just the liberal blogosphere attaching the stink to him by association. That was until the "cling to their religion and guns" tape emerged. Like I said, can't help themselves.
I've come to learn that when people have little else they will lean hard on their faith right or wrong. Dems mock at their own peril.
Palin, Palin, read all about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
Thank you, anonymous troll, for directing us to the Sarah Palin wikipedia page, which is being vandalized daily by the mentally deranged kids from Daily Kos, etc. What an unbiased source of information!
I'm sorry I missed Obama's 'messiah' act. Sounds interesting, did you tape it?
Maybe Obama is attacking Palin for the same reason I am, she's unfit for office. A book banning creationist with a track record for using political office for settling personal vendetta's has no place on a Presidential ticket. She will loose the race for McCain. She puts in sharp relief McCain's innability as a desacion maker.
Jackson -
You missed the Obama as Messiah act??? What campaign have you been watching? Obama who will stop the seas from rising and heal the planet? Obama who may be the "Lightworker"? Come on. You are just being willfully obtuse here.
BTW, Palin does not support teaching creationism as part of the science curriculum in schools. In fact, she said exactly that right after the debate quotation that people have been using to paint her as a creationist.
The book banning myth is also false. She never banned any books. Again, a myth with about as much truth as the story that Trig was Bristol's baby.
The reporting on her record has been absolutely appalling. Other myths reported: she supported Buchanan (false), she cut aid for unwed mothers (false), she was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party (false). How many of these BS memes can the media come up with? Who knows?
I can't see how you think she is losing the election for McCain when he is surging in the polls since he picked and suddenly drawing record crowds to his campaign appearances. He's ahead in all the national polls and is making up huge ground in several battleground state polls. His contract on InTrade is now at 46 versus 50 for Obama, which is a big move from a week ago when it was 60 to 30 for Obama.
Your statement seems more like wishful thinking than an accurate view of what is happening.
Dave you've witnessed your first of what will more than likely be many Jackson shotgun blasts this election season. If you want to know what the latest nugget of Democrat paranoia is, Jackson will at some point enlighten you to it.
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