Picture of the Day - 2
"I get the white voters, you get the very white voters. That was the deal."
(Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney talks with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the Republican presidential debate in Dearborn, Michigan, October 9, 2007. REUTERS/Jason Reed)
posted by mikevotes at
2:18 PM
4 Comments:
I learned today that Obama wants to tackle the non-existent problems w/ Social Security and insulted gay people by saying they need to listen to religious people to find out why religious people hate them.
WTF?
Obama is trying to win the Dem primaries by pissing off as many Dem constituencies as possible: teachers (merit pay based on standardized test scores, all-year round school, 9 hour school days), seniors (social securities benefits need to be cut), and the LGBT community (you have to listen to the Jesus freaks explain why they hate you.)
This guy has some of the worst political instincts of any major presidential candidate since George Romney saids he was brainwashed over the Vietnam issue.
Seriously, who is advising him? The Bull Moose? Holy Joe Lieberman? Karl Rove?
Buh-bye Obama...
By
Reality-Based Educator, at 5:06 PM
He's floundering. His supporters and the media are goading him into attacking which isn't his primary mode.
Frankly, I'm not enough of a wonk to know who is "consulting" the campaign, but yeah....
After all, Dem consultants have such a great track record.
....
(But I don't know what he does to turn it around.
If I were advising, I'd take him out of small time/small crowd NH and Iowa to Austin, Tx or California and schedule a major, major appearance, like the 10 and 20,000 shows he occasionally does, stocked with tons of students and young and have him do a preacher like sermon on hope and change.
Something really well paced that builds. Some major themed speech on par (if not on topic) with "I have a dream," and get those shots of giant crowds in a building frenzy.
He's built his image on "hope." Just one major event could turn him back on the right track.
Even if it doesn't win him the nomination, it returns him to leader of a movement/agent of change that would give him alot of pull going forward. Don't burn all of him by turning him into just another politician who is going negative.
He's very young and could position himself to be a power player instead of just another failed candidate.
That's what I would do.)
...
Also, from the Dem strategic side, he could act as a Nader/Green counter, keeping those people in the party.
By
mikevotes, at 5:49 PM
Here's the problem with Obama as the "agent of change" -- he's not. on the war, he has a policy for Iraq is very similar to HRC's (she can't commit to withdrawal by the end of her presidency, neither can he). He's trying to nail her for her vote on the Kyl/Lieberman amendment, but he couldn't even be bothered to vote aye or nay on it. What's up with that?
On economic issues, he's as big a sell-out to Wall Street and the multi-nationals as she is, maybe bigger. He has the Tom Friedman "Flat World" attitude - he believes in order to compete with India and China Americans need to work longer and harder for less. On education, he believes kids need to go to school for longer so they can get ready to for their "work longer/make less" jobs. On social security, he buys into the Repub "There's a crisis" thing.
On social issues, he's constantly talking down to Dems and sounding like Joe Lieberman - I remember seeing him on one of the Sunday shows back in 2005 telling me and other Kerry voters that Kerry lost because he wasn't comfortable enough with his religion (that's when I turned against him - his education policies finished him for me.)
If he's an "agent of change," it's to take the Dem party right back to the DLC positions of the Clinton years.
Even Hillary is distancing herself from those old DLC positions.
By
Reality-Based Educator, at 7:05 PM
But for right now, he doesn't need a dispute over positions. He needs a sea change.
He needs something big to turn the broader tide. Snapping at Clinton over issues isn't going to gain him 20%.
The only single issue that might do that would be Iraq, and as you point out, he not really doing that.
The reason I go to the "agent of change" is because that's the only viable big swing I see available for him.
And, sadly, in the end, issues don't matter as much as these broad characterizations. All he has to do is create the feeling and excitement of change because the majority, even in the primaries, don't really vote issues unless somebody is really wrong for their electorate(like McCain on immigration.)
By
mikevotes, at 9:14 PM
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