The Obama Bubble
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | The Audacity Of Hype — Comments (15) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
It may be bursting. And Robert Samuelson rightly piles on:
As a journalist, I harbor serious doubt about each of the most likely nominees. But with Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain, I feel that I'm dealing with known quantities. They've been in the public arena for years; their views, values and temperaments have received enormous scrutiny. By contrast, newcomer Obama is largely a stage presence defined mostly by his powerful rhetoric. The trouble, at least for me, is the huge and deceptive gap between his captivating oratory and his actual views.
The subtext of Obama's campaign is that his own life narrative -- to become the first African American president, a huge milestone in the nation's journey from slavery -- can serve as a metaphor for other political stalemates. Great impasses can be broken with sufficient goodwill, intelligence and energy. "It's not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white," he says. Along with millions of others, I find this a powerful appeal.
But on inspection, the metaphor is a mirage. Repudiating racism is not a magic cure-all for the nation's ills. The task requires independent ideas, and Obama has few. If you examine his agenda, it is completely ordinary, highly partisan, not candid and mostly unresponsive to many pressing national problems.
Read it all. Obama's a very smart and very gifted person. There is no denying his talent. But if you want to sign up with his campaign, you will have to buy into policy proposals that haven't a hint of originality about them--Obama's soaring rhetoric notwithstanding. And as Samuelson points out, those policy proposals do not constitute any kind of straight talk. Moreover, they are utterly unworkable.
Something to think about when you are electing a President.
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Narrator: Coming out of nowhere into the national spotlight, this charismatic candidate promised to bring the economy back to the working class [raise taxes flashes across the screen], talk to those in the international community who were previously shunned [negotiate with dictators flashes across the screen], and take the United States into a new direction [liberal justices flashes across the screen]...
[An out-of-focus, black-&-white picture slowly starts to come into view as the narrator continues...]
Narrator: This candidate won the White House under a promise for changing America from the old style of politics...
[A picture of Jimmy Carter with his huge smile comes into focus...as the narrator concludes]
Narrator: And brought change... in one of the worst terms in presidential history.
[A picture of Carter next to Obama, both with huge smiles]
Narrator: When you seek change and charisma over experience and prudence, it is America that gets short-changed. Let's not repeat history.
Paid for by dhannon_pdx not affiliated with any campaign.
That, it seems to me, is a key question. There is so much about him that is phony, shallow, etc. How long can anyone, no matter how talented, keep the American Public mesmerized by platitudes? At some point the fever will break, though that doesn't mean an automatic meltdown - either in the nominating process or in the fall election. But at some point, he takes off the Superman cape and becomes a candidate.
There is PLENTY in his "policy proposals" to debate from the right. And the Samuelson article may be a sign of MSM "pre-buyers remorse". I have always thought that the Democrat electorate will take "one last look" at him before drinking his koolaid and handing him the nomination. I hope that Shrillary roughs him up a little tonight - hit him on his wife's comments (indirectly), on no real legislative accomplishment, his Cuba policy, etc.
I am in agreement with the Conventional Wisdom that Shrillary would be easier to beat than Obama - because of her stubbornly high negatives, and the accumulated "Clinton/Bush Fatigue". So I am rooting for a Hillary comeback - which at the least creates a Democrat Convention Train Wreck.
I believe that the Texas Primary is Open - and if so, I hope tens of thousands of Republicans will cross over and support Hillary. The closer the two of them are to dead even in delegates, the more chaos which should ensue.
Go Hillary Go!
When a person has followers with the kind of "irrational exuberance" that Obama has they might not wake up until his second or third year of malfeasance in office.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
and his wife is running for president.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
I bet the bubble will burst about the third or fourth year into his extremely successful two-term presidency.
I also heard that Barack Obama built you a robot.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
I am sorry that you are so upset with the status quo that you look to doing something stupid as our countries salvation. The past has proven that this is not a successful strategy.
Huey long leaves a mark to this day on Louisiana. Michigan is being destroyed by people that bought into this philosophy. Take a look at groups that have done poorly in this country and ask yourself what they have in common. If you buy into a politics that tells you things you know aren't so, and you aren't responsible it will hurt you.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Everyone knows Obama and Clinton don't differ much policy wise. I think the majority of voters that vote for him aren't going on policy difference but going on who can successfully unite the Democratic party in November.
Rhetoric and good oratory skills can go pretty far and he has a solid Senatorial record. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out.
There is even talk of a possible realignment election in November.
Can't remember.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
...they don't actually list anything that he's done.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
That's the title I gave to this post. I agree that Obama is a better campaigner than Hillary & that he's a charismatic figure. That said, it's obvious that McCain truly is ready to lead the minute he's inaugurated while Sen. Obama will be years away from beng capable of leading.