Does the Obama Campaign Foreshadow His Presidency?
Let's hope that a successful administration isn't dependent on the way a campaign is run.
The mainstream media for some time has been searching for material to bolster Barack Obama’s flimsy résumé. After all, he lacks national security experience, has no major legislative accomplishments, and never held an executive position. Not to worry, say the liberal cheerleaders. Peter Beinart raised a typical defense:
Luckily, Obama doesn’t have to rely on his legislative résumé to prove he’s capable of running the government. He can point to something more germane: the way he’s run his campaign.
Politico presented the Obama camp argument that “Obama has run a good primary campaign, which is a sign that he will run a good general election campaign, and then a good presidency.” And indeed many outlets reported on the obvious contrast between the “happy” Obama camp and the pack of backstabbers at the Hillary Clinton camp who publicly dished dirt on one another.
Accepting for the sake of argument that a political campaign can foreshadow an administration, it is worthwhile to update some of these media evaluations to see just how effective a chief executive Obama has been.
Some of the key attributes of leadership generally, and of good presidents in particular, are the ability to tackle problems head on, not procrastinate, and certainly not engage in wishful thinking that bad news will vanish on its own. But Obama’s campaign has been an exercise in damage non-control on the issue which poses the greatest threat to his electability: his associations with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, and Trinity United Church.
When he began his campaign he realized Reverend Wright might be an issue, so he not very subtly pushed Wright out of the kick-off ceremonies. But he did not prepare his campaign and develop an approach to deal with what would become the drip, drip, drip of YouTube releases and corresponding cringe-inducing headlines about his association with black liberation theology, and the hate-spewing preachers who regularly spoke at Trinity United.
In the unfolding tale of Reverend Wright, Karl Rove pointed out, “In just 62 days, Americans were treated to eight different explanations.” And that was all before Obama finally left Trinity United following Father Pfleger’s hateful attack on Hillary Clinton. Others have recounted the hopscotch of explanations: from denial that the church was controversial to defense of his continued relationship with Reverend Wright — whom he could no more “disown” than he could the black community or his own grandmother, the one he slandered, that is — to separation from Wright but defense of the church to departure from the church.
As a model of presidential managerial skill this was hardly reassuring. The textbook rules of damage control for any executive are well known: find out or disclose the facts — all the facts — up front, come up with a response that addresses the problem, stick to it, and get it right the first time. Obama ignored all these rules. Repeatedly. So if voters are concerned that our next president not dilly dally when trouble appears, this should give them pause.
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Jennifer Rubin is PJM's Washington, DC, editor. She also blogs at Commentary’s Contentions.
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46 Comments
1. roy:Hmmm, election campaigns as predictors of success in the Oval Office? Obviously the strong and effective campaign run by George Bush in 2004 and his subsequent amazingly successful 2nd term prove your thesis. Beyond that we have Jimmy Carter’s successful campaign in 1976 and his brilliant single term in office. Then we have George Bush the elders strong, successful campaign in 1988 that was a precursor to his enormously successful single term in office. Hmmm, perhaps all that an election campaign shows is the ability to win a particular election against a particular candidate rather than showing much of anything relevant to ability or competence in governing.
Jun 13, 2008 - 1:41 am 2. Dave II:Offering “hope” (I “hope” his presidency is not run like his campaign) and “change” (He’ll “change” once he gets into office) doesn’t engender much confidence.
Based on his thin resume, all we really have to see how he would react “under pressure” is his campaign…and the results are dreary and sad to say the least.
As voters get more and more accustomed to this sorry spectacle the DNC has offered up over the coming months, the more we will see the air going out of Obama’s balloon. Great job, Jennifer!
Jun 13, 2008 - 2:29 am 3. Kim Zigfeld:ROY:
Au contraire! Obama HIMSELF has said that since he lacks any executive experience we MUST judge his ability based on the quality of his management of his campaign! He’s failed according to the standard HE SET FOR HIMSELF!
Jun 13, 2008 - 3:56 am 4. Sandra M:Obama’s testiness when faced with questions that make him uncomfortable betray an imperiousness that would only become greater were he to become President.
I went to Obama’s new Fight the Smear site yesterday, and found it anemic and weak, much like his telling the press to lay off Princess Ticked-Off. Great how that worked out, don’t you think?
He weakly rebutted the charge that he had ever practiced Islam, so what are we to make of :
7.) “I Never Practiced Islam” – NOT EXACTLY, you practiced it
daily at school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that
faith for 31 years, until your wife made you change, so you could run
for office. 4-3-08 Article “Obama was! ‘quite religious in Islam”
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559
8.) “My School In Indonesia Was Christian” – NOT EXACTLY, you
were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic
studies for making faces (check your own book).
Obama also needs to address his Kenya connection (google Odinga and Obama) Too lazy to do so? OK. Here it is. Obama’s half-brother Abongo Obama and his cousin Odinga lost the election in 2007 even though Obama showed up to help. Odinga wanted to institute Muslim Sharia law. Now, they’re trying to overturn a pro-American administration and stirring up mass violence. Christian men, women and children were herded into a church and burned to death. Obama called Kenya during the New Hampshire primary, probably to tell them to cool it till he’d won the nomination and election.
Obama said his surname is Swahili. But his dad, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was 87.5% Arab. It said so on his birth certificate. And Baraki means blessed in Arabic. So, wouldn’t he be our first Arab-American President if elected?
http://www.arcadeathome.com/newsboy.phtml?Barack_Hussein_Obama_-_Arab-Americ
Most of the above from PJM in a comment on Jun 4, 2008 – 5:46 am responding to Rick Moran’s Obama vs. McCain: The gloves come off, Dean listed Obama’s Lies 28 of them, now someone elsewhere has added more for a total of 76.
Jun 13, 2008 - 4:01 am 5. cfbleachers:In short, Obama’s standard operating procedure has been one of evasion, seclusion, and unwillingness to put himself or potentially harmful information out for full inspection by the media — no matter how friendly and helpful they have been during his primary race.
Of course, Jennifer, the point remains that the Marxist/Socialist Media have found “their” man…and they aren’t going to do much of anything in the way of vetting a guy they are fully in the tank for already. Quite the contrary, they are going to hide the blemishes and serve as attack dogs against any and all opponents. They turned on Bill and Hillary with a froth and ferocity…as they did Joe Lieberman. If you don’t march in lockstep, you will be goosestepped into isolation and “reeducated” or mercilessly slandered.
The Democratic campaign strategy is based upon upon The Big Lie. Marxism/Socialism must be disguised, camouflaged, hidden and denied by “non-denial”. This Big Lie is different though. It’s the Cluster Bomb Big Lie, with the little lies buried inside.
The Big Lie, …is that Marxism/Socialism is NOT the foundational underpinning of and the subcurrent of energy behind…the presumptive candidate’s campaign for the Presidency.
The cluster bomb of lies relate on a near one to one correlation with all the hot button topics upon which the Big Lie strategists create their sleight of hand.
1)The Media. The MSM (Marxist/Socialist Media…one HUGE point here…we do ourselves an enormous disservice when we call them “mainstream”. As PART of the “big lie”, …that term is actually one THEY dupe people into using. The more we good people call them “mainstream”, the harder it is to convincingly assert that they don’t represent mainstream American thought. I flinch every time a good person calls them by their stage name. Deadwood Media, Metastasis Media, Marxist/Socialist media more appropriately defines them.) They are in the bag for Obama and have been from his win in Iowa.
They are the propaganda arm for the Marxist/Socialist platform. You can bet everything you own and all you can borrow…that they will not vet this candidate’s ties to Marxism/Socialism or even far leftism…in any detailed or public way. In fact, they will make every effort to disguise it, denigrate any and all inquiries into it, gloss over/ignore/sugarcoat any issues that resonate or stick with the voting public on the issue.
2)Iraq. Good news is not news and bad news is headline news. Even for this generation of Marxist/Socialists…spitting on the troops and hurling epithets and feces at them is bad form. So, except for Ted Rall and Code Pink and the Berkeley/Michael Moore crowd, you won’t hear very much in the way of open contempt for “the troops”. But, you can book it…they want death and atrocities more than they want victories. If the surge is working, the deafening silence you hear…is the utter disappontment from the crowd that now has to pretend to like our men and women in service.
The constant, daily, relentless pounding during the rebuilding phase of this campaign…has been effective. It is based on a cluster bomb of lies (the entire coverage of this campaign has been based upon one lie after another by the Marxist/Socialist Media. worthy of an entire thread by itself).
Sen. Obama’s campaign, sits upon this mountain of lies and augments them, builds upon them, reinforces them in the public’s mind until they become “truisms” and then tries to attach the negative fallout upon Sen. McCain.
2)The economy: Here is where the most magnificent sleight of hand tricks come into play. A Marxist/Socialist has to talk about improving an economic model, in which they hold fundamentally in contempt. The free market enterprise system wants to elevate lower economic classes into higher economic classes. The Socialist/Marxist spits on the American Dream. The Socialist/Marxist wants to grind down higher classes and build systematically administered beatings on everyone who is “middle class” and above.
Free market capitalism seeks to offer to make more “haves” out of the “have nots”. Work hard, get ahead, be inspired, build the dream.
Socialism/Marxism seeks to denigrate “middle class-ness” as an unworthy goal. It seeks to punish “haves” for their achievements and to demonize them as “consumerist”, angry, bitter, slothful, clinging to guns and religion. We need to be “re-educated” into wanting less, using less, …we need to learn to hate corporate America and the American Dream.
The only way to “fix” the economy…is to take and take and take from the “haves” until they are closer to the “have nots”. First we have to blame them for all of society’s ills. Then call them racist, homophobic, …denigrate them as human beings. Isolate them. Demonize them as warmongers and morally bankrupt. Then take as much of their money as can be stuffed into the government’s pockets. Look for all the little signs and signals about how you are “consumerist”. Or angry, clinging to guns and religion. Drive SUV’s. Keep the thermostat too high. Eat too much. How corporate America isn’t a worthy goal, but working in the “community” is a worthy goal.
3)Foreign Relations/National Security. The Marxist/Socialist starts from a position of “America/Israel” are to blame. This is the starting point of every discussion and is the end point in every debate with them. There is not a single military or national security operation that they would get behind, that does not blame America/Israel and prop up sworn enemies. They believe we are deserving of every loss and undeserving of any geopolitical gains.
Once you understand the mindset, it is easy to see how and why they root for America to fail on every battleground. Why they attribute Big Lie motives to any issue of defense of our homeland…here or abroad. The cluster bomb of little lies will come in the form of denigration of our fear of terrorism, faked and staged photographs depicting action on the ground, failure to report ANY gains, and the relentless drumbeat on ANY loss of life.
The willingness to speak with enemies unconditionally…stems from the fact that Marxist/Socialists view YOU as more of an enemy…than Castro, Chavez or Ahmadinejad.
Jun 13, 2008 - 4:50 am 6. vb:You also have to consider differences in funding a campaign and a government. The freely given $25 is very different from a compulsory tax. I anticipate a little less enthusiasm when that $25 affects every paycheck when that paycheck has to cover ever rising expenses.
Jun 13, 2008 - 4:53 am 7. jbjd:Omitting any characterizations of Senator Obama’s conduct during this primary campaign or any hypothesizing as to how his performance predicts what would happen if he is elected (gasp) President, what is incontrovertible is this. 1) The ‘facts’ he stated at one time differ from ‘facts’ he stated at another time; 2) the policy recommendations he pronounced at one time differ from the policy recommendations he pronounced at another; and 3) he has failed to produce documentation material to a full vetting, for example, his medical records (a 1-page letter from his(?) physician alleging he is fit to assume the duties and responsibilities of the Commander in Chief doesn’t count), his Illinois state senate records (insisting these records are ‘lost’ doesn’t abrogate his responsibility to ‘find’ them), and his tax records.
Jun 13, 2008 - 6:49 am 8. Jared:This blog raises many important points, but the fact is many Democrats do not care about these legitimate hypocrisies and inconsistencies. Obama is another “teflon” candidate, and it amazes me, as a Democrat myself, that people defend him much like loyal Republican supporters of Bush, even when there is no point and it makes you look foolish. I mean you can be a part of your party, and still critical of your candidate. This worries me. Obama, for example, is clearly acting like a hypocrite when he suggests that he won’t take public financing. He was celebrated for his support on this before, but now he is backtracking because of all the money he raised, and Democrats see this as as his “will to win” and “stupid” if he backs away from his fundraising prowess. My own party reminds me that it’s whatever it takes to win, and sure, Republicans do the same thing, but wasn’t Obama offering something “different,” even though no one, not even Obama himself can explain what actually means. It’s just not my version of a candidate I would truly like to support.
Jun 13, 2008 - 7:16 am 9. Christofer:I think Obama is highly qualified to take up the honored tradition of lying to the american people that the revered presidents Nixon, Clinton and Bush instituted – and his campaign proves it!
Perhaps he will even be able to take the art of lying to the next level and perfect it, sure signs are coming in from his campaign where the space beneath “the Bus” is so crowded that Obama is forced to stash his “friends” and “mentors” in the trunk or gloove compartment.
If you like being lied to than you will find your commander in Chief in Barack Obama – the man who even couldn’t wait to be sworn in before his scandals started.
Jun 13, 2008 - 7:16 am 10. Jeff:Why would we want to predict success as Executive using a metric that requires a candidate to work within a broken system?
We laud Obama for his “change” rhetoric and then predict he’ll be a failure in office because he deviates from traditional campaign narratives? Something about this doesn’t add up for me.
Jun 13, 2008 - 7:22 am 11. david levavi:Clear thinking and writing from Jennifer Rubin as usual. What Jennifer needs to do now is convince her editor at Commentary that a full article on Black Liberation Theology is long overdue.
Thus far, facile avoidance by the candidate abetted by an adoring media has limited the exposure of Obama’s grotesque friends and their viciously loony ideas to gotcha snippets that couldn’t be suppressed. What’s required from the Republican opposition are long, retrospective close-ups.
What does Obama’s secret understairs meeting with his racist, America hating minister before the campaign kickoff ceremonies say about Obama’s notions of transparency? What does it say of Obama’s respect and regard for the voters, even his enthusiastic supporters waiting upstairs to cheer him on? What does it say about his honesty and character in general?
Merely stating that Obama is an empty suit is not enough. The candidate’s vacuity needs full and detailed public discussion.
Jun 13, 2008 - 8:14 am 12. ledos:Wow. All your examples really bolster your argument.
Christofer:
I think Obama is highly qualified to take up the honored tradition of lying to the american people that the revered presidents Nixon, Clinton and Bush instituted – and his campaign proves it!
Perhaps he will even be able to take the art of lying to the next level and perfect it, sure signs are coming in from his campaign where the space beneath “the Bus” is so crowded that Obama is forced to stash his “friends” and “mentors” in the trunk or gloove compartment.
If you like being lied to than you will find your commander in Chief in Barack Obama – the man who even couldn’t wait to be sworn in before his scandals started.
Jun 13, 2008 – 7:16 am
Jun 13, 2008 - 8:21 am 13. chicguy:More of the same from the big bad BHO –
BHO is a leftist liberal product of corrupt Chicago politics who hypocritically preaches all kinds of platitudes for others but in his public life has failed to demonstrate with his own actions. What happened to his “Old Uncle Wright”- dumped! – His church of 20 years – dumped! A real steady guy. He will do and say whatever it takes to get the prize. The history of his political rise in Chicago is ugly. His record in the Illinois legislature and later in the US Senate contains absolutely nothing but a record of doing what is politically expedient. BHO is a product of “Old Line Politics”. :”Change”:- into what? . Judge a man by his actions not his words
Jun 13, 2008 - 9:23 am 14. darksideofthemoon:What kills me is when people comment on this conservative site that they are democrats and want to vote for McCain. You are not a democrat if you go to conservative sites and back the other side stop pretending that you are. This also goes for the commenters pretending to be black women who say that Michelle Obama is a disgrace.
Jun 13, 2008 - 9:40 am 15. Rubicon:The media (I call it the old establishment media), have done a spectacular job of evading investigation into favored candidates and especially for those they “gets thrills up their legs” for.
Jun 13, 2008 - 10:02 am 16. RE:The problem is, many fail to realize they really are being fed info that fits into the narrative, change, while the narrative lacks and real substantive detail.
With historic & present day examples of why redistributionist methods fail (think USSR & lately Venezuela – although their real pain is yet to be fully realized, Cuba w/ their $20.00/month salaries they are finally allowed to exceed), many seem ready to accept the idea that “if the government provides it, it will be good” philosophy. (Remember, “I am from the government & I am here to help you!!)
The feds have failed abysmally at almost every bureaucracy they have established & each & every one of them is horrifically expensive to operate. The concept we would turn over health care to them is really scary (think Medicaid, Medicare, etc.) The idea’s or intentions, are good & worthy. The results once only government runs the show, are expensive, bureaucratic, oppressive, & establish severe limitations to free choices.
Obama & his plans are socialist in context, content, and purpose. We need less of that, less government spending us into debt (and yes, Bush did us terrible disservice on many issues & the budget is a special one of them), and we need leadership that accepts we have made mistakes, but still lead the world in opportunity for any & all!
Each passing day makes it clearer – Obama is a disaster with feet.
Jun 13, 2008 - 10:09 am 17. John Samford:http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2008/06/misdirection.html
I’m going to take Wretcherd’s most excellent post a step farther.
Jun 13, 2008 - 10:21 am 18. Tim:Ohhhhh…..BAMA is the American Arafat. He is using his alleged ‘blackness’ as a red herring to disguise his Marxist agenda.
That would be laughable, except for the old adage that ‘You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time but you can’t fool all the people all the time.
Ohhh…BAMA has already proven he can fool ’some of the people all the time’ as witnessed by the slavish devotion of the MSM, tingling leg included. Now he is going for ‘all the people some of the time’. If he makes that, then he is left with fooling ‘all the people all the time’.
That being impossible, he will eventually be in the position of facing all those he fooled.
It will get ugly.
My bet is once the light gets bright enough, the roaches will run for cover. Such has been my experience, which I have no reason to anticipate ‘changing’.
Disclose all the facts? Yep. That’s the way its always done.
Jun 13, 2008 - 10:59 am 19. David Thomson:Barack “Barry” Obama is a very shallow and poorly read man. The man is intellectually lazy. Obama does indeed possess a high I.Q.—and a moron does not graduate from Harvard Law. However, he long ago realized that race hustling is an excellent way to acquire money and power. Obama learned that exploiting guilt tripped white people was ridiculously easy. In back of his mind, he therefore decided that it wasn’t necessary to develop his intellect.
Jun 13, 2008 - 11:02 am 20. Sigurdrifta:When you look at who assisted and apparently underwrote through his business the McClellan book, whose business this guy Johnson was associated with, who has funded the NOAA scientist Hansen to push the “global warming” stuff, it is interesting that all roads seem to lead back to one man….George Soros.
In addition to an in-depth investigation of “Black Liberation Theology” (and its ties to and sources in Marxism), I would like to see an investigation of the links between Obama and Soros, including things like whether Soros has infiltrated large sums of money into the Obama campaign without being detected.
Jun 13, 2008 - 11:04 am 21. MarkJ:What kills me is when people comment on this conservative site that they are democrats and want to vote for McCain. You are not a democrat if you go to conservative sites and back the other side stop pretending that you are. This also goes for the commenters pretending to be black women who say that Michelle Obama is a disgrace.
Interesting post. Perhaps you should take your mind-reading act to Vegas or, alternatively, seek employment with these guys:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_for_the_Propagation_of_Virtue_and_the_Prevention_of_Vice
Jun 13, 2008 - 11:10 am 22. ZEITGEIST:[...] JENNIFER RUBIN: Does the Obama Campaign Foreshadow His Presidency? [...]
Jun 13, 2008 - 11:34 am 23. Bryan:Roy:
I think you’ve missed the point. If a successful campaign foreshadows a successful term, any candidate with a successful campaign (and thus, every president) should have a successful term. As we know, this is not true. If you choose to use this method of extrapolation (successful campaign = successful term), you must remember that it is a relative comparison — Bush Sr.’s campaign success is only success relative to the campaign run by Dukakis. While Bush Sr.’s presidency may not have been a “success”, it will likely be considered a success if compared to a Dukakis presidency.
More usefully, instead of being used to divine success in office, campaigns can be useful in that they show indications of the candidates’ possible strengths and weaknesses.
Jun 13, 2008 - 11:35 am 24. Occam:Obama campaign slogans:
CHANGE … what you’ll have left after I raise taxes.
CHANGE … your gas prices upwards, but gradually
CHANGE … my hat size because every day my head gets bigger
CHANGE … what I do to my story depending upon whom I’m talking to.
CHANGE … what I do every day to my foreign policy
CHANGE … your lifestyle because the rest of the world doesn’t like you
CHANGE … my friends when they turn out NOT to be “The person I knew”
CHANGE … what my radical left-wing ideologue handlers have in store for you
CHANGE … what I do to facts to suit my needs.
CHANGE … more of you into victims of something and build government programs to take care of you
CHANGE … you into a ward of the state so that I OWN you and your vote
CHANGE … your mind and believe in me for I am the Obamessiah come to save you
CHANGE … into sycophants; what the liberal mainstream media do under the spell of the Obamessiah
CHANGE … the chant I use to control the weak-minded Obamanized masses
CHANGE … into an Obamatron; join the cult, repeat the chant: CHANGE, CHANGE, CHANGE …
CHANGE … what I plan to do to America because it’s the greatest country on the planet.
CHANGE … the national anthems of all the nations of the world to Kumbaya using my messianic skills
CHANGE … your underwear because you’ll defecate in your pants when you wake up to find out what the left-wing liberal ideologues have done after gaining complete control of government.
CHANGE … you better freaking BELIEVE in because it will WORK you over.
Jun 13, 2008 - 11:42 am 25. Robert H:Obama: the AUDACITY to count on you and I being DOPEs
It continues to amaze me how even very astute commentators like Jennifer Rubin end up buying into the MSM coverups for Barry. NO, Obama did NOT quit or “depart” his church. Read his actual statement; he said he could not “continue attending while involved in a Presidential Campaign”. No mention of not attending once elected; much less of not attending if he fails to win the election. He then immediately stated that Trinity is “not worthy” ie. deserving, of being denounced.
In other words, being an avowed member is hurting his chances of being elected, and media attention needs to be diverted from that issue. But only for the length of the campaign. He has not “departed” the church, he is taking a 6 month vacation. He very well knows that should he lose in November, he will need the support of Trinity to retain his Senate seat.
Equally so his Indonesian Islamic education, his Communist high school mentor Frank Marshal Davis, his self-described “Marxist professors”, terrorists Ayers and Dohrn, convicted felon Rezko, his Black Marxist pastor and church, his earmark grants to Phleger, his Woods foundation grants to anti-gun ownership organizations….
None of those were a mistake, none of those deserve to be denounced, none of those are any less near and dear to him in his heart. Even racist, rabidly anti-Semitic, Black Muslim “Minister” Farrakhan can not be denounced, only certain unspecified “remarks” of his. As though Farrakhan is only guilty of an Imus type “gaffe”, rather than a lifetime of racist demagoguery.
All of these need to be hidden from the spotlight of media attention during the campaign. As Michelle said, press accounts of these issues “don’t benefit my kids”; nor his campaign either.
Please, please notice: he has not denounced or even renounced any of these !
He has excuse after excuse: not the man I knew, didn’t hear those sermons, pushed the wrong button when voting, platform statement was filled out by an aide not by him. Never once does he say that was a mistake, or I know better now. Never once does he say that he now sees the matter differently and would not make those associations if he could do it over. Not with a single one of them.
Is a man who even in the midst of a Presidential campaign cannot find it in his heart to denounce a terrorist who bombed the Pentagon fit to be Commander in Chief? Is a man who even in the midst of a Presidential campaign cannot find it in his heart to denounce racist Marxist Black Liberation Theology fit to be the President ?
By the clever ploy of denying that he “knew” or was “associated with” any of this, he can divert attention from the fact that he will not denounce any of it. He has used the denial of having “heard those {specific} statements while sitting in the pew” to divert press attention from the nature of the Black Liberation Theology that his church is based upon.
He denies being “closely associated with” Ayers, but will not denounce Ayers terrorist actions, any more than Ayers will denounce the radical revolutionary views he still holds and promotes.
In this sense, Obama is a refreshingly honest candidate. He could lie and say he does not believe in Black Liberation Theology, but he will not say that. He could lie and say he detests the left-wing revolutionary views of Ayers and Dohrn, but he will not say that. He could lie and say he is opposed to the DC and Chicago handgun bans, but he will not say that. He could lie and say he believes socialism is an ideology that was tried and proven a failure, but he will not say that.
Listen between the lines of the speeches. Hear not only what is said, but what is left unsaid. That silence is deafening.
Jun 13, 2008 - 1:50 pm 26. submandave:In discussing the Senator’s damage control vis-a-vis Trinity United as a foreshadow of an Obama Administration, I think it’s important to note that in his final parting he did nto say what so many think he did. He did not say “I disagree with what was said and can no longer be associated with that church.” What he actually said is “I regret that my candidacy has focused much attention on this church and so I will leave to spare them further scrutiny.” In essence, rather than leaving the church to protect his candidacy, he actually left to protect the church. When given the explicit oportunity to denouce the church he declined to do so.
With this single action, Senator Obama has raised the art of political non-apology apology and bait-and-switch mumbo-jumbo to a new low. I doubt even the master Gov. Clinton could have done better.
Jun 13, 2008 - 2:35 pm 27. Misanthropicus:Successful campaign! I never heard about an unsuccesful metastasis and from this angle Obama’s campaign can be definitely regarded as successful. It simply grew in this nation’s vacuums, holes and wounds, the nation’s body being weakened by nonjudgementalism, cultural relativism and by liberal sycophantic media’s unwillingness to alert the people about the true and dangerous nature of this gross opportunist.
And with an unstoppable metastasis as Obama’s trademark for incompetence, hypocrisy, double speak and vain ambition we sure can look at an ugly agony as symbol of his (god forbid!) eventual presidency.
Now some German (involuntary) Glibamafun: Uncle Obama’s New Cabin: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/297284/30011788
Jun 13, 2008 - 2:56 pm 28. bc:There are many way’s this is going to shake out. Under-appreciated, in my view, is the inevitable polarization that is coming between young and old. Hope, and leftist jargon are the stuff of youth. Caution, and skepticism are hallmarks of seasoned experience. As we move forward in this campaign, we are going to realize this election cycle is about young versus old. Already, BO is pleading his case to elderly voters. I doubt they will buy his pitch as willingly as his youthful base.
Jun 13, 2008 - 6:46 pm 29. drill:Wow, you guys are definitely preaching to the choir. Sometime you should look in the mirror. Whatever Obama is, my friends, he is sooo not a Marxist. The fact that some of you actually believe that he is a Marxist puts you so far out of the mainstream of political thought in this country that you are most likely living in a world of delusion. Anyway, I will leave you all to it. Good night.
Jun 13, 2008 - 8:08 pm 30. NB:What a funny idea from the left. The way he’s run his campaign indicates he’ll be a great president? Obviously running a great campaign (and it’s been made abundantly clear here that he has not) makes one qualified for exactly one thing. Campaign manager.
Those wacky Libs. So humorous.
Jun 13, 2008 - 8:18 pm 31. Diane:Obama is doing what Tom Wolfe said so well so long ago: mau-mauing the flak catchers. What amazes me is the media’s cowering. Every question is divisive, distracting or an attack; he is not going to change if/when he gets into the White House, so, do all these reporters intend to spend four years being told that questions about this, that or the other thing are irrelevant, distracting etc.? Just goes to show how dumb or perhaps self-loathing (not without justification) these folks really are: the candidate who makes himself available is yesterday’s news (that would be McCain), the guy who looks down his nose at them and says “That’s distracting” is worship-worthy.
The only comfort I take in all of this is that by the 2012 election, many of the major daily newspapers will have gone under and a lot of the network news apparatus will probably have become extinct as well, taking with them the journalistic detritus of the 60s. These “old media” guys are having their last hurrah and I guess they’re determined to do as much damage to America as they can, dragging it down as they themselves drown. Bye, boys!
Jun 13, 2008 - 9:11 pm 32. Seth Berkowitz:Barack Obama ran a superlative campaign. The things you are obsessing about are distractions. He focused on the issues that matter to America, he did not resort to negative campaigning and smears and he focused attention on the bigger issues.
He also won and stayed on budget.
If you want to say he ran a poor campaign or a dishonest one, fine, but you couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Jun 13, 2008 - 10:00 pm 33. Misanthropicus:RE: Seth Berkowitz: “The things you are obsessing about are distractions. He focused on the issues that matter to America, he did not resort to negative campaigning and smears and he focused attention on the bigger issues.
Seth, Obamabot III:
Jun 14, 2008 - 3:56 am 34. cfbleachers:1) one sure can obsess about a hologram,
2) particularly about a hologram that considers 9/11 just a distractin (on a ever expanding list of distractions).
Sen. Obama may indeed not be a Marxist. He simply has a funny way of showing it.
1)His mother and his father were both fans of Socialism, although his mother has been hidden from view for the most part. His father could not have been more open about his Socialism and attraction to Communism.
2)The “family friend” by the name of “Frank”…who mentored the college bound Sen. Obama was Frank Marshall Davis, a Communist Party USA member. In his autobiography, Sen. Obama discusses how “Frank” (also hidden from full and open exploration) spit upon the American Dream, and berated all that this country stands for and against.
3)While in college, Sen. Obama intentionally sought out his most extremist and radical professors who mired themselves in Socialist extremism, bathed themselves in the hatred and bile against this country…it was this worldview that Sen. Obama sought out and embraced.
4)When Sen. Obama went to Chicago to become a “community organizer”, he attached himself to Saul Alinsky…a Socialist who believed in tearing down the system from the inside. Alinsky held the same goals as William Ayers and Dorhn…but disagreed on tactics.
5)When Sen. Obama was looking for a church with which to align …he went to several black pastors and asked their advice. He landed upon Jeremiah Wright’s church, BECAUSE OF ITS RADICAL UNDERPINNINGS. Black liberation theo-politics…is based upon the Marxist principles as outlined by Cone…and filtered through an angry black separatism.
Sen. Obama was enthralled with this model, precisely because it stemmed from Marxism and black anger. This “counterculture” politicizing of the “church” created the exact cocktail of black identity politics and extreme leftism that Sen. Obama was infused with by “Frank” Marshall Davis, Saul Alinsky, the radical professors and the “Dreams of his Father”.
6) Before Sen. Obama went back to law school, he began his tutelage under Jeremiah Wright and became familiar with the musings of Louis Farrakhan. Wright is a devotee of Farrakhan and except for the very non-traditional “Christianity” (if there exists a God who does not want to kill the white man, then the God must be killed), there isn’t a dust mites worth of difference between Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan.
Even a blind man could see the close connection between the worldview of Farrakhan and the worldview of Jeremiah Wright. Sen. Obama not only is bright enough to have seen it, each and every sign suggests he embraced it. Fully.
Sen. Obama took an armload of Jeremiah Wright’s tapes with him to law school. The precise tapes he took…have been hidden from view and exploration. But to know Wright for twenty minutes is to know Wright for twenty years. He wears his ant-Americanism, his anti-white, anti-Jewish bile on his sleeve. He won’t hide this for any man…as evidenced by his defiance in “hiding” it for Sen. Obama at the National Press Club.
Sen. Obama embraced this worldview wholly, without hesitation or reservation. He did not shy away from, distance himself from, or show any signs of discomfort with…Jeremiah Wright’s worldview. He EMULATED it. Those tapes were the Berlitz course in how to speak the language, the inflections, the pacing and the word choice…of Wright’s bile and venom.
7) When Sen. Obama returned from law school, it was with the intent of immersing himself in the Jeremiad and infusing it into a political career. The ducks lined up for him as a seat in the Illinois Senate became available. It was William Ayers who held a fundraiser at his house for Sen. Obama. This was the circle in which Sen. Obama traveled.
A circle that not merely INCLUDED extremists such as Ayers and Dorhn, but celebrated them. Ayers and Dorhn are Marxists and the connection to Ayers is NOT merely one of coincidental neighbors. They served together on the Woods Foundation…but, more importantly, Ayers spearheaded the Annenberg group…and hand-picked Sen. Obama. The connection to Ayers and Dorhn is much deeper…and has been hidden from view.
8)While in the Illinois Senate, Sen. Obama undertook one of the most far left positions in the history of that body. His voting record (when he bothered to vote) was consistent with a lifelong pattern of extreme leftism. His wife, Michelle…is and was a firm believer in the Jeremiah Wright worldview. White people are to blame, black people are victimized by whites. Whites are angry, bitter, cling to guns, slothful, …there is nothing to be proud of in this country. This is a couple bathed in the Farrakhan/Wright venom and bile.
Sen. Obama also took up the Farrakhan/Wright worldview as it stands against Israel. Sen. Obama became extremely cozy with the late Edward Said’s worldview. And Rashid Khalidi, Ali Abunimah, …his sympathies tilted almost entirely toward a Pro-Palestinian viewpoint.
This is not unusual, because…while Sen. Obama wished to self-identify as a black man, he is more Arab than black. He suppresses his white heritage almost entirely. In fact, he shows overt signs of divorcing himself from any “whiteness”. But, as he does with his extreme leftism, and the black separatist embrace he has given to Wright/Farrakhan…he hides his Arab heritage as well. His father was more Arab than black African.
Sen. Obama was surrounded by anti-Israel voices almost entirely, before he became a US Senator. Tony Rezco, the Chicago fixer found guilty on 16 counts…is one of those voices.
These ties to the Arab world have been hidden and not allowed into the open for any exploration. The Marxist/Socialist Media has intentionally avoided exploration into any of these issues.
9)As a US Senator, Sen. Obama has amassed one of the furthest left voting records, consistent with this lifelong pattern. ALL the signs and signals of someone who holds an extremist worldview are present. Sen. Obama feels that wearing a flag lapel pin is the “wrong kind” of patriotism. So, apparently…is holding one’s hand over one’s heart for the National Anthem. To a Marxist/counterculture/black separatist…that would signal a “sellout”. Or, as “Frank” Marshall Davis would scold…”forgetting his people”.
Jeremiah Wright would not approve. Louis Farrakhan would not approve. William Ayers and Bernadine Dorhn would not approve. The radical professors would not approve.
Perhaps most importantly…Daddy Obama would not approve.
A Marxist/Socialist will try to convince you that you keep your thermostats too high, you should turn your back on corporate America…it is evil. That you drive SUV’s and eat too much food…and “other countries” won’t approve. A Marxist/Socialist/counterculture/black separatist will try to convince you that we need to “talk unconditionally” to Chavez, Castro, and Ahmadinejad. After all…WE are to blame for all the world’s ills in that mindset.
Sen. Obama has been schooled, mentored, enveloped in the notion that “middle class-ness” is something that should be avoided at all costs. He has been bathed in an antipathy for all that we stand for and against.
To suggest that he isn’t impacted by this lifelong pattern is disingenuous at best and intentional fraud at worst. To suggest that exploration of this antipathy is a “distraction” is an unfunny joke. A canard. A sham.
The Marxist/Socialist Media is in on the conspiracy of silence to hide these facts, keep them from view and to derail any exploration into them. Frankly, I think it is high time we put the damn question on the table out in the open. We can move into a European/Canadian brand of Socialism or we can vote to remain a free market enterprise system. But this game of peek-a-boo or Blind Man’s Bluff with Socialism is despicable.
Fooling people into voting for somethng they have had intentionally hidden from them, is a disgrace. The lefist media is openly complicit in this regard. And they should stand in contempt for doing so. They are intentionally distorting our information stream to hide facts, distort the truth, fake photographs, forge documents…in order to overthrow the current system…and move us toward Euro-Socialism. This is a rape of a public trust.
And Sen. Obama…is the candidate for their end game. We deserve the right to vote on the truth, not lies. Bring Socialism out into the sunshine and let’s vote on it. Call the question. Let’s have a full exploration of it. But enough is enough with this clandestine disgrace of distortion and camouflage. Sen. Obama should be ashamed of his complicity in hiding the end game. The one lesson from Jeremiah Wright he didn’t absorb…tell people the truth about what you believe at all times, and don’t be a typical politician…giving the wink and the nod to the truth, while you hide it from plain view for political expediency.
Jun 14, 2008 - 6:19 am 35. nobozons:Recently, Obama has exposed his inability to describe simple causal relationships while speaking. Unless he is reading a speech, the man is unable to communicate. His extemporaneous ability is much worse than Bush’s. The man is a self admitted bonehead. Now he has demonstrated that he is a mush mouth. He has demonstrated that he is an elite and that he has a messianic vision of what we should be.
Jun 14, 2008 - 9:57 am 36. Javelin:His Kenya paper demonstrates that he is a socialist and a racist. He simply doesn’t understand that indigenous people are helped by foreign investment, but they do not start at the top just because they are indigenous. Investors have the right to oversee their investments in country. Socialists generally have little contact with reality in their elitism. They have the right to decide who is in the middle class and who is rich. Only the elite are able to decide tax rates based on income without concern for demographics. Since the liberal socialist press will not vet Obama, we cannot consider him as a candidate.
I don’t know which is more vacuous or partisan, the shallow premise of this commentary or the usual he’s a Marxist/Socialist/Communist/Racist from some of the overly creative posters?
Jun 14, 2008 - 12:37 pm 37. Javelin:When people babble about Marxist Socialists Media and how that murky group has annointed Obama, do they realize that makes them look like stupid, paranoid crackpots? Even Senator McCarthy showed more concrete honesty and command of the facts than some of the cold war hermits here, and I am serious.
Jun 14, 2008 - 12:47 pm 38. Josh in Seattle:The GOP (MCCain) will not make your lives safer or more prosperous. These policies have nearly ruined America economically and in a geo political sense.
It is obvious from the week attempts at character assassination that most of the people here know the republicans cannot win on hte issues….. a little sad.
Obama 2008!
Jun 14, 2008 - 2:01 pm 39. AndyJ:Openness-? Honesty-? Transparency-?
Slick Barry is more like Slick Willie that RFK. He defines what the topis will be and what will be said. Then he goes against those rules to zing the opposition… He penchant for sharp elbows in basketball are his political training.
Obama’s manipulation of media is not transparency. Hos hiding in the front of the plane, his limited questions and limited subjects and limited forums all show his desire to hide and manipulate the media… Clinton showed how it was done. Ask the wrong question, lose access. No access= no reporting = no job.
Obam’ Presidency will be a replay of the Clinton years with everyone walking on eggs because of the racism issue… Calling comments about his wife “Unacceptable” when she has such a strong influence on him is more manipulation. She is a real American Black. H was raised by whites in Hawaii. He is not an authentic American black person. She controlls so much of his persona…but we cannot question her public comments-?!?!?!?
It’s gonna be a long four years. And then another 200 years before a black man is elected President…
We don’t know who he is and he is hiding from us…
Jun 14, 2008 - 6:28 pm 40. cfbleachers:Obviously by the lame attempts to discredit an argument by ad hominem attacks on those who put forth facts which remain undisputed…the Apologist Apostles continue to hide from any exploration of the truth.
“It’s a distraction”, “You’re paranoid”, “McCain is a bad, bad man and he’s going to hurt you…all non-leftists are bogeymen!”.
Yet….not one, single, solitary refutation of the facts. Typical.
I’m not afraid of Socialism…European countries and Canada have dabbled in it. I just think it a horrid system and have no interest in having it infused into our method of governance. More importantly, I don’t want people to lie about it, disguise it, camouflage it and SNEAK it into our method of governance. That’s despicable.
It’s not paranoia to be cautious and aware of a snarling dog that is wagging its tail.
Jun 15, 2008 - 12:47 am 41. Rod Patrick:He is like the Shady man in Eminem song.
Until now, even his supporters could give complete and consistent details of his life history. Why is that?
I have come across materials about his links with the Far Left. Actually it was not link, as if everything has been designed in purpose for Obama to come to this point.
What really happened in Chicago?
I guess, if that remains unanswered many of the independents will go for McCain in 2008 even if we have misgivings. Better take a dosage with all its benefits and sideeffect,,,, than a pill which provides nothing except the promo that it cures them all.
Jun 15, 2008 - 2:17 am 42. bandit:Come to Massachusetts and see how the proto-Obama, Deval Patrick, is doing. Empty suit meets abject failure. As many have said before – hope is not a plan.
Jun 16, 2008 - 6:16 am 43. myna:Yes, Obama messiah is not going to win. Why not these people who wants socialism or communism move to that country like Cuba or Venezuela? Nobody is stopping them. I do not know why Ayer, Dorhn and Marshall are still here.
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Sep 10, 2008 - 1:37 am