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Disappointed in Obama's Behavior
In the last couple days, Obama said something that I think is quite true:
Clinton is a game player who uses "slash and burn" tactics and will say whatever people want to hear.
Clinton responded with [paraphrased]:
Look beyond all the whoop dee do speech-making and take a hard look at who's got the know-how to deal with the nation's burdens. ( ... Why, Obama is, of course, Senator. )
It's expected that Clinton would bite at Obama's ankles, but it just seems Obama has started to sound like her lately, in terms of negative attacks. Actually, that in and of itself doesn't bother me, because I think there's a time to fight back. BUT, wasn't the time to fight back during the debate? He betrayed himself in two key ways:
1. Part of his campaign message so far has been that he's trying to stick to issues; be above the fray.
2. Poor judgement: If he were going to go negative and attack character, why the HELL didn't he do so during the debate when the Bosnia question came up, while he had everyone's full attention? Why did he instead say Clinton and he had "both made mistakes" (as if her bundle of lies were mistakes and comparable to his behavior), letting her off the hook for being a fatally toxic candidate, and then start attacking her character only AFTER the debate (hypocritically)??
I'm basically an Obama supporter, but he's coming across now as a hypocritical wimp. Still, the other two candidates are not an option for me.
I've been disappointed the last couple of weeks, too. I think fatigue is setting in and, frankly, he's just saying some stupid things. I'm not going to hold it against him but I sure hope he snaps out of it because there are an awful lot of people who will fall for negative sound bites, and he's giving them quite a bit to work with right now. (That was quite an impressive run-on I just constructed.)
Agreed. He has said some bone-headed things and he can't afford to keep doing that.
Also, he's going to have to learn to strike a balance between behaving like a peacenik to the point of being battered, and stooping to her level, as a defensive (or offensive) strategy, which cheapens his campaign.
The problem I see is that once you start shooting off negative remarks at the rate and intensity that Clinton is, you stand to lose. You stand to lose because the more you accuse Clinton, even if it's 100% legit, the more she cries "You're just being negative ... and you started it". ... And there goes any relevant accusation you just made.
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.
Also because she fires back with "well look at Mr. High-and-Mighty rolling in the mud," which, frankly, seems to be pretty effective. The problem with running a campaign (in part) based on character is that you can get backed into a corner pretty quick.
Yeah, I thought the fact of his prevailing "unity" theme was one issue keeping him from holding Hillary's feet to the flames during the debate, about Bosnia, in particular.
If Clinton markedly undermined herself with her emphatic "Yes, yes, yes" (he can win the general election), then I think one of his weaker moments came when he said, "We all make mistakes", when the Bosnia question came up. They both lost something in those moments.
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.
I recently read an article which put forth the theory that Obama is not attacking Hillary as much as he could because he doesn't want to risk alienating her base, which is the women's vote. He will need that vote in order to defeat McCain. I think he also wants it to appear that she is the one dividing the Democratic party, not him.
I think he is having a hard time walking that fine line, not becoming negative, yet not allowing HRC to walk all over him. Up until now, his positive approach has paid off; as she got nastier, her numbers dropped. He cannot become passive and allow her attacks to go unanswered. Yet when he does rebut them, he is accused of negative campaigning. How is he to win here? I think exhaustion, tension and trying to get his point across without becoming negative is taking a toll. I wish I had a magic answer.
Good points. I think you and Barbara are right: this is taking a toll on him. Seems that probably is the reason he's starting to get negative in a gossipy, Clinton-esque manner.
Yeah, no magic here either. He's the leader so hopefully he can prove to people that he's capable of dealing with this situation affectively. Right now he's stooping to her level and it's truly irritating.
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.
The gift and the curse for trying something different...
I think he's only battling on policy differences which I think is fair game, he's not distorting her record and I've checked. I think he's doing okay, but the opponent has a vested interest in painting him as a 'same-old-politician' to try to bring him down.
That's what I was trying to say to Sarg earlier. It's so easy to get painted into a corner when you try to run a higher-moral-ground campaign.
Is that a mixed metaphor?
Suzi, yeah, I agree with you that Obama spoke of making mistakes in a way that showed he made errors, and that it was a way to show grace about ther "mistakes" too. Problem for me is, a string of compulsive lies is not a "mistake", it's a pathological problem that deserves not to be assigned a euphemism. What she said was clearly calculated; nothing accidental about it. I think the voters deserve to be reminded of why it'd be dangerous to elect her. Compulsive liars tell you what you want to hear. At the very least, it irritated me that he watered down the severity of what she said by passing it off as a "mistake".
Some of his actions sometimes make me wonder if his "unity" message is somewhat of a front for him not feeling comfortable with confronting people. Perhaps it's a personality thing. Kind of like, for Clinton, she seems too comfortable with confrontation.
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.
Sarg: JSYK, I saw a very well-renowned analyst make that exact same observation (your last paragraph) a year ago. You should go pro with this political commentary thing!!
Hey, cool! Thanks for that comment/suggestion. That makes me feel less dumb today. How does one go from "amateur" to "pro" ? Hmmm ...
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.
Well now hey, you've got my gears turning heheheh. I like the idea of getting paid to mouth off. Thanks for letting me know Pc.
It's almost polling time - about 7 more hours? Can only imagine how frenzied both candidates must be! Pc, do you have any prediction on what will happen (who will win and by how many points)? It's sort of a toss up for me, so I'm just gonna say it will be Clinton's win by 7-8 points.
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.
Good point about turnout. It'd be great IMO if HRC only won by five points. Unfortunately I keep getting an uneasy feeling ... starting to think that maybe that feeling is coming from the fact that the there's been so much negativity lately from both camps. Obama has lost by small margins to Clinton in areas with similar demographics (like Ohio). But that was before he started engaging in Clintonesque-style personal attacks.
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.
It's looking like our concerns were valid, and it's going to be a double digit loss for Obama. CNN's already called the state with only 13% of the returns in. That's not good.
I agree. I'm afraid it's the rural vote that will come in last, and I've heard that in those areas he's way behind. But maybe I have it backwards. In that case he'd make a late surge.
Sure. We're in agreement about that. I've pretty much said that as long as he's committed to "staying above the fray", there's only so low he can stoop without compromising his stately reputation in the eyes of the public. That means there's a fine line between defending himself and coming across as engaging in the sort of down-and-dirty politics he speaks ill of.
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.
Obama is indeed the Brett Favre of politics – essentially brilliant, but capable of the most bone-headed throws when the biggest games are on the line. Yet, even that greatest of Packers managed to secure a ring, albeit with no small contribution from an exemplary supporting cast.
This primary has been, unexpectedly, going on for much longer than any mortal can be expected to perform at a consistently high level. Slumps are to be expected; especially from a potentially great man for whom it is necessary to stand out in an often frivolous environment that is decidedly at odds with a sublime, however flawed, character.
I remain firmly and unrepentantly behind our guy. I just hope he can avoid the knee-jerk, season-ending play that will send all of us packing.
Brett and Obama also have fantastic smiles when they score a big win.
I'm always a fan of football metaphors, btw.
Also, I think the basic fact that he's just a very attractive guy has not hurt him one bit in this race.
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.