Bahu Virupaksha

Join Date 09/2004

Barack Obama: A long Days Journey into Night?

The Campaign flounders

The campaign of Barack Obama is in trouble and everyone seems to understand it except the candidate and his team. Given the unpopularity of George II and the Iraq War, Obama should be poised for victory as the polls are less than 100 days away. Sure he enjoys a 5 point lead over Maccain but that lead is well within the margin of error and unless Barack Obama crosses the 8 to 10 point margin one cannot be sure of his victory. Of course, Barack Obama himself has not made any major faux pas but the Karl Rove inspired campaign of selective disinformation and distortion seems to be eroding the public persona and appeal of the first African-American aspirant to high office in the USA.

The tour of Europe in which Obama was given a rock star welcome seems to have angered some people. Obama himself is harsdly responsible for the enthusiastioc welcome he received. All over the world he is perceived as the very spirit of political decency and freedom. Jon Steward the shamefaced comedian that he is even made the unkind remark that hen Obama visited Bethlehem he was merely visiting his birthplace. Such remarks have no palce in a political campaign and only helps Maccain shore up the conservative Christian vote.

The campaign advert in which Barack Obama's speech in Paris is shown spliced with shots of Brtiney Spears and Paris Hilton is a cruel ad and reminds me of Harper Lee's To Kill a mocking Bird. A black man between 2 lilly white girls and designed to exite all the primordial fears of a conservative white electorate. In fact the Obam,a people must protest against the racist implications of that ad.

Having said all this I must say that Obama himself has not helped his own cause by trying to be a hiltionite and an obamacrat at the same time. He has fil flopped over the issue of off shore drilling. His stand on the new surveillance law that gives immunity for prying into the e mails of citizens has not gone down too well with the civil libertarians who were attracted to his campaign. On gun control too Senator Obama has changed his position and many who are interested in strict gun control legislation will be disappointed and may well keep away from the polls.

Perhaps Barack Obama is much too decent a man for the kind of politics inflected with racism and fear mongering.

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Very interesting article, but I have to say that if Barack is gonna spend more time pointing out racism where there is none, the fact that he himself won't let racism go out of politics today (with his conatnt "First Black Man" title)will only make him look even worse than he already does. This just proves not that his opponent is succeeding in making him look bad, but that Barack's true nature and his "I am not your regular kind of politician" BS is being seen for what it really is, BS. Barack is just another politician who has played his hand right to woo the country and the world with his "change" campaign, and his flip flopping proves just what exactly he meant by change, as in changing his position on issues to win votes. Just as someone else pointed out before, Barack and McCain, more of the same.

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You have it all wrong, but then getting your information from the MSM which adores him, that is not surprising.

First, he has made many major Faux Pas. The latest of which is to dismiss the energy crises as just "under inflated tires and a tune up".

Second, it was not the adoring crowds that angered americans, but the statements he made to them. Better re-read what he said and look at it from the perspective of the FIRST citizen of the US, not a world citizen (he may be both, but he only has to be elected to one of the positions).

Third, the Hilton ad was a fun one, and shows that democrats (or more precisely liberals) have no sense of humor. It did not denigrate him in the least. It was factual and funny, and therefore bad form for the messaniacs. Sorry, for a change that was a good ad, not a bad ad. Teh only racism in it, is in the eye of the offended - the racists themselves who are afraid that socializing among races is verbotten.

Fourth, He is showing the same problems kerry had. Arrogance. He seems to think he already has won, not that he wants to win the election. Over confidence is not a good attribute.

Fifth, Jon Stewart is a liberal. His job is to get laughs. If it is only acceptable to make fun of conservatives, then it seems the people making that statement and the people being offended by Stewart are the ones with the problems.

You get a better idea of the real campaign by reading the literature here than you will reading the fawning press. Obama is being treated better than others because of his race (the press is supersensitive about it and so they are bending over backwards to not offend Obama). for the most part, his campaign is the same old tired liberalism, with nothing really new. Why? because he thinks he can not campaign on anything concrete and still get elected. Much like Kerry did.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The democrats may not be insane, but they sure are acting that way now.

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he enjoys a 5 point lead over Maccain but that lead is well within the margin of error

Imagine if that lead was for McCain over Obama. you would have seen the whole media saying it is over for Obama ... wouldnt they? ... even now when that margin drops to 3 points they say ... look he is losing ....

It is really amazing how they spin his lead ...

Considering all the factors that you listed .... it is very surprising that he has any lead at all.

The McFool goes around and mumbles nonsense policies and they give him a pass ... no challenge at all to his misinformation and lies and sarcasm ... at the same time Obama makes one trivial mistake (and readily understandable) and they parse it in a million way to show he is not ready .....

consistent 4-6 points lead in the middle of all that attack and trivializing ... is truly a big achievement.

Keep in mind that very few won their first term of the presidency with over 2 points margin. GWB won it by 0.0005% (that is 500 votes out of 110 million votes)

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Perhaps Barack Obama is much too decent a man for the kind of politics inflected with racism and fear mongering.

I think you give him too much credit. I think a decent man would have defended Hillary. His silence on the sexism issue spoke pretty loudly. I don't think decent men are constantly condescending to the electorate. The examples are numerous but I'll just bring up the bitter comment, the fact that he basically thinks we are too stupid to air our tires or speak a foreign language. The man doesn't even like our country, why does he want to lead it except for self-aggrandizement.

In fact the Obam,a people must protest against the racist implications of that ad.

People want to see hidden racist agenda in everything. There was an article about whether Obama was too skinny to be President. Somehow to some people "skinny" became code for black. I really don't think it would have mattered if the celebrities were Beyonce and Oprah. The point is whether Obama has any substance. I think no.

Jon Steward the shamefaced comedian that he is even made the unkind remark that hen Obama visited Bethlehem he was merely visiting his birthplace.

Do a google search on Jesus Obama and you will see that there are over three million results. Jon Stewart is just commenting on an already existing phenomena. I think Obama plays into the whole "savior" philosophy.

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Quoting ThinkAloud,

comment 3

Keep in mind that very few won their first term of the presidency with over 2 points margin. GWB won it by 0.0005% (that is 500 votes out of 110 million votes)

President Bush didnt win the popular vote at all mate. He won what really counts, the electoral college. Nor was it even close to 500 votes, you needed to add 3 zero's on the end. He won the electoral college 271 to 266.

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Bush didnt win the popular vote at all mate.

Thanks for the correction. You are right. I meant 500 votes out of Florida's voters . and yes it is less than 500 votes. i think it was about 300+ votes. but lets say it is 500. then he won the office by winning less than 0.1% of Fl popular votes.

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Quoting ThinkAloud,

comment 6

Bush didnt win the popular vote at all mate.Thanks for the correction. You are right. I meant 500 votes out of Florida's voters . and yes it is less than 500 votes. i think it was about 300+ votes. but lets say it is 500. then he won the office by winning less than 0.1% of Fl popular votes.

Ah but popular vote doesnt really matter mate, its just the way all the states decide how to elect those that go to the Electoral College. The U.S. is a Democratic Republic, we dont have mob rule here.

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the fact that he basically thinks we are too stupid to air our tires or speak a foreign language. The man doesn't [/quote]

Obama is being treated better than others

Third, the Hilton ad was a fun one, and shows that democrats (or more precisely liberals) have no sense of humor

"I am not your regular kind of politician" BS is being seen for what it really is, BS. Barack is just another politician who has played his hand right to woo the country and the world with his "change" campaign, and his flip flopping

The perception of people all around is that Obama is "differen" whatever that may mean. He is not perceived to be a sly, manipulating, lying and decieving politician. He may well turn out thus, but that is still to be seen.

quote]Third, the Hilton ad was a fun one, and shows that democrats (or more precisely liberals) have no sense of humor

[quote]"

Well, it may have been but ist was surely in bad taste as it provokes a kind of reaction that is not desireable.

quote]Obama is being treated better than others [/quote

I agree but that is not due to his race. Obama is a talented man and an exellent speaker with charisma of a rare kind.

I do not think one can doubt the patriotism of Barack Obama. He is a good public servant and I think his stint in the US Senate has been a noteworthy one.

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Wow, you give this man way too much credit Bahu. His patriotism can be and has been questioned. His own wife did not feel proud of her country till her husband began to run for president. And his Senate record? Shameful does not begin to describe it. What's the purpose of making yourself the representative of the people of your state when every time a vote was required you put in "Present" rather than "yes" or "no" (or what ever they use to agree or disagree)? I am totally blown by how some see Obama as simply making minor mistakes while McCain is bashed as some kind of war criminal for doing the same.

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When you say media, are you talking about Foxnews? Cause from where I stand the media loves making Obama to be Obi Wan Kenobi "our only hope". One would think Obama is "The One". The guy who can free mankind from "The Matrix", the one "who will bring balance to The Force", "Superman".

Seriously folks. Obama is just another politician, a guy who wooed everyone with his stance against Big Oil and is not considering some offshore drilling, a guy who criticized his own countrymen for not knowing French while illegal immigrants don't have to learn English because all 1-800 numbers have "Para Español, oprima 2 (Please press 2 for Spanish)". A guy who thinks oil prices are not too high, they just went up too fast. A guy who thinks our oil problems could be solved by check our tire air pressure. A guy who won't accept that the surge in Iraq worked.

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The McFool goes around

Not mature enough to discuss a subject intelligently instead of childishly?

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Obama is just another politician, a guy who wooed everyone with his stance against Big Oil and is not considering some offshore drilling

I am totally blown by how some see Obama as simply making minor mistakes while McCain is bashed as some kind of war criminal for doing the same

McCain is not in the same league as Obama.

Yes when Obama is the official candidate he has to pitch to the center of the political field and this means making compromises.

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Island Dog

Join Date 06/2003

+1051

Perhaps Barack Obama is much too decent a man for the kind of politics inflected with racism and fear mongering.

He is the problem with racism and fear mongering.

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Anthony R

Join Date 01/2003

+59

And there I was thinking that Bill Clinton was the first black President.

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Anthony R

Join Date 01/2003

+59

It will be tough to elect a guy who shares the same name as the dictator of a regime we just toppled.

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A guy who thinks oil prices are not too high, they just went up too fast

Just thought I'd pick up on this point you made Charles, since you seem to be implying (given the context of the point) that Obama is wrong to think that. In the US, since taxes are very low on oil (especially compared to other countries), the prices could well be argued to be too low, not too high. The reason is that the price may not fully reflect the damage done to the environment, and hence you will have overconsumption of it. If this is the case, then a rise in the world price of oil could be viewed as a good thing in that it makes renewable energy alternatives that don't have a harmful impact on the environment relatively cheaper, and hence cause some people to switch from oil to them, thus decreasing the total level of overconsumption.

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It will be tough to elect a guy who shares the same name as the dictator of a regime we just toppled.

You are ridiculous, Anthony. I am still just highly disappointed that people think in such ways (or have such lack of reasonable judgment).

The latest of which is to dismiss the energy crises as just "under inflated tires and a tune up".

Also, this was not a dismissal, only a recommendation. Inflated tires get better gas mileage. Sure inflating all the tires in America will not actually yield as strong a result as proclaimed as "probable", but it is something individuals can do to save on energy consumption (which was the point of his response).

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Anthony R

Join Date 01/2003

+59

u are ridiculous, Anthony.

We'll see in Nov. how rediculous I am. If Hussein gets at least as much support as Kerry then I was wrong, but if his numbers are far lower than that then I was right. I don't have too much confidence in polling either. If I was to believe in polls, Ron Paul would now be the ruler of all time, space, and dimension.

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It will be tough to elect a guy who shares the same name as the dictator of a regime we just toppled.

And there I was thinking that Bill Clinton was the first black President

I think Toni Morrison has already explained that comment.

Obama is a Christain and there is no point in fear mongering over a name. He is not responsible for his given name.

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It may not be a dismissal, but he is using it as one. Obama does want higher prices - to reduce consumption. He is honest in that regard (and one of the reasons I do respect him). But when he tries to explain it away with his "air and tune up", he is betraying his core beliefs and being made to look the fool. It would be better if he was honest about it, and came out and said "this will cost you less money, but the plan is to keep prices high so that alternatives have a chance to grow and become feasible". For that is what he really believes.

The problem is he would probably not get elected saying that (He would most definitely get my vote). Or maybe he would. Honesty is the one thing that no politician has tried yet. In the end, by trying to equate tire pressure with drilling, he is being dishonest. They are not the same, nor should he even try to equate them.

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Yea well tell that to those who have a hard time filling up their tanks to get to work, to the store or to simply go to the park. But I will leave DrGuy's comments as a better explanation. BSing people to get votes basically makes Obama just another politician, not someo special as he is portrayed to be. The only real change Obama offers is the kind where people can't see that "the more things change, the more they stay the same". That is what Obama is all about.

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Yea well tell that to those who have a hard time filling up their tanks to get to work, to the store or to simply go to the park

Several cheaper alternatives there: Walk, Cycle, Bus/Coach, Train/Tram/other public transport

The price of oil in the US is also about half that of the UK, and I don't think UK incomes are twice that of the US's, so it's not like people would be unable to cope. Furthermore, if the government was to increase the price on oil via a tax, that would generate revenue which could then be used to provide benefits/assistance to those people on the lowest income who would then be struggling. Alternatively the revenue could be used to subsidise more energy efficient methods of transport (hybrid cars, or public transport), or to subsidise renewable energy.

Re: Obama's message of change though, the good/bad (depending on who you are) thing about it is that it doesn't specify just what that change would be, but rather leaves it to the listener. So you can end up with lots of different people all thinking things will change (in a way that would be good for them) - it makes it an effective message, but could lead to some disappointment post-election (at least for those who simply vote based on that message, rather than looking into more detail about what policies that change might entail)

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Several cheaper alternatives there: Walk, Cycle, Bus/Coach, Train/Tram/other public transport

Yea, and they are all so convenient aren't they? Anyways.

The price of oil in the US is also about half that of the UK, and I don't think UK incomes are twice that of the US's, so it's not like people would be unable to cope. Furthermore, if the government was to increase the price on oil via a tax, that would generate revenue which could then be used to provide benefits/assistance to those people on the lowest income who would then be struggling. Alternatively the revenue could be used to subsidise more energy efficient methods of transport (hybrid cars, or public transport), or to subsidise renewable energy.

Well lets see. Considering that minimum wage is places like France and the UK are almost twice as much as they are here in the US and the gas is pretty much twice as much there as well that would suggest that yes income can be twice as much in the UK thank the US, at least according to the sources below.

http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2005/07/study/tn0507101s.htm

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