Posts with the tag 'change'
David Brook’s excellent article The Two Obama’s does an excellent job laying out how Senator Obama talks reform and inspiration, but plays old school politics as well as anyone out there…
“God, Republicans are saps. They think that they’re running against some academic liberal who wouldn’t wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn’t proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson…”
“…But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes…”
Brooks goes on to explain Obama’s history of old school politics. That he is smart and calculating, and has laid out a path for himself that any old-school Chigago politician would be proud of…
“…Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.
Dr. Barack said he could no more disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than disown his own grandmother. Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck.
Dr. Barack could have been a workhorse senator. But primary candidates don’t do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck.
Dr. Barack could have changed the way presidential campaigning works. John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don’t go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck.
And then on Thursday, Fast Eddie Obama had his finest hour. Barack Obama has worked on political reform more than any other issue. He aspires to be to political reform what Bono is to fighting disease in Africa. He’s spent much of his career talking about how much he believes in public financing. In January 2007, he told Larry King that the public-financing system works. In February 2007, he challenged Republicans to limit their spending and vowed to do so along with them if he were the nominee. In February 2008, he said he would aggressively pursue spending limits. He answered a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire by reminding everyone that he has been a longtime advocate of the public-financing system.
Full David Brook’s article The Two Obama’s
Tags: change, chicago politics, hope, Obama
June 20th, 2008
In the New York Times latest Pro-Obama advocacy piece, high ranking Hoper and Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice decided to finally shed some light on a topic that has caused much discussion on this and many other sites.
Recently, we’ve had a spirited debate about whether or not Barack Obama’s plan to meet madmen without preconditions was a wise idea. It has been one of the more controversial aspects of Obama’s plan to bring the New Hope, with even his Democratic opponents lukewarm at best to the idea.
Well, as it turns out, the whole debate was pointless because Barack Obama… never said that?
Susan E. Rice, a former State Department and National Security Council official who is a foreign policy adviser to the Democratic candidate, said that “for political purposes, Senator Obama’s opponents on the right have distorted and reframed” his views. Mr. McCain and his surrogates have repeatedly stated that Mr. Obama would be willing to meet “unconditionally” with Mr. Ahmadinejad. But Dr. Rice said that this was not the case for Iran or any other so-called “rogue” state. Mr. Obama believes “that engagement at the presidential level, at the appropriate time and with the appropriate preparation, can be used to leverage the change we need,” Dr. Rice said. “But nobody said he would initiate contacts at the presidential level; that requires due preparation and advance work.”
Oh.
Well, that makes me feel a lot better.
And since I’m in a good mood, I won’t call Barack Obama and his campaign a pack of habitual liars. I’ll just post the following without comment.
CHICAGO, Oct. 31 — Senator Barack Obama said he would “engage in aggressive personal diplomacy” with Iran if elected president, and would offer economic inducements and a possible promise not to seek “regime change” if Iran stopped meddling in Iraq and cooperated on terrorism and nuclear issues.
Making clear that he planned to talk to Iran without preconditions, Mr. Obama emphasized further that “changes in behavior” by Iran could possibly be rewarded with membership in the World Trade Organization, other economic benefits and security guarantees.
Mr. Obama’s willingness to conduct talks at the highest level with Iran also differs significantly from the Bush administration.
I will also post this video and transcript without using the “l word”
QUESTION: In 1982, Anwar Sadat traveled to Israel, a trip that resulted in a peace agreement that has lasted ever since.
In the spirit of that type of bold leadership, would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?
COOPER: I should also point out that Stephen is in the crowd tonight.
Senator Obama?
OBAMA: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them — which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration — is ridiculous.
Finally, I will relay this excerpt from Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign Website.
Like I said, I will not accuse Barack Obama and his advisers of deliberately misleading the American public. I know how that irks some of you.
I’ll let the candidate’s own statements speak for themselves.
Tags: Barack Obama, change, foreign policy, politics
May 10th, 2008
Barack Obama’s total lack of experience or legislative accomplishment has forced him to run a very different kind of Presidential campaign, mainly using abstract concepts like hope and change. When he was finally pressed to campaign on something concrete, Senator Obama decided to campaign on his “judgment” which seems to begin and end with a speech he gave in 2002. But that’s not the point. Senator Obama has the Judgment to Lead! He even puts it on spiffy banners!
Now, you would think that if a candidate wants to run on his judgment, the thinks he says, does, lies about and the company he keeps would all be valid topics of discussion.
You’d be wrong, of course.
According to Team Hope, anything pertaining to Obama’s friends, pastor, lifestyle, wife, or even his own actions and comments have nothing to do with Barack Obama’s judgment. No, they are manufactured distractions, that distract from the real issues, which is apparently Barack Obama’s judgment that one time and not all the other times.
It makes no sense to me, and Theo Caldwell agrees.
The bumper-sticker slogan “dissent is patriotic” has for decades been employed to legitimize any insult to America, no matter how hateful or moronic. But Americans understand that their president’s instinct ought to be to defend the nation against unfair invective, not embrace those who purvey it — or, in the case of Ayers, seek to blow it up altogether.
With his demonstrable view of America, and considering his cohorts, Obama would be wise to make himself very comfortable in the Senate.
Barack Obama can continue to dismiss any criticism as a distraction. I certainly hope he does. When January comes around, he can stew over all these distractions with Michelle, Bill and Jeremiah while John McCain takes the Oath of Office.
Tags: Barack Obama, change, experience, hope, John McCain, mccain, president, Senator Obama
April 22nd, 2008
Senator Obama is excellent at avoiding a topic by speaking in general terms when the issue is specific. His response to his statements about small town PA completely ignores the fact that his comments were belittling people’s lifestyle, beliefs, and faith. His statement, “they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations” flies in the face of his rhetoric about unifying the country. At some point he’ll have to explain himself instead of trying to deflect criticism to his opponents.
Tags: anti-immigrant, antipathy, Barack Obama, change, cling to their guns, Obama, religion, religious intollerance, response, sentiment, small town usa, social views, unity
April 11th, 2008
New McCain Web Ad Tolerance.
Tags: acceptance, challenge, change, clean, compatriots, courage, debate, dignity, discussion, politics, respect, tolerance, web ad
April 11th, 2008
Promises from the left of a decent and honorable campaign so far are coming up short. Comments from Obama surrogates stating that Senator McCain is war monger and that his military experience shows that he doesn’t care about people are far from the ‘new politics’ that Senator Obama promises. The left has been crying dirty pool for the last eight years, and now their the ones with a pool cue in their hand. There’s always a challenge when candidates have other people speak for them, but it you compare the two sides Senator McCain is seriously out-classing the Democrats. When supporters were repeatedly using Senator Obama’s middle name, the McCain campaign told them to stop. When a radio host introducing him at an event went on a rant against Senator Obama, Senator McCain condemned it angering some conservatives. When a McCain blogger posted video about the Jeremiah Wright controversy, he was suspended from the campaign.
The Democrats on the other hand have their leader, Howard Dean, making personal attacks calling Senator McCain an opportunist. This is an attack which is both personal and baseless. The liberal blog The Atlantic posted an admittedly unsubstatiated article that was a direct personal attack on the Senator. The Democrats have accepted and embraced political dirty pool. If this trend continues, and if America is truly seeking a more decent and respectful style of politics Senator McCain has shown himself to be the leader bringing this change.
Tags: campaign, change, decency, Democrats, dirty pool, DNC, honor, honorable, Howard Dean, mccain, Obama, republicans, rnc, rockefeller, wright
April 9th, 2008
The Campaign of New Hope is lying yet again.
Barack Obama desperately wants to become President of the United States. But because his record in the Illinois State Senate and the United States Senate is as embarrassingly thin as it is radically liberal, he was smart enough to know that the American public would not vote on him based on record.
So Barack Obama created the myth of a “New Kind of Politics.” For almost a full year, Barack Obama talked as little policy as he could, preferring to yell words and phrases like ‘Hope,’ ‘Change’ and ‘Yes We Can!’ all the while promising to end the old-style politics, including partisan bickering, double talk and dirty tricks.
Since then, Barack Obama has lied about just about everything he can, no matter how big or small.
Perhaps the worst of Obama’s lies, and something we have covered repeatedly on this blog, is his insistence that John McCain wants a one hundred year war in Iraq. McCain supporters have been crying foul for months now, but the fact checkers and mainstream press have finally started calling him out on it.
The Obama Campaign needed to respond, so they did what they do best,
Lie.
David Axelrod went onto “Morning Joe” today to respond to accusations such as “rank falsehood” on Obama’s part.
“Senator Obama hasn’t said that Senator McCain said we would be at war for 100 years.
Really David?
Somewhere along the line the Campaign of New Politics has become a forty year old Simon and Garfunkle concert.
Lie-la-Lie, Lie-la-Lie-Lie…..
UPDATE: According to Red State Obama himself is continuing this line of deception. From his appearance on Today.
MEREDITH VIEIRA: “Senator, both you and Senator Clinton have said Senator McCain favors 100 more years of war in Iraq. On Sunday in The New York Times, Frank Rich wrote, ‘really, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of themselves for libeling John McCain.’ That in fact he never said he wanted a 100 more years of war, he just felt American troops should be a long-term presence, the way they are in Japan and South Korea. So are you willing to admit that you’ve distorted his statements?”
SEN. OBAMA: “No. That’s not accurate, Meredith. We can pull up the quotes on Youtube. What John McCain was saying was, that he was happy to have a potential long-term occupation in Iraq. Happy may be overstating it — he is willing to have a long-term occupation of Iraq, as long as 100 years, in fact he said 10,000 years, however long it took.” (Barack Obama, NBC’s “Today,” 4/8/08)
Can we pull up the quotes on Youtube? YES WE CAN!
I always wanted to say that.
Tags: Barack Obama, change, election, foreign policy, hope, iraq, iraq war, John McCain, liberal, mccain, Obama, politics, president
April 7th, 2008
The problem with the Obama candidacy is that the public doesn’t know much about him. We know he’s an excellent speaker, a charismatic and charming guy; but we don’t know much about him of substance. To his credit his campaign has brilliantly utilized this by featuring change as a theme. The change theme promises something new and different without really having to say what that change is. The question becomes are people going to be satisfied with the promise of change without any real clue to what that change entails.
I have to admit that I’m one of the people that started out simply liking the idea of a President Obama. I love the idea of a non-white and/or non-male president. It promotes the idea that anything is possible and it shows that the country is showing signs of growing up and getting beyond past prejudices. Senator Obama’s message of unity is also very appealing to many of us who are fed up with political divisiveness and bickering. However, there is a lot more to being president than broad concepts. There has been little focus on the who’s, what’s, where’s, why’s, and how’s of change. Understandably some people have been caught up in the grand speeches and broad concepts, but responsible voters need to also consider the policies and experience of a candidate.
The reality is that Senator Obama would have a difficult time being a ‘uniter and not a divider’ because he is so liberal. He’s ranked as the most liberal senator and his positions reflect that. Whether it is health care or taxes, his positions are not ones that engender compromise. In foreign policy, it appears that Democrats have taken to pandering to the far left, and forgotten to listen to the experts. Withdrawal plans put forward have not only been unwise, but functionally impossible. The lack of knowledge and experience in foreign policy matters is problematic. The presidency is not for beginners, and while Senator Obama has tremendous promise, earning ones stripes as president is risky at best, as it leaves citizen hoping we won’t need another change candidate.
Published at Purple People Vote
Tags: Barack Obama, candidate, change, experience, foreign policy, hope, left wing, liberal, primary, speaches, speaker, uniter, unity, voters
March 19th, 2008
One thing that all the campaigns seem to agree on is that there are stark differences between the positions of the Democrat candidates and Senator McCain. As someone who tends to be a middle of the roader, it’s striking how far left the Democrats have gone. Just looking at domestic issues, taxes, health care, spending, and free trade, there is no sign of moderation. Senators Clinton and Obama are championing big government in a big way, and it makes me nervous. They’re not offering modifications or refinements, they’re offering huge government programs, massive regulations, and red tape. Even when packaged with the moniker of change this is still poor governance, and economics.
Tags: big government, change, Clinton, mccain, Obama, red tape, regulations
March 10th, 2008
