Barack Obama is already letting us down. No sooner than I could get it out into words, he’s already settling into the disturbing patterns that ruined the McGovern campaign. Bad decisions – or worse, indecisiveness – followed by poor message control, are making it easy for Obama’s adversaries to say, “Look! Here he is! Exposed as just another politician who only wants to win!”
All Senator Lindsey Graham had to do on the first Russert-less Meet the Press last Sunday was sit there grinning smugly and spew about Obama being a “split-personality politician.”
This is just really sad for the country, for somebody with this much ability, this much talent, to fall this far this soon…
This is reinforcing everything that’s wrong about politics … he’s a calculating politician. The bottom line about Barack Obama, whether it be Iraq, campaign finance reform, public financing: he’s going to take a tack that allows him to win. He wants to win beyond anything else, even more than keeping his word.
Joe Biden, sitting next to him, was made to look like a complete fool defending Obama’s decision to opt out of the public financing system. “He said he would be a game-changer. He has been a game-changer.” Biden wasn’t the only one out on the TV circuit massaging the message. Dems were all over the tube arguing that technically, Obama is staying true to the idea of campaign finance reform – while the GOP were out there repeating the words flip and flop at high volume.
This is more of the typical bullshit that we have come to expect, and we can thank Obama for bringing it back. Perhaps the most disingenuous item in this charade was Barack’s own video message to the supporters, in which he claimed that by opting out of public funding, he was “forgoing over 85 million dollars in public funding…” Does he really think that will fly? Everyone knows the reason he did this is so that he won’t have to forgo the (possible, anticipated, estimated) half a billion dollars that he expects to raise over the next four months. Why don’t you just come out and SAY it, man?
It’s true that I once promised to use the public financing system for my campaign. In fact I even signed an oath to that effect. But now, even though I know it means going back on my promise, I have to break that oath. Because I have found such a strong well of enthusiasm from you, my supporters, that I’ve decided to tap that strength as much as possible. People will say I’m just another politician who will do anything to win – well, let me tell you something. You’re goddam right I want to win. And so do you. So keep those checks coming – because I’m going to spend every red cent to defeat the crooks who are running this country, and I’m not going to answer to anyone but you.
THAT’S what he should be saying.
Instead, he’s off designing new presidential seals. Can anyone tell me what that was all about? Did no influential members of staff recognize the implicit arrogance of re-drawing the US Presidential Seal in the image of Obama’s campaign logo?
Or how about telling two Muslim girls wearing head scarves that they couldn’t stand behind the hopeful President Barry during one of his speeches because of the candidate’s desperate need for a “tightly wrapped message”? Obama is so scared of losing redneck votes because of the misplaced idea that he’s Muslim that he’s overlooked the essential point that there’s nothing inherently wrong with being Muslim!
And where has Barry Hussein Obama gone on the war? Nary a word has been spoke on his part since locking up the nomination about the growing movement for war with Iran. When will he speak out? Rather than pushing the anti-war case to the forefront, he went to AIPAC and paid homage to the warrior mentality, keeping alive the possibility of a nuclear showdown with Iran.
All of this points to disaster in the fall if Obama doesn’t get back on the Freak message. If he keeps it up, he’ll be just another corporate lacky – and an inferior corporate lacky to McCain – which means he could actually lose.