Obama: Hope is in the Air…
USAToday has a good article up about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. He is “is playing catch-up” with his better known rivals, such as - most prominently of course - Senator Hillary Clinton. First he made sure that he would - by many - be considered to be “the uniter”, and as an outside and that people would believe in his ability win the Democratic nomination / to pose a real threat to Hillary Clinton. The motto of the first phase of his campaign could very well have been: feel good. Thankfully that phase has passed, and he is now into making clear where he stands on the issues:
In the political hothouses of town meetings and union gatherings, the Democratic presidential candidate has shared his soothing style and intriguing background. He’s talked about bringing people together, banishing cynicism, serving as “a vehicle for your hopes and your dreams,” as he put it this month in Portsmouth, N.H.
Now his campaign is 10 weeks old. Enough with the niceties, the generalities, the story of his life. On Friday, the Illinois senator unveiled a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Today, he gives a speech on foreign policy. Next up, education and health care.
That being said, he is still careful not to go too far / want and say too much:
At the health care meeting in Portsmouth, Obama asked whether people really meant it when they said they preferred a single-payer system to coverage at their job. “This is how you get into trouble when you’re president,” he said. “You start saying ‘we’re going full speed ahead,’ you look behind, and nobody’s behind you.”
In his Chicago speech today, expect proposals to enlarge the military, rebuild alliances, curb nuclear weapons and use increased foreign aid to strengthen government and civil society in terrorist-ridden countries. Obama will not dwell on Iraq, says spokesman Robert Gibbs.
Mario Cuomo, the former Governor of New York, complained about all the candidates recently. He said that all candidates, whether they are Democrats or Republicans, are ducking the most important issues.
And he is right.
That being said, and this is important to remember: the campaigns are just underway. The candidates have enough time left to come up with true, good, comprehensive proposals / plans.
Obama is full of sound bites and has zero experience. His speech on greenhouse gas is the same speech given by every presidential contender since Carter.
Blah, blah, blah. Nothing new. Same old tired Rhetoric. Conservation, new alternative fuels and then when elected, realize how hopelessly addicted this country is to Oil.
Military. Same song and dance. Strong, powerful, best in the world. Able to meet new challenges….Blah…blah…blah.
Same thing every presidential contender since George Washington has proclaimed to the rousing chorus of supporters who would vote for him no matter what.
His website is full of 3 sentence positions on everything. Thats because he is playing the finger to the wind political game. Smile and rake in the cash while offering NOTHING to be held accountable for.
Where we differ on, I think, is that you seem to think that Obama will keep that up. I don’t think that’s true. I think that he is trying to establish himself first, as a popular person, a real contender, and then he will come with more specific policies. To be quite frank: real ‘plans’ will be political suicide right now. One has to wait a little while… Don’t show your enemy your hand before the game has ended.
I am an unabashed Obama supporter. Not because of the media but because I have studied him and have read everything I can about him as well as his two books.
Before Obama I leaned more towards the Republican party, not because I don’t care about people, the environment, or race but because I felt that more bad government is worse than less bad government.
Barack Obama is easily as intelligent as any candidate we have had in the last 40 years. He is smart enough to know that getting anything done in Washington requires strong support. Major changes require an even stronger mandate. You don’t build consensus and a mandate unless people first believe in you as a person. You don’t start out talking about specific policies or you end up painting yourself in a corner.
There is a reason that Bill Clinton (with Hillary at the point) could not enact any substantive changes in the U.S. Healthcare system. Barack Obama reads history and has a much firmer grasp on the issues that most people would believe possible. This will become apparent as the campaign develops.
“Barack” (pronounced “baratsk”) is the Hungarian word for “peach”, so his name sounds a little silly here….
David, it’s a good thing then that his name comes from the swahili “blessed”, though that probably didn’t help him much in grade school. I too am an Obama supporter, though I recognize that my support is based entirely on subjective feelings, not a great deal of research. Obama strikes me as an intelligent man who would rather get something more modest done than make a point with an impossible grand plan. He looks like he’d rather work with than roll over people. Hillary strikes me as being another in a long line of whimp democrats, that will change their minds at the drop of a poll. She seems to have very little in the way of firm convictions and I’m certain that a presidency of hers would not be a “unifing experience” for the country, something I think it desperately needs.
You know what, I get tired of people saying “she seems to have very little in the way of firm convictions” about Hillary Clinton. The facts prove different. She stands quite firm (for a Democrat) on Iraq, she, as First Lady, tried to push through a health care plan that has put mark on her: which Bill and Hillary did on purpose. They very well knew that this could go either way:
- heroes
- losers
But they took the gigantic risk because they believed in it.
David, shall we refer to him, from now on, as Barack “Peach” Obama than?
Well if he wins. Enjoy another dance with disaster. Every inexperienced president we have ever had had caused this country pain and hardship that is beyond comprehension. Lincoln, Bush, Carter, US Grant.
Go for it. Convince yourself that because someone is educated that makes him a leader of a nation.
I can only shake my head and wonder whats in the water.
And as we see: Barack “Peach” Obama won
. Well, i like Barack pálinka very-very much. (A very good hungarian drink!!!)