Quote:
Originally Posted by sandgk
I really look forward to your dispassionate outlook on this Steve. As it stands now Obama's message, image and campaign seem very well defined, change, bring the troops home ASAP from Iraq, right the moral, economic and constitutional errors of the last 8 years. If you are seeing it differently, I'd love to know why.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BayBuck
As it stands now Obama's message, image and campaign seem very well defined, change, hope, change, hope, third term, change... hope..
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Yeah, that's kind of the rub... the message might be there, but its short on a lot of "hows."
Sandgk, I think your post is right on the money... in a lot of ways, Barack is, no doubt, a smooth operator.
And as much as McCain is stumbling around trying to be everything to everyone... and... as much as that sounds disjointed.... He knows, as Steve has illustrated that Obama's road to the White House is fraught with landmines...
As Steve mentions... and as crazy as it sounded coming from Senator Clinton knowing her chances were over... she was right. Obama is going to have a problem with middle class whites.
And...
The response from the rest of the Democrats
cannot be (as it was in WV, and KY, and all those places), "Look at the dumb racist rednecks voting for the white woman."
Seems ironic of course, and Obama himself will not be perpetuating that image... but... there is danger in some liberal circles of playing the "look how smart our candidate is" game. And, they will do it.
Also, yes, the "Carter" comparison has been described as laughable--this really should not be taken lightly... but... I was actually thinking the same thing before McCain said it. Not as a direct rebuttal to a 3rd term, but Steve is right on, Carter was a bright, well educated guy... and... an ineffectual leader.
Finally... McCain's "disparate" message may not be entirely accidental. I think there might be some thinking that they need to make Obama cover a lot of bases, and as such there might be chinks in the armor. In the coming months, the "How" question will be presented to Obama in response to "Change and hope and out of Iraq and talking with Iran." In the end, he's going to answer the questions... Clinton saw to that, actually she made it close and long enough to ahve Obama spend a good deal of that capital. The argument that McCain should be well ahead at this point is actually quite wishful thinking on the part of the Obama camp, IMO. If the electorate was truly looking for change-- or in fact the "third term" is going to be the big issue-- the default setting should be that the Republican candidate is starting in a hole, and the onus should be on McCain to set himself apart from the Bushies.
Bottom line is, things are bad, and I haven't seen a real, tangible plan to make things better from either one of them.