Barack is in trouble. So says Mind Ray Magician Karl Rove.
If Mr. Obama keeps attacking Mrs. Palin, he could suffer the fate of his Democratic predecessors. These assaults highlight his own tissue-thin résumé, waste precious time better spent reassuring voters he is up for the job, and diminish him -- not her.
Consider Mr. Obama's response to CNN's Anderson Cooper, who asked him about Republican claims that Mrs. Palin beats him on executive experience. Mr. Obama responded by comparing Wasilla's 50 city workers with his campaign's 2,500 employees and dismissed its budget of about $12 million a year by saying "we have a budget of about three times that just for the month." He claimed his campaign "made clear" his "ability to manage large systems and to execute."
Good argument Barry. But it only works if you are up in the polls. Once you start free falling it works against you.
A debate between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Palin over executive experience also isn't smart politics for Democrats. As Mr. Obama talks down Mrs. Palin's record, voters may start comparing backgrounds. He won't come off well.
Then there was Mr. Obama's blast Saturday about Mrs. Palin's record on earmarks. He went at her personally, saying, "you been taking all these earmarks when it is convenient and then suddenly you are the champion anti-earmark person."
It's true. Mrs. Palin did seek earmarks as Wasilla's mayor. But as governor, she ratcheted down the state's requests for federal dollars, telling the legislature last year Alaska "cannot and must not rely so heavily on federal government earmarks." Her budget chief directed state agencies to reduce earmark requests to only "the most compelling needs" with "a strong national purpose," explaining to reporters "we really want to skinny it down."
Mr. Obama has again started a debate he can't win. As senator, he has requested nearly $936 million in earmarks, ratcheting up his requests each year he's been in the Senate. If voters dislike earmarks -- and they do -- they may conclude Mrs. Palin cut them, while Mr. Obama grabs for more each year.
Yeah Barry. That is not going to look so good.
Well Karl is on a roll so far. And then he makes a huge mistake in analysis.
In Denver two weeks ago, Mr. Obama said, "If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from." That's what he's trying to do, only the object of his painting is Sarah Palin, not John McCain.
Actually, Barry is painting himself as low class. A gutter snipe. Normally it is the VPs roll to be the attack dog in the campaign. It allows the top dog to be above the fray and look "Presidential". So why has Barry reversed the rolls? First Biden is not up to the task and second Barry ∅ is only qualified for the VP slot. Under Hillary. That would have been a tough ticket to beat. However, given his performance so far I think it is safe to say that strong women scare him. I think that gives a big insight into his personal weakness.
In my post Midway For Obama I quoted Spengler of Asia Times on why Palin was an inspired choice. I think it is worth repeating:
McCain's selection was a statement of strength. America's voters will forgive many things in a politician, including sexual misconduct, but they will not forgive weakness.
That is why McCain will win in November, and by a landslide, barring some unforeseen event. Obama is the most talented and persuasive politician of his generation, the intellectual superior of all his competitors, but a fatally insecure personality. American voters are not intellectual, but they are shrewd, like animals. They can smell insecurity, and the convention stank of it.
The longer the campaign goes on the more evidence we find of Obama's insecurity when dealing with strong women. Obama's shtick works with people who see themselves as victims. It was little noticed but I did a review of McCain's acceptance speech which I called The Sermon. I didn't mention it then but I will say it now. That speech was the opening shot in the war on "The Victim Culture". Why did John McCain survive as a prisoner of war? Because with the help of other prisoners he refused to be a victim. Even when he failed he did not fall into self pity.
And who is going to be the first major casualty of that war? Barry ∅. The champion of the victim. He is going to be a victim of his identification with the victims of the world. Every day he looks more and more like a master of self pity. A master of weakness. America is not interested in pity parties. It is not very attractive. At least not attractive enough to win Presidential Elections.
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Comments
Linguistics observation: Obama's black-dialect "you been" is apparently not as offensive to progressives as George Bush's Texas accent. I understand why that is culturally, but it does undermine their language-purity argument when they complain about Bush saying "nukuler" - a pronunciation that PhD's working at Oak Ridge also use if they are from the South.
That African-American verb construction of "to be" does not derive from slave stupidity, by the way. It was a common construction of the immigrant Irish, Welsh, and rural Englanders that slaves would have had more contact with. London usage became the English standard, but it is not purer or better in any logically-defensible sense.
What speech-patterns people choose when they have more than one available, as we all have in America now, is a different matter.
Why does Sara Palin matter so much? Because she is likely to become president, if elected.
McCain is old, has had cancer, suffered hell and physical deterioration in Hanoi, and could die in office.
So those of us who would vote for them deserve a thorough investigation of her background and beliefs.
So far, as much as I admire the woman, I find her lacking.
Let's take her simplistic acceptance of fundamentalist Christian belief as a starting point:
Just how does this differ in basic principle from Muslim fundamentalism?
She's already on record saying that the Iraq war is in effect "God's War".
Her main reference point is always biblical.
Fine.
But at least Obama had the depth to question.
She does not.
Obama arrived at his mistaken beliefs through self-doubt, and self-analysis.
Palin is so self assured and cocky because she never questions anything. God has the answer. Abortion is always wrong, so have a Down's Syndrome child at 44.
Georgia is a "democracy" so go to war with Russia over it.
Black and white, no grays, no questions.
As much as I would hate a socialist president like Obama, I fear the possibility of a woman like Sara Palin with her finger on the button.
I'm really not quite ready for The Rapture.
Frank · September 12, 2008 01:23 AM
That's been repeatedly debunked, Moby. The "God's War" bit was a reference to a quote from Abe Lincoln to the effect that he would not presume to claim that God was on the side of the Union, but he did pray that the Union was on God's side.
What happens is that when you lie and get hysterical your candidates get branded as hysterical liars.
Thank you. As of right now it is MP 272. ∅B at 266. Do you think you could move MP to 300 by tomorrow? If you do a really good job you can get that up to 350 for MP by the end of next week. We appreciate your efforts.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
Linguistics observation: Obama's black-dialect "you been" is apparently not as offensive to progressives as George Bush's Texas accent. I understand why that is culturally, but it does undermine their language-purity argument when they complain about Bush saying "nukuler" - a pronunciation that PhD's working at Oak Ridge also use if they are from the South.
That African-American verb construction of "to be" does not derive from slave stupidity, by the way. It was a common construction of the immigrant Irish, Welsh, and rural Englanders that slaves would have had more contact with. London usage became the English standard, but it is not purer or better in any logically-defensible sense.
What speech-patterns people choose when they have more than one available, as we all have in America now, is a different matter.