While We Weren't Watching
If you want to take a break from news about Obama's articulate and bright and clean V-P choice (hat-tip to John Dickerson), get a load of this. In a trough of the manic-depressive cycle about Obama's summer doldrums, I among others was dismayed last weekend when Obama seemed so downright (if admirably) professorial ("you could argue that....") around Rick Warren. I didn't find out till later in the week that in an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody the same weekend, Obama plainly said that his antagonists charging him with infanticide were lying. He said it directly, looking at Brody straight, yet without raising angry-black-guy alarms. He didn't sound whiny a la Bob Dole "stop lying about my record." He didn't sneer. He sounded righteous without going nasty. It's the right way to confront McCain when the time comes. Go to YouTube and take a look (search "david brody obama"). Here's the transcript.
Todd,
I don't think McCain can win a structured debate with Obama. Watch his town hall meetings, its jingoism, dissembling, disinformation and outright lies. What will he do if the Surge doesn't come up? If he's asked about the economy?
The contrast between Obama and McCain in these debates will be stark.
Obama's using the word "lie" is a big step, but if the shoe fits...
August 23, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
If the surge doesn't come up he will figure out a way to make it an answer. Example:
Senator McCain, you have said that offshore drilling would cause gas prices to go down immediately, however experts say that the drilling would take a decade to have any effect and even then the effect would be small. How do you respond to the experts?
McCain: "Well, "experts like Barack Obama said that the surge wouldn't work but it did. It took our effort in Iraq from one of defeat to one of victory."
But what does that have to do with the question of drilling?
McCain: When I was a POW, I had a cavity in my tooth and I had to undergo drilling without any anesthetic.
You see? His answers are so easy I could cue them to him myself!
NOTICE there is no follow-up question. The press always gives up after his obtuse answers.
August 23, 2008 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
CVilleDEm,
sniffle, snifff, sob.....dat story makes me cry.
:-)
August 24, 2008 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am hoping against all hope that Obama has made a tactical decision to hold back from the kind of reaction that we have just seen from him until the time that he can unleash it on McCain and his pit bulls. Maybe he just chose this situation to show us some of what he is really capable of.
August 23, 2008 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
It is a direct response. And one that Obama better get used to making.
It is posted on You Tube under the headline "Obama continues to misrepresent born alive vote", and has been seized by opponents of Obama and the anti-choice lobby.
Click on the Statistics & Data link about the clip and you will see where it has been posted.
August 23, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, by the way.
I don't think we poli-geeks do want to take a break from Biden as Obama's veep choice.
I'm looking forward to reading your view on a forthcoming blog.
August 23, 2008 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Voters need to be made aware of the depth of the disinformation campaign being waged against Obama.
Obama needs to make this an issue and connect it to the way McCain might conduct his presidency. He also needs to make the association to Bush and how he has repeatedly deceived the nation and thus place the entire republican political machine on the defensive on issues of honesty and ethical conduct. Bush is infamous for displaying a public empathy on issues while behind the scenes acting quite differently. McCain is the same. He has sponsored or voted for all manner of feel good legislation but the outcomes don't measure up. And on issues that are very clear cut he has most often voted with the WH even though that vote had a negative impact on a majority of citizens.
August 25, 2008 6:11 AM | Reply | Permalink