I think Hillary's response was more or less appropriate. The liberal wingding punditocracy has already insulted just about every swing vote Obama needs to get in PA and Ohio, twenty or thirty times over. I'm certainly willing to consider that Hillary's political instincts are better than yours.

Posted at August 31, 2008 10:09 AM in response to HRC on Palin

"Obama's 2004 convention speech was a surprising revelation... he struck a profound chord with his "No red America, no blue America, but one America" theme."

"No red America" means "don't *demonize* ordinary people in red Kansas." There's no reason you can't refuse to demonize people in red Kansas and still draw a philosophical/ political line in the sand, especially if you really believe what you're saying.

Posted at August 28, 2008 7:15 PM in response to The Future of the Democratic Party: "Circumstances May Change, But . . ."

Too bad Sean Wilentz couldn't settle for being the modern Sean Wilentz. "Chants Democratic" was a great book.

Posted at August 28, 2008 5:13 PM in response to Another One Bites the Dust

"Most of these "Older White Americans" are the ones whose Social Security Checks are, what keeps their rent paid, their food on table and pays for their medications. Why do these people keep voting against their own interests. Do they simply see McCain as one of their own?"

Superficially, yes.

I have to say that when I step away from the political junkie beat, I don't see much at all about the policies of either candidate. I do see CNBC *relentlessly* lying about Obama's tax policy. There was the "drill now" blow up. Both of these play into the hands of the Republicans.

Posted at August 26, 2008 7:09 PM in response to Bob Herbert In The Times: It's Race, Stupid

"symbolize valuable experience helping to make progressive change as well as Biden can. Truth be told"

conservatism to progressive ends is the dynamic that seems to work in American social change.

Posted at August 23, 2008 6:54 PM in response to Biden as the Perfect Bridge from Good Past to Better Future

It seems to me that McCain has been trying to run for President for a long time, now. Back before 9/11 the *Republicans* used to attack him for being short fused and unpredictable, a walking post-traumatic stress disordered nightmare just waiting to happen.

Too *dangerous* to be President. They said it.

At the Saddleback event, that's the thing that struck me--how insanely trigger happy the guy comes across, my friends.

Posted at August 20, 2008 9:02 PM in response to Wake Up, Obama Camp

I don't think spinning their wheels in that endless mud puddle is going to win them the election. Voters who really don't want to leave it, who love to wallow around in it, aren't going to leave it no matter what is said in response. They look for the reponse only in order to pick it apart and confirm their own preconceived ideas.

The Obama campaign needs to come out with an all out partisan strategy, based on (other) issues voters are concerned with, and go on offense to win the rest of them over.

I found the identity aspects of the Dem primary a real turn off because at this point in my life, I am just plain sick and tired of hearing about it. I'm certain a lot general election voters will find it a turn off as well. The Obama campaign should attempt to participate in it as little as possible.

Although, I doubt the press will go along--the press loves to wallow in it. The public will hate them, too.

We'll see who they decide to take it out on.

Posted at August 16, 2008 12:52 PM in response to Mark Penn, Mary Matalin and the Return (Did It Ever Leave) of Racism

vicissitudes,

Obama's rhetoric is nothing more than the usual 4 year bid for change, middle of the road Democratic policy proposals, and run of the mill liberal patriotism of the sort that's been kicking around amongst more or less mindless pedants since the 1960s.

He also talks a lot about himself.

Reading the news today, however, it occurred to me that there is one speech I would very much like to hear Obama make. I would like to see him get on the tube and announce to the world that due to the mounting evidence of mortgage and securities fraud at Citigroup, he is dismissing Robert Rubin from his economic advisory committee.

He can then give us the 21st century government re-org plan. The moment is ripe. There's more festering slop every day, and we know grassroots republicans don't want to get stuck holding *that* bag.

That's the sort of thing the next president needs to be able to do, not give us some sophistic re-tread based on their Freshman Composition instructor's rhetorical analysis of "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."

I'm tired of Democrats who sweep everything under the persian rug.

Posted at August 7, 2008 8:20 PM in response to Stuck In A 1980's Moment

"His speech on the night of the Iowa caucuses - when, literally, the whole world was watching - met the moment."

Except that the whole world wasn't.

I also wouldn't underestimate the capacity for sound bites to win or lose presidential elections. Certainly, I think Hillary Clinton's pithy lists and fight songs during the primary season helped her win voters who are running from job to job to pick up kids to voting booth, and who are too busy to sit around listening to lengthy, effectively content free speechifying all the time like your typical political junkies. If anything, I'd say we're in a worse position with regard to this today-- I don't think it's off to say that more people work much harder today than they did in 1980.

Not that inspiration is a bad thing. But the presence or lack of inspirational rhetoric is not really what ails our government. So, I have hard time condemning people who are skeptical about the way Obama presents himself. They're not electing an English professor.

If that's what we're doing, I'd personally prefer to elect a Political Science professor, at least. But, perhaps I'm so simple minded about the world that I'm just missing the brilliance that is contained in most of Obama's speeches.

Posted at August 7, 2008 2:32 PM in response to Stuck In A 1980's Moment

"We also know it would be subtle. We also know that it would work, at least to the extent of moving some voters away from Obama."

I think a big part of the reason it works is that the campaign can't itself or the media (including sympathetic liberal leaning media) out from under it quick enough. Arguably, to an extent, this worked to his advantage during the Democratic primary. It won't work in the general election.

I'm not obsessing over the polls, but during the primary a lot of attention was paid to certain particular swing states--OH, PA, INV, WV-- in part because it allowed liberals to fixate on whether or not "working class" voters in the rust belt would be willing to vote for a black candidate.

I'm still wondering about some possible swing states that Hillary won that no one paid much attention to because they were held on Super Tuesday. States without the same preponderance of relentlessly stereotyped knuckle dragging "working class" voters, states like New Jersey.

While everyone focused on Britney and Paris, McCain was constantly talking up 2 points: how Obama is "going to raise your taxes," and how Obama is going to make decisions that "make the economy less productive." This is the usual Republican line and for some reason, it always works.

I think the Democrats need to steer this whole campaign back to where it was before the whole Hillary-Obama blood feud.

Posted at August 4, 2008 5:24 PM in response to Denver: A "Biography" Convention Would Be a Disaster