Wish I had a coming-after-you-muthafucka stare.

Interesting, I can't really argue against anything you said here. I agree Obama needs to be ready to play mean. He did it a little bit in a back-and-forth with a reporter (local Fox affiliate, IIRC) who tried to say he was being mean to Uncle McCain. And he does have to fit it to his personality, as AnneLiz says above. Have you seen the Hardball clip when he made fun of cable news? I thought that was pretty effective, using his good nature to stick the knife in. Kind of like his "We applaud John McCain's half century of service to his country..."

The only part I would disagree with is that her negative campaigning hasn't hurt the party. Her NAFTA demagoguery could have long term damage in three vital swing states: MI, PA and OH. Maybe WI and IA, too.

Interesting point, too, about manipulating the press. They hate her, they love Obama, and McCain even moreso; she knows it, they know it, and she used it. It'd never work in the general.

First of all, Clinton is out-hustling him. She does more campaign events, more one-on-one meet and greets, and in general looks like she works harder than he does.

Now, Obama's personality is not well-suited to this kind of behavior, and he's exhibited a calm, even, cool demeanor throughout this process. But at some point, I'd love to see him get his blood up. Not in a "SHAME ON YOU, BARACK OBAMA!!" kind of a way, but perhaps he could show a little, teensy bit of anger at McCain's idea of continued war in Iraq.

The criticism of Obama's early message was that it was all about "feelings" and "inspiration" without the meat-and-potatoes of any policy. I believe it has been both from the beginning. Why does he need to show his outrage? Anger? Isn't the gist of Obama's message a positive one that is tempered with the reality that hard work lies ahead and that WE all have to stick an oar in the water and row in the same direction?

I have no doubt that Obama has private moments where he shows his anger, but I can see no purpose for him to do so publicly. Steadfast, resolute and an Iron Will without all the phony outrage and stubborness that seems to be prevalent in modern politics are what would be some key ingredients to make a fine President in my estimation.

It's not in Obama's interests to get angry. Anger shows a lack of control and we all know what the MSM or Hillary's supporters and the Republicans would make of an angry Obama. He'd end up being the "angry black guy". There will be innuendos about what an angry black man would do in the WH and what kind of damage he'd do to our national security interests and what not. It's not good for his image. Contrast his coolness with Bill getting red in the face. As for challenging Hillary, he does that in his mailers and she gets up and yells "Shame on you!" I like that he's not into tearing into his opponent. It shows that he's still decent and it makes it harder for others to tear into him.

Cut him some slack. Obama's got a tricky road to navigate here. If he rolls up his sleeves and gets sweaty and fighty, the MSM will decree that he's worried about her. And he's also got to avoid doing anything that the ever-touchy boomer women will, yet again, interpret as sexist oppression, as that only generates donations and further demands that she stay in. Meanwhile, he's off inspiring speeches until after Pennsylvania because they seem to scare and infuriate the older working class white people there out of their wits.

More importantly, his coolness and unflappibility are his most important asset when Hillary hands the CiC test football off to McCain in June (thanks, Hillary!). Obama has to preserve that image, and avoid generating any footage that could be portrayed as him losing his cool. It's how he beats Johnny Maverick in the "who do you want answering the phone?" contest, given that the latter's Sonny Coroleone temper is his biggest weakness.

If all this means that the implants in us Obamatons' skulls cool off and we begin to engage in independent thought for a few weeks, that doesn't worry him.

Is this the right thing to do? Dunno. Is there a reason he's doing it? Obviously, I think so.

It is not immediately clear to me why the guy who:
a) is kicking ass from coast-to-coast and making over a million dollars a day,

b) is winning against a whole field of candidates with higher name recognition,

c) can count, among his greatest strengths, a sense of calm and the ability to turn an attack on its head without ever raising his voice...

needs to change tactics and show anyone how angry he can be. His campaign isn't about being mad at Republican politicians for screwing things up. It's about believing in ourselves and our ability to pull together and elect leaders who will respond to our desire to make things right.

You don't declare war on a war hero. You don't make "experience" your selling point when you're going to go down the road and potentially (now, certainly) face a candidate who is older and has been in Washington longer. You certainly don't make "experience" your selling point when you have to fluff and embellish every other thing you say and hope nobody digs deeper. You don't beat a candidate whose name and face is known internationally by failing to prepare for the long-haul. You don't win by assuming that the race will be over by Super Tuesday and failing to make a Plan B.

Obama is winning because he has good judgment. Question him when you disagree with him, but don't second guess him when he is succeeding.

Two words - Kid Gloves

Aggressive engagement of Hillary will only result in defensive aikido by her campaign. They will paint him as the 3 am burglar. Best thing is to marginalize her when possible and allow Wolfson to do the rest.

Caveat: I'm still waiting for the dirty Hillary hat trick due the Friday or late Thursday before the Pennsylvania primary.

*sips Kool-Aid*...Now let me see if I can help finetune that Obamaton signaling...

What impresses me most about Obama is that he conveys such depths of passion in calm, clear, lucid words. It seems he is someone who wrestles with contrasting thoughts and reasons with differing perspectives in the recesses of his mind before he arrives at a position he holds firm. He doesn't just shoot from the hip, he isn't out to berate or quarrel, he isn't fighting for his rightful place at the WH, he is seeking a way for the country to move forward, together, Blue and Red.

Also, remember what Dr Dean's scream (which I thought was terrifically carthartic) did to his bid...

"I'm simply waiting patiently for Obama to
kick it into the next gear."

I think you are missing an important point. It is generally not a good idea to unsheath your weapons until needed. You don't want your opponent (repubs) time to prepare. Obama's response is generally to deflate Hillary's stuff with truth, as opposed to flailing untruthful attacks. I think Obama is doing what he needs to do. NOtice the 20+ lead in NC, Hillary disappearing lead in IN and PA.

The one thing that concerns me is the lie the Hillary will unleash, the weekend before the primary. Will pennsylvanians fall for it?

Seems to me that Obama has earned some benefit of the doubt here. The strategies he's used so far have enabled a mostly unknown freshman senator to come out of nowhere, raise a million+ dollars a day, and hit the threshold of beating one of the most famous, and most popular, Democrats in the country, with all the name recognition, early support, and establishment backing.

I don't think those of us on the sidelines have much of a case to make about his strategy, demeanor, or much of anything else. He seems to be doing just fine by himself.

The Clintons have cut down on her dirty tricks recently and Obama has not had to respond. (They're milking the ones they have for the supers.) Perhaps you're experiencing a let down from this lull in hostilities, especially if you enjoy a knockdown dragout kind of fight.

I think Barack is concentrating on winning or making a decent showing in the remaining primaries and organizing for the general. I suspect things will stay quiet until the dem nominee is finally decided unless The Clintons pull another Wright job. They're doing a pretty good job of shooting themselves in the foot at the moment, so why would Obama want to interfere with that?

Look, Barack is trying to take on the triangle attack right now. It's hard to play offense when the attacks are coming from your own party. But that dynamic will change as soon as Hillary concedes. . .

I think Barack has to save his A game for the general. Don't let the Republicans prepare. I think we've seen hints of the Obama Snark and the Obama Awesome, but I don't think we've fully seen those talents unleashed. When he's taking on the Republicans, Barack will have an especially badly positioned victim for him to unleash his malice upon.

The best thing about Barack is that he is the best positioned candidate to take what would have been a tepid Kerryesque critique and turn it into a roaring Reaganesque tsunami of total bitch-slapping. I think Barack is at the confluence of right-place, right-time, right-person, and he has the ability to unleash a tidal wave the likes of which we have not seen since 1980. As soon as he starts attacking the Bush administration for every last frickin piece-o-crap thing they've done this past 8 years. . . bye bye Johnny.

Here's what I think: You should be able to vote for a candidate without having to do it on autopilot. I can respect and like Barack Obama, believe that he has the intelligence and wits about him to be president. If I trust in that, rather than doing a whole load of Navel Gazing about which candidate is more skilled at taking poo and flinging it at the other side, then we most certainly have an electable candidate.

In a nation so evenly divided down the middle, the best candidate is the one whose appeal has the broadest spread. We're frightened, it seems, of the Republican Noise Machine. We shouldn't be.

First, that's part of the point of its existence: these people are intended to be the jerks who pull back your shirt collar and dump ice down it. Second, for candidates that have real positives, deftly dealing with such slanders can be an opportunity to gain the sympathy vote, and appear above the other sides scuzziness. Third, if somebody actually stands up to these people, makes this a fight instead of a rout, then we can push this over the edge. Any way you go, the last thing we should be doing is thinking of ways to equal their insanity.

Turtle and the hare, my man, turtle and the hare.

Perhaps my subtle meter is set w/ the trigger too low. But isn't this post a back-door way of raising the old tried & true 'lazy black man' specter?

How could anyone in their right mind w/ even a half a clue as to what it took to orchestrate & maintain this historically groundbreaking grass-roots campaign say that he's not working hard enough?!?

That's Clinton's mirror, i.e. not or barely competing in caucuses - along with the myriad other asleep @ the wheel moves that qualify as resting on her laurels.

Puhleeze.

You're clearly jealous of Destor23's courageous admissions coming first & trying to ride the train.

Maybe we oughta be gracious enough to admit that enough evidence has already been provided to make the case that our young buck is pretty damn good at making his own determinations

Well, my Young Buck is in G-Unit.

But ok.

.. you don't gotta like me but ... you gotta play what the people want.

"I know you want me shorty,
I know, I know, I know you want me shorty..."

and yes, yes I do.

God I've give anything to be a lot younger. LOL!

You know, I can't tell if you're for real - are you really looking for a political exegesis of Young Buck's lyrics? No matter, all I can say is, last show of his that I caught, it really seemed to me, all musical considerations aside, that politically, there's a real naïveté apparent in his lyrics, e.g. ...

Gonna sing it boy!!! You're the beautifullest thing man!!! Don't let 'em stop you now

Oh, to be a whole lot younger, indeed.

I gotta hand this one over to my boy Stanley Fish and see what he can make of it. Peace.

It just hit me - do you not think I'm really a fan? I love the guy.

I absolutely adore Young Buck.

I'm a Fiddy fan, too. If you want to talk hip hop - let's talk. I get starved for it because it's all I listen to and nobody else I know does.

:)

Me too.

You think I'd know anything about "G-Unit" and "Young Buck" if it wasn't for Wikipedia?

It's all good.