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Obama: you can do it tomorrow on Russert
But you have to fight. Not with pig pen Clinton hooves but you need to declare a sense of urgency and light a fire on national TV tomorrow on Russert. WE need this ended. You are using a collegiate style which is respectful but too often now - ineffective and TONE DEAF against a flamethrowing opponent.
I respect your style and your cool factor but Obama this is the time to show us you can hit back hard. You've tried to land some punches, sure. But they have been jabs and parries. Ridicule works well for you. But you need to land a punch. Not below the belt but a bonecruncher. A punch with some THWACK to get heard around the country.
This is the time. Indiana. Bayh. Magnaquench. You have the facts with you. The timing is with you. Get vocal, get urgent and light a bonfire that the media cannot ignore. Crank up the noise machine. Get it working for you again.
She made this an issue of fact in a :30. It's on the table. Carve it up.
Comments (15)
Word!
I feel fairly sure there are some folks on his campaign who read TPM. Take heed, my friends!
May 3, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think he'll touch Bayh and Magnequench because he'll need Bayh's support come the General. He has the facts on his side on the gas tax holiday and really needs to hit on that. Attacking Bayh and essentially calling him a liar isn't going to win you votes now or support from him later. This is likely the same reason why Rendell's Farrakhan ties were never made an issue in Pennsylvania.
May 3, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree that this is a legitimate "above the belt" issue and that Obama should hit her hard on it.
May 3, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jonze,
Obama never needs to mention Bayh. The 50 foot
woman is the target. The silence in the media in
Indiana is the target.
"Tim my opponent talks a good game when it comes to jobs for the middle class, and Tim we all know how easy it is to say things in a political ad. My opponent, Hillary, has put out an ad Indiana that is trying to fool the american people. It's a false message and I need to bring it up because the press is too involved with theatrics - if I don't use this forum - it may be too late - and people will go to the polls and vote without knowing the facts. The exact kind of facts that have fooled us too many times in the past and led us to where we are today- in trouble.
I wish the press cared more about the facts in this election - the most hotly contested race in generations and I believe some facts are in order here. Elections based on theatrics are not what the American people want or deserve.
So what's going on here Tim? The Clinton campaign puts out an ad blaming the Bush Admin of sending a factory overseas and costing an Indiana town lots of good jobs- but then we find out what? The TV ad
is untrue. Hillary is standing in front of an abandoned factory playing the role of defender of these workers when what is the actual fact? Actually it was the Clinton white house in 1995 that pulled the rug out from under those Indiana workers and sent the jobs to China... OK so her theatrics are fantatstic I applaud the imagery of her standing in front of a factory to chanpion jobs. But Tim when it was her administration that was actually the culprit in this specific situation- the loss of these jobs and this technology which is sensitive to out security-
Tim that should be made clear to the american people. Anything less is to concede reality and live in a world of make believe. We can't afford any more of this kind of politics Tim there has to be some accountability. This election needs more contact with the truth. "
May 3, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just saw an Obama clip of a speech he gave today.
"The only person Hiallry has found to endorse her gas tax holiday, turns out to be a lobbyist for Sheel Oil. Ladies and gentleman, this is a shell-game, literally!"
...was the general gist of what he said.
Brilliant!
May 3, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Hillary" and "Shell Oil", sorry, typing too fast.
May 3, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was speaking more to the need to have a bit more fire. Jonze's point about Bayh makes sense...
May 3, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
what questions will Russert tee up for Obama?
May 3, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
...probably something about Wright, and then something about Wright, then maybe something about Wright.
And he'll end it with something about Wright.
Did I mention Wright?
May 3, 2008 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
In return, he should suggest that if the media is going to continue this game of McCarthy guilt by association and innuendo, that he has never worked for a communist like Hillary Clinton did (Robert Treuhaft) didn't maintain a life-long friendship with Treuhaft and his wife author and communist Jessica Mitford -- to the point of writing a condolence note on White House stationery to Treuhaft upon Mitford's passing. If people are concerned about his former pastor's sentiments about Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation Of Islam, (and the unsought endorsement from him) should they not be concerned about the praise Ed Rendell lavished on Farrakhan? Should they be concerned about Hillary's hard work on behalf of Black Panthers on trial in New Haven during her Yale Law School years? After all, 7-year old Obama (living out of the country) didn't even know Weather Undergrounder Bill Ayers. Twentysomething Hillary -- an adult by any standard, and a "smart" one at that -- directed her fellow students help for the Panthers. He met Ayers long after Ayers' radical days were over. Hillary was involved with Treuhaft (the Panthers' Oakland, CA defense attorney) and Mitford were still part of the "intelligentsia" fascinated with radicalism. Hillary chose to work for them, chose to maintain a friendly relationship with them throughout her life. I'd say that deserves some exploration too. Don't you think so, Mr. Tim Russert?
And by the way Tim, since when is "working class" a euphemism for "white." I know plenty of black and brown and red and yellow people who are "working class too." And don't you think these voters will return to the fold once Hillary and her negative divisive campaigning is out of the race? Don't you think that by November 5, I will have reunited this party against John McCain?
Don't you think that when you folks start reporting the issues again, this race will be more focused on the economy and not McCarthyism?
May 3, 2008 6:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think he's already taped the interview, but hopefully his campaign came to these conclusions themselves.
May 3, 2008 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oops. I was fooled by astral66's post offering an advance clip from MTP (it was a joke). My apologies Caleb!
May 3, 2008 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regarding the sham "gas tax holiday," I really hope that Obama will hit this from an environmental point of view. Clinton and McCain are encouraging us to drive more this summer without regard for the effects on the environment. Obama must make it clear that Americans must CONSERVE more gas this summer, not consume more gas. Not to mention that everyone wins since conservation will allow Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money than suspending the federal gas tax will.
May 3, 2008 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
The gas tax issue won't help Obama, even though he's on the right side of the issue. Better educated voters who get it are already with him, but the blue-collar workers, by and large, will only see the dollar signs Hillary advertises of a few more bucks in their pockets.
P.S. Pre-taped MTP or not, if Obama doesn't bring up the Bayh memo, the press surely won't. They only jump on the bandwagon.
May 3, 2008 7:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pssst... MTP has been a live show for 60 years!!
May 3, 2008 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
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