Obama for Prez - 2008

[Blitz]

Just watched his speech in Springfield, Illinois and he said nothing that was scripted.
He never looked at notes.
He spoke from the heart and offered to get people off their asses and let them work to repair broken aspects of this nation.
I thought it sounded wonderful. And I've been on the McCain bandwagon for some time now.
Obama sounds legit. He even said he'd have all the troops home by March of 2008.
By making the Sunnis and Shiites come to the table to find a peace. By making sure the Iraqis know we WON'T be there forever.

 

[Pringle]

By making the Sunnis and Shiites come to the table to find a peace. By making sure the Iraqis know we WON'T be there forever.

I used to be against this idea - a time table - because I felt it meant we'd be giving insurgents a target date to know when to lay low until. But I've changed my mind on it - without deadlines, the Iraqi government will never get its act together.

Anyway ... I'm on the Obama bandwagon now. He clearly has a vision of what a better United States looks like. I'm interested in even more now in specifically how he wants to get us there.

He is going to really, really stir up the middle class.

 

[pallister]

Specifics would be nice. But this is big-time politics. "Visions" are what matter. I don't think we'll ever get past the rhetoric and find out what this guy really believes/stands for. Of course, thats our fault. Rhetoric is enough for most. Symbolism over substance sways many in the electorate.

 

[Pringle]

Specifics would be nice. But this is big-time politics. "Visions" are what matter. I don't think we'll ever get past the rhetoric and find out what this guy really believes/stands for. Of course, thats our fault. Rhetoric is enough for most. Symbolism over substance sways many in the electorate.

Actually, he does get into some specifics in his book "The Audacity of Hope." I have it. I'll try to cull some things out of there some time this weekend and get them on here.

Also, if you go to http://www.barackobama.com and click on "Issues," he gets a lot more specific on policy than most of these Web sites you'll find, which boil things down to talking points: "I believe in the right to life!" or "I believe in supporting the United States military and not hurting the morale of the troops!"

 

[Ellis Redding]

Specifics would be nice. But this is big-time politics. "Visions" are what matter. I don't think we'll ever get past the rhetoric and find out what this guy really believes/stands for. Of course, thats our fault. Rhetoric is enough for most. Symbolism over substance sways many in the electorate.

Actually, he does get into some specifics in his book "The Audacity of Hope." I have it. I'll try to cull some things out of there some time this weekend and get them on here.

Also, if you go to http://www.barackobama.com and click on "Issues," he gets a lot more specific on policy than most of these Web sites you'll find, which boil things down to talking points: "I believe in the right to life!" or "I believe in supporting the United States military and not hurting the morale of the troops!"

Also, I'm pro-puppies and babies, and anti-cancer! Yeah!

 

[Oz]

Specifics would be nice. But this is big-time politics. "Visions" are what matter. I don't think we'll ever get past the rhetoric and find out what this guy really believes/stands for. Of course, thats our fault. Rhetoric is enough for most. Symbolism over substance sways many in the electorate.

That would explain Bush. I'm not concerned about a lack of specifics on the first day, though. The big news today was the announcement that he would run. He's got nearly two years to boil issues down to the fine print.

 

[pallister]

I'm just annoyed by the popularity contest, image-is-everything aspect of presidential politics. It worked for Reagan, Clinton and the current Bush and makes me think we'll never get anything truly substantive from a presidential candidate again.

 

[Oz]

Like I said, it's February 2007, not November 2008. He's got nearly two years to lay out specific plans on every issue. Today the main thing was to announce that he would run and he did that.

 

[zeke12]

I'm just annoyed by the popularity contest, image-is-everything aspect of presidential politics. It worked for Reagan, Clinton and the current Bush and makes me think we'll never get anything truly substantive from a presidential candidate again.

Clinton offered reams of policy proposals in 1992.

I'm not saying that is what won for him, and God knows, hardly any of it made its way into law, but he offered more in the way of specific policy changes than any other candidate in my lifetime.

 

[pallister]

Unfortunately, the media seem more concerned with covering the image aspect than the susbstance aspect (Clinton playing the sax on Arsenio got 100 times more coverage than his policy proposals). If you're photogenic and can give a good speech (there go my dreams of being president), or if you're an everyman (whatever the hell that is) you're automatically the next big thing in politics. Doesn't always mean you'll last the long haul (money ultimately becomes the biggest factor). But you can get a lot of mileage without much gas, so to speak, in the run-up to presidential elections these days.

 

[Pringle]

A caller on C-Span a little while ago called and asked - straight-faced - whether an Obama-Keyes ticket may be possible. At first I thought she was joking, but it became clear that she was serious. The two hosts of the call-in show did a nice job navigating the mine field with a straight face.

 

[spnited]

I realize you weren't around, Pallister, but do you think Jack Kennedy got elected on issues or image?

It's been a popularity contest for as long as I can remember, and that's a pretty long time.











The ball has been set on the tee...over/under on lame old age joke is 3 posts

 

[Ellis Redding]

Yes, ma'am. Obama will run for President, against the guy he beat for his Senate seat. :

 

[Ellis Redding]

I realize you weren't around, Pallister, but do you think Jack Kennedy got elected on issues or image?

It's been a popularity contest for as long as I can remember, and that's a pretty long time.

P'shaw. Rutherford B. Hayes campaigned on the issues, dammit!

 

[wickedwritah]

I used to be against this idea - a time table - because I felt it meant we'd be giving insurgents a target date to know when to lay low until. But I've changed my mind on it - without deadlines, the Iraqi government will never get its act together.

Thomas Friedman wrote a column on this very recently. It ran in the local paper today, not sure when it originally ran at the mothership. He says we should commit ourselves to $3.50 per gallon gas and a Dec. 1 timetable to pull out.

The Middle East, Arabs and Persians in Iran, want to have their cake and eat it, too. At this point, I say, let 'em kill each other. I'm fed up with them taking cover behind The Great Satan.

And spnited's right. Kennedy got elected on image, or more succinctly he got elected because he looked better on TV. Just like the post-war generation wanted a fresh face in 1960, Gen X finally is getting its act together and wants something else in 2008. History repeats itself.

 

[spnited]

And Redd checks in with the under!

 

[zeke12]

I realize you weren't around, Pallister, but do you think Jack Kennedy got elected on issues or image?

It's been a popularity contest for as long as I can remember, and that's a pretty long time.











The ball has been set on the tee...over/under on lame old age joke is 3 posts

Sulieman the Magnificent was all substance.

 

[pallister]

Not denying the appeal factor of Kennedy or anyone who came before him. But with the media being much more pervasive/persuasive now (TV, primarily), image and symbolism have taken over.

Now you lefties can have this thread back for your own amusement.

 

[wickedwritah]

Lefties, eh?

I consider myself a right-leaning Democrat, and Obama could well get my vote. Of course, as Oz said, 20 months remain.

 

[zeke12]

Now you lefties can have this thread back for your own amusement.

I'm on the record as chronically unable to jerk off lefthanded, so I'm not sure what you are referring to.