Obama's Problems. And McCain's
Let's see. We've been hearing the same chatter for weeks now: How is Obama gonna get the
white working class votes? How's he gonna get those Reagan Democrats? The Security Moms? The NASCAR Dads? And every other constituency for which we have a nifty euphemism for racists? I dunno.
Biger, better question. From where exactly is John McCain gonna pull the size and scope of the enthusiasm of this sort of crowd that Obama conjured in Oregon on the weekend? Under which conditions, exactly, would 75,000 people come out to cheer for Johnny Mac?
No doubt that Obama is gonna have some trouble nailing down some key constutiuences. McCain's gonna have a tussle nailing down any...my friends.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:55 am
While Obama was pulling out 75,000 in Oregon, Clinton was speaking to what some news media gently called “much smaller” groups in Kentucky.
In Balter’s Blog today, I suggest that Hillary should not be quite so proud about doing well in states like West Virginia and Kentucky that are at the bottom of the educational ladder–although some will no doubt accuse me of elitism.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:18 am
**Pitching his message to Oregon’s environmentally-conscious voters, Obama called on the United States to “lead by example” on global warming, and develop new technologies at home which could be exported to developing countries.
“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said.**
Scold-In-Chief.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:39 am
“Scold-In-Chief” — You would prefer, maybe, the captain of the Titanic?
May 19th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Balter, as one who believes that voter applicants should pass a literacy test, I am bothered that many people at the bottom of the educational ladder are allowed to vote at all–especially since they vote for Democrats.
What about all of those white faces in the picture with Obama? They either moved the blacks to the back or Oregon is all white–and liberal.
Now, Obama is acting like a woman. His insipid whinning that Pres. Bush was referencing him at Bush’s speech on Israel’s 60th anniversary shows that he is ultra-sensitive or after the “stupid vote.” And, it’s amazing that the left defends Obama by praising Neville Chamberlain!
Then Obama whines like a child if anyone discusses his never-proud-of-America wife, after he has her go on his campaign trail. She does his work for him and then he tells people to leave her alone rather than ask her to be a good wife and stand there quietly. We see who wears the pants in the family.
But, this is what really got me: “We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said. Does he want to lead our nation or would he rather be popular with other countries? I don’t want to have to run our national policies by France and Germany just so they will like us.
Well, I still haven’t counted out Hillary Clinton, who is capable of anything, as indicated by this joke.
St. Peter is at the Pearly Gates checking up on the people waiting to enter Heaven. He asks the next person in line, “So, who are you, and what did you do on Earth?”
The fellow says, “I’m Barack Obama, and I was the first black to be elected President of the United States.
St. Peter says, “The U.S.? A black President? You gotta be kidding me! When did this happen?”
Obama says, “About twenty minutes ago.”
May 19th, 2008 at 7:27 am
My view is that Obama, if he really wants to make history, and open relations with Cuba/repair Israel/Paestine, he needs to FORGET FLORIDA, and let the Republcians have it, and he’ll more than make up for it in one of the many red states that he has been able to turn blue.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:38 am
I have a better feeling about Obama’s chances lately, in spite of the media’s efforts to make him an intriguing Muslim extremist.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Jcummings, The Canadian Shrum.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:54 am
“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,â€
Sounds like President Carters solutions to the ‘70 depression, more depression by depression. That was before a true leader emerged to take us higher. Higher to that shining city on a hill.
Regarding what other countries are going to think, well their people have spoken loud and clear by electing conservative pro-Bush leaders, to the consternation and defiance of the lefts opinion of us, even the left in our own f–king country. If Obama was referring to the UN, I have one question. Tell me ONE person they have set freed? Nough said.
Your joke was really stupid Woody.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Lets see now… Obama, a very liberal liberal attracts a large crowd in a very liberal state. And this is surprising because? I note, in contrast, that he didn’t even bother in a very conservative state like Kentucky which as we all know borders on Arkansas and not Illinois - heh!
While I believe that he will definately be the Democrat nominee and has a “better than even” chance to win the presidency, comparing a crowd in a liberal state with a highly contested (though on Hillary’s part ultimately futile) race with what McCain might do in a more Republican state or at least conservative state (and McCain is no conservative - I ain’t votin for him) is a valid comparison - NOT!!!
May 19th, 2008 at 7:57 am
75,000 people show to see Obama in Oregon? But hey, as the great modern philosopher Steven Colbert has pointed out, Oregon is just Washington’s Mexico. It’s California’s Canada. Therefore those folks aren’t really Americans. They’ve probably got too many left-handed, granola munchers, who are kind to small animals, and attend poetry readings and drum circles. They actually have a workable public transit system in their largest city. They recycle. What extremists!
The real Americans are in Kentucky, which as I’m sure Woody would agree, is the deepest well of USA intellect…
May 19th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Michael, you are not and elitist… you just think you are on the top of everything.
(that is a joke my friend)
May 19th, 2008 at 8:02 am
The solution to the Palestine Problem is stop murdering civilians…..and start electing the sane.
It is really just that simple.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:06 am
If I were Shrum I’d tell him to run all faux-populist. I’m simply saying that for him to get done what he has hitned needs to be done, he needs to be open about it, and resign to losing Florida.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:08 am
The UN, along with the “communist” Vietnamese, did fight tooth and nail against Pol Pot, while America was siding with Mr. Killing Fields.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:15 am
“McCain is no conservative - I ain’t votin for him”
Spread the word. We need more people on the right with this kind of tenacity and sense of principle.
And Woody, “White House sources” made it clear to the press that Bush was critiquing Obama. If he were truly prone to “acting like a woman” in the insulting sense you intend it, he wouldn’t have kicked Bush’s ass on his national security failure and tied McCain to it. This guy is going to be a nightmare for the GOP.
As for what “acting like a woman” might actually mean outside the bounds of insult, I believe that Obama exhibits the human qualities that balance what are seen as the “male” and “female” virtues better than Mrs. Clinton does.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:19 am
“And this is surprising because?”
Even popular Presidential candidates rarely generate this level of enthusiasm. And enthusiasm/turnout/volunteers, etc. matter a lot on election day and can “swing” states.
This in contrast to your rejection of McCain as not being conservative enough to merit your vote. Even when confronted with a pretty liberal guy like Obama who opposed a war that you have vehemently supported from Day One - that’s a big, big problem for the GOP.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Portland is liberal, much of the rest of Oregon (places like Bend for example) are not that liberal.
Also, it’s arguably one of the “whitest” states in the US. Non-hispanic whites make up more than 80% of the population.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Got to second reg on the White House sources thing. I was in roughly the same time zone as Israel when Bush gave his speech and the BBC cited anonymous Bush aides who confirmed that he was talking about Obama. When everyone woke up in Washington DC they began to deny it. This only caused confusion in the minds of people like Woody, however.
btw I think we should thank Woody for a demonstration of nearly every possible retrograde attitude in one blog post. A real feat.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Just “nearly every possible retrograde attitude in one blog post”? Which ones did I miss? Anyway, while the joke is in bad taste, it is still funny.
I love “unnamed sources” that liberals quote. The White House officially denied that Bush was referencing Obama. In any event, Obama showed his true colors and picked a fight rather than agreeing with Bush by saying that he would not appease tyrants.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Jim R - the funny thing about your Jimmy Carter-baiting is that had we actually embraced conservation and alternative energy 30 years ago when Carter started pushing it, we wouldn’t have the degrading spectacle of subsequent Presidents giving virtual blow-jobs to Arab oil-sheiks and begging the Chinese Communists to help sustain our debt because too many Americans are big babies who don’t understand the first thing about living within our means. (Those would be the same nuclear-armed, ideologically wacko Chinese who the appeaser Nixon entered into direct negotiations with while we were in the middle of a war where they were supplying the other side with weaponry. Of course, thanks to their superior long-term strategy over subsequent decades, folks who warned that this was foolish and we’d end up subjugated to these crazies might well turn out to have had a point.)
Truth is, Jimmy Carter was right. If we end up in a depression - which is possible - it will be because of all the lies and power-grabs that the oil and banker’s lobbies have pulled off over the years at our expense, along with phony tax-cut uber alles conservatives and “free-market” fundamentalists. But, go ahead - keep telling yourself you’re a national security “tough guy” and that a sustainable economy is for wimps. It’s really worked out well.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Ah, Jimmy Carter–official record holder of the “Misery Index.”
May 19th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Woody, Bush “showed his true colors” when he helped Iran accumulate more power in the Gulf region than they could have dreamed of under their own steam. He eliminated their worst enemy and allowed their natural allies to take over Iraq. I have no problem with the Shia majority taking over Iraq - but to make facilitating that a centerpiece of U.S. “national security” policy at the cost of thousands of American lives and then bragging that we’ve accomplished some “mission” in U.S. interests and are not “appeasiing” Iran is the height of insanity. And not to have seen it coming is the height of stupidity. (Take a look at the trajectory of Ahmed Chalabi, who was one of the guys who helped propagandize for “regime change” at places like the American Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation. Talk about a bunch of “dupes.” Iran couldn’t have paid this guy enough to take his neo-con buddies and Cheney-acolytes to the cleaners.)
At this point, Bush has created a situation where direct negotiations with Iran are absolutely imperative. Had he not empowered Iran’s allies in Iraq, maybe some other course would be arguable. Bush is a weak, stupid little man who grabbed a tiger by the tail and didn’t have the strength to wrestle it nor the sense to let it go.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Reg, I think it is very public spirited of you to give Woody remedial lessons in basic foreign policy. There might be a job at the White House for you too, although only a short-term contract.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Whining like a “woman” like McCain did about loosing his bearings?
Com’mom Woody you’re sounding more and more desparate everyday. Try to make your points without resorting to lame sexist metaphors.
American may be ready, but Woody is not.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:31 am
“Hello. I’m Barack Obama and you eat too much.”
May 19th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Woody, et. al. can try to spin away the size of the crowds with whatever fantastic juggling they like. The fact remains this is rare, if not unique in modern politics. And he has been drawing these sorts of crowds before there was a race, which is precisely why there was a race, and why he is the nominee.
All of this parsing is like saying, “that fire is only burning because there is wood there.” Well no shit. That’s exactly the point.
But go ahead and try to figure out how many angles will fit onthe head of a pin; we’ll get on with winning the White House.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am
What Dan O said. It is such a pleasure to watch Woody becoming more and more irrelevant with each passing day.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Randy Paul is right–Oregon is not all that liberal outside of Portland and the college towns. And even then it is a sort of western, don’t-tread-on-me sort of liberalism. Whatever label you place on them, though, this sort of crowd for a politician indicates that he is more than just a politician.
The Obama campaign’s decision to ignore West Virginia and pay passing attention to Kentucky is a concern, though. These folks are Americans, and Obama needs to talk to them, both to be elected and to govern. Are the citizens of Appalachia (and Kentucky is only partly that) inclined to vote against Obama because of his color? Or the perception that “he thinks he’s better” than the common folk? Or a combination of the two? It doesn’t really matter…the only way he can repair his problem with rural white poor (working or unemployed poor) is to talk and listen. No question that there are a lot of people out there who are not anxious to vote for a candidate of color, but most of them will, if they are confronted with the choice of voting for Obama or continuing down the road we are heading right now.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
“Hello. I’m Barack Obama and you eat too much.â€
Didn’t seem to hurt him with black voters when he told ‘em to get their kids off the Popeye’s chicken. Just saying.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Hard to believe, though, that McCain is actually within striking distance of Obama. I cannot comprehend how over 45% of Americans want to continue down the same path we have been going during the last eight years. How much more degraded does our economy and foreign policy have to become before we pull our heads out of the sand?
May 19th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
It’s early days, David. Can you imagine what a debate between a smart guy like Obama and an airhead like McCain will look like? Can’t wait. McCain has had the field all to himself thanks to Hillary, but that is over now.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
reg: Woody, Bush “showed his true colors†when he helped Iran accumulate more power in the Gulf region than they could have dreamed of under their own steam.
Yeah, why couldn’t Bush put down Iran like Jimmy Carter did?
reg, you’re always saying that you guessed right in advance about war and conflict. Did you support the approach and guess correctly that Jimmy Carter would allow our embassy personnel to be captured in Iran and not be able to do anything about it in his negotiations, while it only took Ronald Reagan less time to get their return than it took him to say the oath of office?
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Dan O, actually I am impressed by the crowd draws of Obama. It was foretold in prophecy that Obama would be popular and pull peoples together. OBAMA IS MABUS, THE ANTI-CHRIST, THE BEAST 666!!!
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Michael Balter, someone already has the web site that should be rightfully mine.
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D-Rock, even Hillary Clinton cried…and cried, and cried, ….
May 19th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
McCain has a major “Youtube” problem that’s only beginning to get tapped - there’s tons of stuff of him out there that’s some combination of making him look like either an idiot or utterly disingenuous in his “flip-flops”.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
“…Under which conditions, exactly, would 75,000 people come out to cheer for Johnny Mac?”
1. Weapons of mass destruction are found in the Iraqi desert
with pictures of Saddam, Osama bin Laden, Kim Jong-il, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Hugo Chavez (all in speedos) pitching darts at a map of the USA
2. Vlad Putin nukes Chechnya and threatens NY as next
3. The Chinese nuke Tiawan and threatens LA as next
4. John McCain just says, “To hell with it, I’m voting for Obama, too.”
5. It aint gonna happen.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Woody - I do know that Ronald Reagan was authorizing negotiations with a terrorist state, appeasing them with promises to deliver missiles in exchange for hostages - although I don’t believe I “guessed” it until I read the disclosures. But it was my guess that these types of negotiations and promises of appeasment had begun during the Reagan campaign, well before he took the oath, given the rather rapid turn of events you describe. Pretty hard to believe otherwise, unless it was a miracle.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
The feminine side of Obama
Yeah, reg, conspiracy theories abound with the left. The Democrats said that no proof of an October Surprise made it that much more critical to investigate it. Nothing was found.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Hmmm. Let me try again. The feminine side of Obama No wonder Opra likes him.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Talk about appealing to everyone….Former member of KKK endorses Obama!
May 19th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Last one: What happens in the event of a tie in the electoral votes of Obama and McCain–a possibility… Pelosi for President!
“If the House hasn’t picked a President and the Senate hasn’t picked a Vice President, succession defaults to the Speaker of the House … which means we’d have President Pelosi.”
May 19th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Last one
Promise?
May 19th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
McCainmainia:
“Columbus — Georgia Republican Party chairwoman Sue Everhart said Saturday that the party’s presumed presidential nominee has a lot in common with Jesus Christ.
” ‘John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross,’ Everhart said as she began the second day of the state GOP convention. ‘He never denounced God, either.’ ”
If John McCain does gather a crowd of 75,000 I expect him to feed them all with one hot dog bun and a can of tunafish and turn the water into BudLite, assuming he chooses not to walk on it.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Here’s what I have to say to some of my conservative friends like GM: live with it, baby!
You guys have to realize that the Reagan Era is now officially over. Kaput! You’re gonna have to show enough realism to, um accept, reality.
You know, when Reagan was in power and he got wide approval and large crowds, there were actually some of us who said: yeah, he’s popular. He represents a shift in national mood. Not one I like, but one that is real and tangible.
You guys are now caught in the middle of a similar shift. When a presidential course hits 80% disapproval you can tell urself all u want that Obama is only popular in “liberal” states like Oregon. But denial aint healthy. You dont have to like Obama or anything he stands for. But better get used to the idea of being in the political minority for the next ten or twenty years. It’s already here.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Reg, Michael, and Marc…nice thoughts, and I agree in spirit; the specter of McCain debating someone so intelligent as Obama will likely be a comical one. But comical only to us. You must realize that McCain’s folksy-isms, combined with his undeserved credibility as a “maverick” (thanks, media) will appeal to many Americans, both independent and rank and file GOP. This is more of an uphill battle for Obama than for McCain; remember that in 2004 it was transparent to all but the voluntarily blind that the Iraq war was a horrible and fraudulent disaster…yet Bush won soundly (note: I would have voted Democratic in 2004 even if Britney Spears had been the nominee). I am really seeing a scenario here where McCain will win more electoral votes than Obama. My worst nightmare…
May 19th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
However, I will agree whole heartedly that 2008 will be a bad year for Republicans as a whole. Maybe not enough to establish a veto-proof majority for Democrats in the house and Senate, but definitely substantial increases in those chambers. Keep talking to me, though, guys, but I would love to believe that Obama can win this thing. It would add an extra skip to my step.
May 20th, 2008 at 1:54 am
David, a huge amount depends on what kind of campaign Obama runs against McCain. If he does the kind of duck and run thing that Kerry did as soon as the flak started flying in 2004, he will lose for sure. But that doesn’t seem to be Obama’s style, at least so far: He is standing his ground on the Iran nonsense, for example. On the other hand, he has allowed himself to be vetted on loyalty to Israel, and when the Democratic Party coalesces around him they will do so not only with support but with adwice, yes adwice (fans of The Third Man will understand the reference.) That will be Obama’s real test, whether he can withstand the lingering forces of Clintonism.
May 20th, 2008 at 5:39 am
Marc, at least Reagan had big enough crowds so that they didn’t have to photoshop the pictures to make them look bigger than they were. (See above photo.)
May 20th, 2008 at 6:46 am
This is the sort of crowd Reagan inspired: 750,000 untied in opposition.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Make that united in opposition.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Randy, this billboard was intended for you.
Dyslexics Untie!
http://www.dyslexia.moc
But, maybe those opposed to Reagan should have been tied up.
I decided later that the picture was taken with a special lens from a carefully chosen angle.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Let he who is without typos cast the first stone.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Seriously, how did they get so many people to a rally? Was it just a warm spring day when everyone was out and the word got around or did those people go there intentionally to hear Obama? Maybe it was a gay pride festival and Obama just dropped in. I really am curious as to how it came together.
June 19th, 2008 at 1:12 am
Obama’s gonna win by a landslide. And the reason is that even among the conservative right, millions are fed up. Since 9-11, the country has suffered in world opinion. I believe the hard right and especially the middle right know this and want it to change. McCain can’t change it but Obama can. He’s even got a slogan that says so.