Obama Not Afraid To Engage GOP On Foreign Policy
The Washington Post's Dan Balz gets at a point I've been hitting here pretty regularly: That one of the keys to Obama's success is that he's projecting a degree of confidence on foreign policy that has long eluded some Dems...
What is striking is how Obama's campaign differs from past Democratic campaigns. In earlier years, Democratic candidates couldn't wait to move off of foreign policy and onto domestic issues, aware that their party more or less owned the domestic debate, while Republicans generally held the high ground on national security. The more time they could spend focusing the contest on domestic issues, the better their chances of winning.That was true certainly for John F. Kerry against President Bush four years ago, and it's clear that the polls currently show that national security issues are McCain's one key area of strength against Obama. Obama's advisers believe the economy will dominate the fall campaign, but the candidate shows no indication that he will try to avoid engagement with McCain over foreign policy.
Obama has, with the exception of FISA, largely held to a tenet that has defined his campaign since the beginning: That through persuasion he can win arguments with the GOP on national security; that this turf needn't be ceded to the GOP.
When McCain was attacking Obama's Iraq plan, he gave a big speech doubling down on withdrawal. And on this trip, Obama has managed the neat trick of projecting a sense that he's setting the agenda here, even though it came after weeks of McCain attacks on him for not visiting Iraq (public statements from al-Maliki and an Iraqi government spokesperson supporting Obama's withdrawal time-line didn't hurt in this regard). That's partly what made the trip abroad such a high-stakes gamble, and thus far, it's clearly paying off.
It's worth repeating that the key is not simply that Obama believes that he can win disputes on national security. It's that he keeps saying so. This projects confidence and leadership, and prevents the McCain campaign from being perceived as being on offense in an area where polls show McCain still holds an advantage.
Indeed, asked by CBS on Sunday whether he ever lacked confidence that he could prevail in the foreign policy arena, he offered a one-word answer: "Never." Just in case you were wondering.
When McCain was attacking Obama's Iraq plan, he gave a big speech doubling down on withdrawal. And on this trip, Obama has managed the neat trick of projecting a sense that he's setting the agenda here, even though it came after weeks of McCain attacks on him for not visiting Iraq (public statements from al-Maliki and an Iraqi government spokesperson supporting Obama's withdrawal time-line didn't hurt in this regard).
Not to mention McCain adopting Obama's stance that more troops are needed in Afghanistan, and the Bush administration finally engaging in diplomatic talks with Iran (all in the space of a single week, no less). The Politico called it a "foreign policy trifecta".
July 21, 2008 6:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah, inarguably true.
July 21, 2008 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama is setting the agenda by using a very basic but transformative perspective. Instead of focusing on analysis of issues he puts every issue within a broader context. If you want an example of this watch his CBS interview with Lara Logan and watch his interviews in the next three days with the network’s news readers. He will consistently refuse to be limited by the scope of each question and begins by putting the issue in a broader perspective. He always puts context before analysis.
This is how he consistently remains two steps ahead of McCain in foreign policy. McCain wants to focus on the “success” of the surge in Iraq but Obama has long known that it means nothing if we are losing ground in a global struggle to contain the growth of Islamic extremism. The media will focus on short term analysis and give McCain the benefit of the doubt with every story. Meanwhile Obama will anticipate the next two moves on the global chessboard because his focus in on a global context.
It is interesting to read Lizza’s piece in the NewYorker from this perspective because it shows that his ambition isn’t just the result of a compulsive political instinct. His ambition and his rapid political rise is the result of his intellectual habit of looking at every issue from the broadest possible perspective. For him, being the President of the United States will be a natural fit. McCain has been in the Senate too long to even understand that possibility.
July 21, 2008 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right good quote.
I had been saying during the primaries, the difference between Obama and Hillary, was that she's heavy on tactics and light on strategy, while he seemed very adept at strategy and while not the street fighter Hillary was or, even is, was competent on tactics.
During the primary battles, Hillary was street fighting from start to finish, dodging bullets, escaping annihalation, only to have to fight an existential battle the next week. Meanwhile Obama kept showing up, and beating her 2 out of 3 and never looking like he broke a sweat.
We are beginning to see some of this now. McCain painted himself into a corner on Iraq, only he didn't know it until Malaki handed his ass to him. That's a failure to think strategically.
I probably shouldn't say this, but as someone who comes from a family, half of which is left handed, and knowing Obama is left handed, I'm not surprised at this: strategy and tactics are akin to coming from two different hemispheres of the brain - they are radically different.
I'm enjoying watching Obama. Man the guy has all the skills, and he's on our side (I think).
July 21, 2008 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just for the record, McCain is also a lefty. There's definitely something siniseter at hand, if you ask me. ;)
July 21, 2008 11:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
The really sickening thing is I was watching George Stephanopolous give analysis on ABC tonight and he said, "Obama has moved to McCain's position to create a surge in Afghanistan, because he sees how successful the surge was in Iraq."
I was astounded... surely George is either an idiot or liar. Obama has always held that Afghanistan needed more soldiers.
July 21, 2008 10:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
The good news is that most Americans can't distinguish between Afghanistan and Iraq. All they remember? McCain: 100 years. Anything less than that is good, so advantage Obama.
July 21, 2008 11:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good catch. I've been grinding my teeth over the fact that somehow, over the last weekend, McCain went from merely beiing a cheerleader of The Surge to its author and architect. Which is doubly frustrating because I'm pretty sure Democrats were calling for more troops on the ground in Iraq long before McCain or any other Republican.
It's like these talking heads on TV (and no, I won't give Steph any more credit for thoughtfulness than any other hairdo) just assume that, if it has something to do with the military, then McCain must have thought of it, because he has proven, after all, that he "knows how to win wars" in spite of never having done so.
The narrative of innate Republican superiority in all things military will not go away. We will need to call it out at every turn in this campaign.
July 21, 2008 11:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Stephs PUMA was showing!
July 22, 2008 7:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
How much of the difference is Obama v. Kerry, and how much of the difference is a changed environment?
The story would be more convincing if it were accompanied by statistics about changes in voters' opinions between 2004 and 2008. For instance, it seems to me that Obama is addressing an electorate that is considerably more certain that they want out of Iraq than they were four years ago. He has to convince them that he's ready to lead them out. But he doesn't have to convince them, from the ground up, that the war was a mistake.
July 21, 2008 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a situation tailor-made to Sen Obama's jujitsu politics, where all he need do is leverage public opinion. He is quite masterful to watch. He will become President before many understand the true magnitude of his gifts.
One can only dream of how his State Dept. will behave with such a steady grip on the tiller.
July 21, 2008 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hm, I don't know if you can really separate Obama from the "changed environment". To an extent Obama is part of why that environment's changing; to a probably larger extent Obama is a product of, or an expression of, that changed environment. I mean, do you think the Obama candidacy could have even happened in 2004? (Assuming Obama had entered the senate in 2000 instead of 2004, say.)
I might tend to ask not so much "how is the environment different from 2004"-- because Obama seems to me to be part of that environment-- but something more like "how is Obama different from the other Democrat[s] we might otherwise have been running in 2008". The environment is only part of the equation, another part is whether you know how to engage the environment you have... something Democrats haven't always been good at.
July 21, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. Inarguably true.
July 21, 2008 7:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alex's points, not the subsequent stuff.
July 21, 2008 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Herr von Humboldt, even with a changed environment, other Democrats have shown themselves to be reactive while Obama has been pro-active in foreign policy. I fear that another candidate would not have taken anywhere as much advantage of the opportunity that the national mood is currently offering.
Obama began to discuss foreign policy earlier during the primaries and the reaction to some of his positions regarding Afghanistan and Pakistan scandalized the other candidates and other Democrats. He ventured into new territory, that of a Democrat aggressively reframing the foreign policy debate. How long ago that was, when now even the Republicans, the administration and McCain, have become Obama-lite in foreign policy positions.
July 21, 2008 7:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was a fine piece Balz wrote.
July 21, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
As someone scarred by the Michael Dukakis tank debacle, it's positively delightful to have a nominee as confident as Obama.
I look forward to finding whether he'll be viewed as cocky or ready to be CIC at the end of the week.
Gingrich's comments certainly were interesting. Compliment Obama will bringing up the "cultural issues" (paging Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers....)
July 21, 2008 6:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dukakis didn't look nearly as silly as Commander-In-Chief G. W. Codpiece. (Though you wouldn't know that from MediaCorp coverage, of course. Amazing the effect a few well-placed socks had on the punditry.)
July 21, 2008 10:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
even though it came after weeks of McCain attacks on him for not visiting Iraq
Not after. During.
July 21, 2008 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't mean to carp. I'll take the change, whether it's the consequence of a changed environment, or of Obama's unconquerable mojo.
The last few days have certainly felt good. Not just because the GOP is falling on its face, but because they're tripping over a kind of imperial hubris that has clearly deserved to be punished for six awful years.
If they lost this election just because gas prices happened to be high, it wouldn't feel nearly as satisfying.
July 21, 2008 6:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
The fall of the GOP is just getting under way. I agree w/your sentiments. This is a unique time in my political lifetime, which began w/Watergate.
"Not this time" seems to be a gathering force of it's own. I smell Serious Fucking Landslide, Maynard.
July 21, 2008 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
at this point, who cares how they leave.....good riddance.
I already have the champagne chilling for that tuesday after the first monday in november.
July 21, 2008 6:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is how leadership feels...Obama can lead and the voters will be able to see this with this trip and the positions he has staked out for the election. The only concern may be the LOW information voter to digest what he is doing and more importantly, where he will be leading this country.
July 21, 2008 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was out of the loop totally for most of last week - and since I got back online, there is a new feeling all over the place - Obama just seems to have become inevitable - it's like he's already president.
My husband sent me a bulletin that he gets from an investment group, Pimco, that was a open letter to "President Obama" and the author said: (yes, he's going to win).
Is it just me?
July 21, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nnnnnooooope! I'm there with you! Likewise detained, I notice the air is much clearer. The foerign trip makes it all real. America will feel this power when they begin to pay attention en masse after Labor Day, just as we feel it now.
THIS JUST IN: Novakula is reporting that McThuseluh will announce his VEEP this week while Obama is out of the country.
In the immortal words of my Aunt Margie (and she's been quoted by so many), "Well, whoopty-shit."
July 21, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL! I know I'm holding my breath...
July 21, 2008 6:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
If he does announce veep, that's a significant move. I wonder whether it is a long-planned move or what it initially looks like -- desperate grabbing at anything to stop incipient tailspin on the Iraq issue.
Either way, I think it's smart. Playing the veep card now pretty much guarantees that no one's going to watch the GOP convention. But I'm not sure they really *want* people to watch McCain deliver another speech three days after Obama does . . . so that's not much of a loss . . .
July 21, 2008 6:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please please please let it be Romney!!!
I would also settle for Jindal, not because it would be bad (I actually like Jindal) but
a) he is 10 years younger than Obama (bye bye inexperienced meme)
b) Lou Dobbs head would explode along with his hate-mongering right wing cronies (lol - I actually typed white-ring by mistake...freudian much??)
and c) I think Jindal could actually give the dems a run for their money in a few years, much better for him to be dragged down by the McCain anchor before he ever sets sail
July 21, 2008 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
It'll be Romney. There's nobody left.
Seamus will have his revenge.
July 21, 2008 11:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
IF he does, it will be total desperation - anything to make the press remember his existence in the midst of Obama's overseas tour. But after that, he's got nothing left. If he's smart, he'll save it for after the Dem convention in Denver. But that's a big if. And it will be Romney. No way in hell he picks Jindal.
July 22, 2008 12:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
And the winner very well might be Mr. Exorcism himself, the guy who wants the 7 day how the world was created taught in schools, I think that did happen but I don't live in that part of the country. This guy is in deeper than a simple Opus Dei member!! What a choice, wow, it just keeps seeming like Christmas every day lately :)
John McCain will huddle with vice presidential aspirant Bobby Jindal during a trip to New Orleans later this week, sources close to the campaign confirm to The Fix.
McCain's trip to Louisiana on Wednesday was the cause of much head scratching in the political world as it was not in keeping with a week of planned stops in battleground states.
But, the meeting with Jindal, who has been the state's governor since 2007, suggests that McCain himself is deeply engaged in the process of picking his second-in-command and that the youthful Jindal is under serious consideration.
July 21, 2008 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Things definitely have a better "feel" the last few weeks. It makes me very optimistic. Although the MSM in general still throws me into a rage from time to time.
July 21, 2008 6:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Inevitability -
Last summer I met a young Manhattan real estate lawyer who assured me saying that without a doubt real estate is the best possible investment that anyone can possibly make, in fact that it's a no-brainer, you can't lose as the prices of houses will always go up.
I'm still happy living mortgage-free in my nice Brooklyn apartment.
The point being that just when you think something is inevitable, well, in my case I never forget to knock on wood.
Geroge
July 21, 2008 6:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
you should have listened to the real estate lawyer - Manhattan is one of the few places where home prices are still going up and the foreclosures have not hit as hard.
July 21, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been out of the loop for a few weeks traveling, but I think I heard or read something about Bush throwing out discussion of a "time horizon" on Iraq.
horizon=timetable=getting out of iraq
whatever...he's irrelevant and out in 6 months. hurrah!
July 21, 2008 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: This just in:
For serious? I was under the impression that McCain had some kind of advantage due to the fact that he isn't expected to unveil his VP pick until after Obama (since the Republican convention is later) and therefore he got to look at Obama's VP pick before choosing his own...
July 21, 2008 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gwarg. This was meant in reply to Marioth's post above.
July 21, 2008 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you google "Novak veep," you get various stories confirming Marioth's suggestion. They also tend to vibrate with hints of Mittmentum!
This is a little sad, but I actually think one reason John McCain needs to announce veep fast may be that McCain's talents as a messenger just are not up to the job alone. Watching him today was painful. He keeps stumbling over words, and the contrast with a lithe, thoughtful Obama is just killing him on the nightly newscast. He needs someone with Mitt's basic gameshow-host skills to take over part of the job.
July 21, 2008 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very true dat!
July 21, 2008 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Late update: Jonathan Martin says the rumors are just rumors, and are in fact being spread to distract people from the World Tour. So never mind.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/McCain_closes_in_on_VP.html
Martin's sources in the McCain camp say all that matters is the "last-minute sprint to the nomination." Sounds smart, but we'll see. You can't sprint your way out of a hole.
July 21, 2008 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
They've got to stop contrasts like this one:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/The_day_in_images.html?showall
Whoever's bright idea it was to put McCain next to 41 today ought to be shown the door.
July 21, 2008 7:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Holy smoke! Not a good contrast for McCain at all.
July 21, 2008 7:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Canasta players should never challenge poker players to card games! REPUNKLEKINS! You can start saving your pennies for 2012!
July 21, 2008 7:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
It amazes me that McCain would be perceived as strong on national security. His positions are nearly identical to Bush's, and he may be even more clueless. Maybe when people start paying attention.
July 21, 2008 7:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama's taking a leaf out of the GOP playbook (and I mean that in a good way): He's using the power of repetition to his advantage. Time and time again the Republicans have proven that you can repeat a phrase over and over again, and eventually Americans will eat it up. Of course, Obama's foreign policy argument is rational and rooted in truth, which seperates him from the GOP. But he, too, realizes that his best chance at convincing the American public that he's got the better foreign policy is by telling them repeatedly.
July 21, 2008 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Guffawed out loud thinking about the agita at Maverick HQ over this image being flashed across the nation's tv screens this morning.
and all those wingnut hopes and prayers for a Dukakis In A Tank moment cruelly dashed
July 21, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
O, it's Novakula, innit - Official Vampire of the Repug Party. So now I wonder if it's true or is Novakula's attempt to take the spotlight off Obama for a bit.
And more importantly, does it really matter? I don't think so. :)
by the way, for the worriers and those who are concerned, I don't mean Obama seems inevitable so I can quit sending him money, or I don't have to worry about voting.
This isn't my first campaign - I'm not stupid-confident. There's a different feel to the whole thing, though, and this trip has a lot to do with that, but that isn't all of it. Something has shifted, subtly, somewhere.
July 21, 2008 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
See above. Jonathan Martin now says it's just a feint.
July 21, 2008 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks - I missed it obviously. :)
July 21, 2008 7:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have noticed ever since Obama wrote that OpEd piece in the NYT about his Iraq War plan, the Obama campaign has set the agenda and is driving the news. This is a change of pace from just a couple weeks ago when it appeared that McCain was driving the agenda and setting the pace with Obama counteracting.
Obama was on the defense with flip flopping charges, moving to the "center" charges, and his FISA vote. So the Obama campaign decided to take things in their own hands went back to Obama's signature issue which is getting out of Iraq and went from there. Plus they got a couple lucky breaks but if Obama did not write his OpEd and give a speech, perhaps Maliki wouldn't have given his interview to Der Spiegel endorsing Obama's withdrawal plan.
July 21, 2008 7:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah - that's it.
That's why it has this feel. He's back driving the message again.
July 21, 2008 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. Inarguably true.
July 21, 2008 7:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting little tidbit over at politico (Martin Blog) that McCain and Co. considered naming his VP now during Obama's trip to take focus off of it. I wonder why they didn't as it would have been a gutsy move of gamesmanship. Maybe they didn't want to risk having to share news coverage on what usually is a big deal.
Both VP reveals should be out before the Olympics open Aug. 8th. If McCain was ready now, that makes me believe it's Mitt Romney. Does Obama have anybody on his shortlist that could match Romney's economic gravitas?
July 21, 2008 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alex Trebek? Pat Sajak? Bob Eubanks?
July 21, 2008 8:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
2 words - Guy Smiley.
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Guy_Smiley
July 21, 2008 9:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
newfapalooza, thank you for a multiple LOL!
July 21, 2008 10:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please, please, PLEASE let it be Willard.
Romney and McCain visibly detest each other. Romney is also perhaps the most transparently false candidate I've ever seen, and the fact that he simply couldn't start a fire among conservative Republicans means it's a double whammy of a ticket - a snake oil salesman added to an old coot.
If it is in fact Willard Romney (and people really need to use his real name in all references to him - so start now) the only real question will be whether the spread is in low or high double digits.
July 21, 2008 8:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
MITTENS!!!
July 22, 2008 12:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain camp has one major card left and that is McCain's VP pick. I personally think it would be STUPID to bring out his VP choice this week for that means McCain has NOTHING left.
Obama, on the other hand, has this entire week with lots of media attention for his overseas trip. Then he has his VP pick. And finally he has the convention in which he will be speaking in front of 75,000 people on the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I HAVE A DREAM" speech. McCain's convention will have absolutely NO BUZZ unless he brings out his VP choice right after the Dem convention and before the GOP convention.
As a result, do not expect McCain to release his pick this week. Even his going to Louisiana on Thursday to try to steal Obama's thunder of his Berlin speech is going to be totally LAME.
July 21, 2008 7:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wasn't Louisiana the site of McCain's green screen, frozen smile, creepy laugh speech on the night of Obama's primary victory speech? You'd think he would choose another venue to appear inadequate and old.
July 21, 2008 7:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
My friends, that's not change you can believe in...[inappropriate shit-eating grin]
July 21, 2008 8:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think they're piloting the "Bottled hot water for dehydrated babies" program there.
July 21, 2008 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Obama not afraid to engage GOP"
Meanwhile McCain's people have a woman wearing a shirt reading "McCain=Bush" ejected from a public place on pain of arrest.
What is McNasty afraid of? The same things Bush and Cheney were afraid of. Opposing opinions.
July 21, 2008 8:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think having people ejected from events for having those types of images draws more attention to them than simply letting them in.
July 21, 2008 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lets add to the Constitution that other than the Age requirement...No Sub B students need apply for President.
July 21, 2008 9:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg --
I'd say it's unlikely at this point that the GOP is even going to be around after the November election.
We have Condi Rice deciding that current Senators don't need help from foreign embassies, George Bush resigned, and John McCain's campaign strategy is nothing more than taking pot shots at Senator Obama.
I'm being waterboarded right now. Seems to be the Patrio Act used to push people into hospitals. Ruth Ginsberg sentenced me to death, the State of Illinois sentenced me to death. The Rockefeller foundation considers people with Schizo-affective disorder clinically dead.
It's a holocaust. The Republican party is a Nazi party.
July 21, 2008 9:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
The ability of a candidate, especially a Democrat, to sally fourth and defend himself is crucial. For a Democrat against an "experienced" opponent, it is doubly so. But then, is this any surprise to many of us? This sort of thing has been happening for some time now.
I don't want to get cocky about our chances in November, but am very much tempted.
July 21, 2008 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
The ability of a candidate, especially a Democrat, to sally fourth and defend himself is crucial. For a Democrat against an "experienced" opponent, it is doubly so. But then, is this any surprise to many of us? This sort of thing has been happening for some time now.
I don't want to get cocky about our chances in November, but am very much tempted to gloat.
I heard rumor of Carly Fiorina as a possible VP. Any opinions on this?
July 21, 2008 9:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
No way. Look at the way she helmed HP and ask yourself, would anyone seriously consider putting her one very weak heartbeat away from the Oval Office???
July 22, 2008 12:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
It would be great. If she performs as well as she did with HP it can only help.
July 21, 2008 9:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Funny, both my kids, 30 (CA) and 29 (NYC) think Obama has it slam dunk. They are so optimistic. McCain is just too old for them to take seriously.
July 21, 2008 9:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course they never experienced the frequency of disappointments we've been through.
But this year feels very different.
July 21, 2008 11:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was a good one, kawika49. Well, they're both incompetent, so I suppose they're a perfect for each other!
July 21, 2008 9:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup, her and Crash against the O and Sebelius would make for a fun November.
July 21, 2008 9:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about "Competency for a Change"?
July 21, 2008 9:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think I am in love with Maliki! McCain has been boxed in, hasn't he? Even Bush has abandoned him and sided with Obama! He threw McCain under the bus, all for the sake of his legacy!
McCain, be careful of what you ask for, because you may get it! For several weeks you coerced Obama to visit Iraq, then when he arrived, you began mocking his visit. "It's a photo-op" is what you and your staff said. You have whined, whined, and whined since Obama arrived, and then, came the statement from Maliki!
Nooooooooooooo! The translator is Iraqi! Are you telling us he can not translate his own language? Trent Lott and William Blake have had the nerve to show their faces on cable news shows an try to put a spin on something in which spin will not work. McCain is suppose to be the "expert." Look at the mess he is in! The Iraqi's want us out! He wants to stay! He wants more troops. That is what Obama called for.
In actuality, Obama has made a fool out of McCain on what is considered McCains strongest point, national security. NOT!
July 21, 2008 9:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with you about Maliki. In spite of the bad shave, he's seemed pretty charming lately -- not in a Leo DiCaprio way, but maybe Harvey Keitel.
Which William Blake, exactly, was on cable news?
July 21, 2008 10:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Same old spin. Innocence vs. Experience
Sorry. Couldn't resist.
July 21, 2008 10:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
yes, William Blake, and he rambled on about W, saying:
"He loves to sit and hear me sing,
Then, laughing, sports and plays with me;
Then stretches out my golden wing,
And mocks my loss of liberty."
Lott was speechless.
July 21, 2008 11:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shoot, Mccaine should have gone to Panama (instead of Columbia) land of his birth to show Obama that he knows about being a foreigner.
July 21, 2008 10:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
My friends. I too was born south of the border.
July 21, 2008 10:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
My friends, I am not sure which border, possibly Iraq/Pakistan?
July 21, 2008 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Iraqi, Pakistani border is a 1000 miles thick...You have to watch out for those thick borders.
July 21, 2008 10:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Snark :)
July 21, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just ask my friend Larry Craig.
July 21, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
well duh. Don't know why people continue to think Obama is a typical liberal wimp.
You gotta hand it to both him and Clinton -- the toughest democrat bastards in a long long time.
But he's so damn smooth about it.
He's very very good on foreign policy.The innocent here is the ideologue -- McCain.
"Nice" doesn't always mean innocent, and nasty doesn't always mean sophisticated. The smartest of all is the person who is able to pull of nice while being cool and ruthless.
That's Obama.
July 21, 2008 11:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
The NYT has a decent summary of the last few days:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/us/politics/22assess.html?hp
July 21, 2008 11:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Meanwhile, Gore makes one of the most important challenges in our time. I want to see Obama talk about our new Apollo Project of moving off a carbon-based economy while he's in Iraq. If he's so good about addressing context, then let's see some real context.
July 21, 2008 11:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
thanks for the needed perspective.
while obama might be more adept at putting tactics into the context of strategy than mccain (incompetent dolt that he is), as an incrementalist there is an obvious limit to the broadness of the context that obama is willing to discuss.
obama is actually good at preventing interviewers/questioners from boxing him in on (often, 'gotcha') minutiae. when responding he usually takes care to place his answer in context as a skillful reminder of why the question is being asked in the first place. and when giving speeches he makes an art of speaking in broad generalities - the core of his blank-slate feel-good politics that gets everyone so jazzed up imagining obama shares their policy views whatever they might be.
but this is not the same as actually taking the long view and insisting on the real context of the issues/debates/travesties. that would require real leadership. and real leadership requires real risk. whether obama's incrementalism is about his measuring of the political will or his mediocre vision for america, it is not the transformative politics from which he borrows his rhetoric. whatever the outcome of this election, it will have been a squandered opportunity for the democratic party. i don't doubt that we'll get 'better' policy from an obama administration than the bush administration. unfortunately because bush set the bar so low, too many dems will be happy (if not excited) with a president and policies that are only marginally better than terrible.
July 22, 2008 5:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
worth adding:
gore today has the balls he should have had when he was the candidate.
obama compares more favorably to gore 2000 than he does to gore 2008.
July 22, 2008 5:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Bush administration has twisted and tortured the Constitution in so many ways -- surely the possibility must exist for payback, i.e. an interpretation that allows us to move the November election up to...next week? Please? Someone?
July 22, 2008 1:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Iraqi, Pakistani border is a 1000 miles thick
I thought the Arabic word for border was pronounced Iran?
July 22, 2008 2:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
fkaZk0sm0, that's totally ridiculous. And I have a hard time believing there are still people in the world pushing this "you can't tell the Democrats from the Republicans" meme.
Back to the VP thing ... I'll venture to predict it's not going to be Mitt. I think there's a sense in McCain's circle that he needs to do something -- not quite anything, but close -- to shake things up and energize the Right.
Therefore he'll do something REALLY inspired and stupid, on a par with 41's surprise choice of Dan Quayle -- some young guy (maybe even gal) plucked from out of nowhere and meant to show the fresh, hopeful face of a new generation of Republicans. Of course the new generation of Republicans consists of truly deranged and scary people who project Jesus Rapture Beams™ from their eyes and employ zombie makeup artists exhumed from early-60s family sitcoms. So this will work really well.
July 22, 2008 8:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
She's caked with makeup, she's rested, she's ready:
Katherine Harris!
July 22, 2008 10:29 AM | Reply | Permalink