He's in the weeds now on this. Not necessarily a bad thing. But, he's going to have to have some representation on the talk shows to make his position clear. A competent interview would be nice.

Now what happens to all those who signed up demanding that Senator Obama do what they demanded on FISA? He just said no to them. He sugar coated the no, but it was still a flat out no, and said that if that is a deal breaker for them, then so be it. Is it, and if it is not, then what the hell was it you were all about. Are you going to no longer support him?

The network evening news is full of items about how Obama does not keep his word. You provided a lot of the fuel for that fire, you did not get Obama to change his mind, but you did give McCain plenty of ammo to attack Obama with.

Two row boats are racing to the other side of a broad deep river, one captained by McCain and the other by Obama. It was a very close race, with some saying that Obama had a slight lead. Some of the rowers in the Obama boat took a look at that slight lead and decided that this would be the time to stop rowing, so they stood up in the boat and rocked it, while there was still more than ninty percent of the river to cross.

Some might say that made no sense, but those rowers who stood up, and rocked the boat felt that it was more important to stand up and give the Captain a good dressing down, while the McCain boat rowed on unchallenged. One would think, from their behavior, that the rowers have grown complacent because Republican rarely win the White House, except it is actually the other way around. Of course, electing the first African American as the next President, makes it a lock, so those rowers are free to keep on rocking his boat. Everyone knows that an African American can not be beaten in America, right?

Happy Independence Day. Senator McCain likes the way you handled this week.

the updated AP story begins with:

FARGO, N.D. - Democrat Barack Obama struggled Thursday to explain how his upcoming trip to Iraq might refine, but not basically alter, his promise to quickly remove U.S. combat troops from the war.

The "not basically alter" part is an improvement, but of course, we had to have the "struggle" thrown in. In fairness, two press conferences to explain something probably is a bit of a struggle.

I'm just glad that today is July 3, tomorrow is Friday, and a holiday. Hopefully, this will blow over, and the Obama campaign (and the DNC) figure out a way to counteract the RNC, McCain and the reflex in many media outlets to paint any Democrat as a weak flip-flopper.

CNN has poll numbers that show that most people think McCain and Obama have flip-flopped, and that most people don't care.

Have a nice Fourth, everyone!

Wow!!! An honest headline for a change. Now if only the MSM can do the same thing maybe their readership will rebound again.

These are questions I would ask:

"Do you have a set date for the visit to Iraq and will it coincide with your other schedule of traveling abroad to Europe and the Middle East?"

Have you spoken with any officials in the Iraqi government of the frame of discussions that will take place?"

"How much introduction (in length of days to visit) do you feel it necessary for continuing meaningful constructive discussion later?"

"Would you approach the subject with them of inviting officials of Iraq to the United States if you are elected?"

"Will your trip include looking at environmental and infrastructure issues in Iraq?"

"Will your look at Iraq give you information on how to structure the Veterans Administration?"

"Will you have members of your campaign foreign affairs advisory team with you to examine their possible appointment to your administration?"

Possibilities are endless.

Yeah.

The McCain Wagon train.

Posted by quasar

More wishful thinking. Just by your attitude, I know I am more righteously liberal than YOU are. Obama moves to the right, anybody hoping for REAL change gives up hope. He's YOUR guy. Live with it.

If Obama can be this loose I think we can too.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/07/02/moos.daddy.o.soccer.cnn?iref=videosearch

Liam, I agree. Although there are some exceptions were i disagree. I agree Barack Obama has been dinged by FISA, but most Americans don't care about FISA, so the damage will not be long lasting. However, i don't know how the Obama campaign allowed the republicans and media to distort his position on Iraq--it is truly stunning! Obama needs to start throwing some punches @ McCain and make they land. He needs to reinforce his surrogate supporter. Where is Biden, Dodd, Webb, H.Clinton, McCaskill, Rockefeller and the others? Why aren't they on the phone holding daily press conferences reinforcing the Obama message? What is Barack waiting for? C'mon on Barack, lets get it together, lets not make this election another 00' and 04'

dudes video says no longer available

http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/obama-as-a-normal-person/

Thanks for the advice. The last time we heard this kind of "wet-behind-the-ears" "gonna be a rough ride" bluster about the naive Obama it was from that Hillary what's-her-name candidate.

Maybe you were one of them.

Anyhow, thanks again for the great advice.

Nulook23 - Well at least Obama is not having to reorganize his staff four months after he became the candidate like McCain. Need to reorganize staff...remind you of Clinton? That makes me smile, McCain is finding his campaign against Obama in trouble just like Clinton did.

Johnny2Bad - Not ready for prime time? Who is having to reorganize his staff? McCain is the one who is looking worried.

I agree, Obama tried to talk nuances about Iraq but the media just wants headlines. Stick with 16 months, it's something the media can comprehend.

I am constantly amazed at how Republicans try to use the SAME stupid argument to the word, ie."flip-flopper", to smear Obama. If the United States should fall for this b.s for a second consecutive time, then I am sorry to say, but the best days of the nation are clearly behind them.
Just like the genius GWB said: " We got a saying in Texas:Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...... you are not going to fool us again!!"

Should have read: "the best days of the nation are behind her"

The network evening news is full of items about how Obama does not keep his word. You provided a lot of the fuel for that fire, you did not get Obama to change his mind, but you did give McCain plenty of ammo to attack Obama with.

Nobody but Obama fan these fires of flip-flop failure. Nobody except Obama has himself to blame. Obama’s constituency was never Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer or Rockefeller – he blew it by flip-flopping on the FISA Bill and HE did flip-flop on it. Obama in good faith, got money for saying he would filibuser ANY FISA immunity deal - so it is a lied now he will support it, that is exactly how John Kerry's lost campaign too.

Obama can pull out of this nose dive anything - just by telling us he will vote against the FISA Bill, at least for now anyway and for Christ sack don't think of "center" as okaying ANY of Bush's criminal acts. Jeebus.

My message to Barack Obama would be: take a break, talk less to the media, don't take your front-runner status for granted, reinforce your message more forcefully, chose your words carefully and start launching subtle, but pointed attacks @ McCain.

Obama's position on the FISA bill does not mean much at all to most people. Most people have no clue what FISA means! Some perspective please! No candidate is ever perfect on all issues. ...

Posted by dswx
________________

Too weird. As long as the general public is too stupid to figure out that Obama is a veritable whirligig on the issues, we'll all be fine. Of course, WE have to eat some shit, but, to paraphrase quasar, If Obama can eat this much shit, I think we can too.

Right. Does it occur to others that this very intelligent man sometimes ruminates out loud without considering the impact of his words? I have wondered if he tosses out these verbal experiments to see what happens and then "explains" what he really meant. If so, it is a curious characteristic for such a smart (and dare we say it, calculating) man.

Posted by Prysmith

________________

In other words, he's a fool who's bitten off way more than he can chew, but we still love him, and will prechew stuff for him, then give him big platefulls so he never has to think again. At least, it would be nice if we could do that. In the meantime, he's such a nice, smart man. Gosh I wish he would ACT smart.

I should add, while I'm at it, the MSM were doing it to Hillary as well during the primary. Words coming out of her mouth and Bill Clinton's mouth were defined by the press in ways far different than normal people would have interpreted them had they not been filtered through the media first. Neither Hillary or Bill qualify as "rookies." Obama people laughed, and Hillary people blamed Obama or his supporters. It was the press. Don't curse the candidate. Don't curse the press. Correct them. At their house, not here.

The withdrawl our troops from won't entail packing a few suitcases and arranging a kennel for the pets. Obama has never inferred it would be, and today simply reiterated the obvious. Make no mistake: the threat of a bloody disaster during the course of the forthcoming retreat will remain a very real one. For the sake of the troops- and, I daresay, for the Iraqi's themselves- it will need be meticulously planned and executed.

I was really surprised at the lengths Joe Scarborough went to edit Obama's second statement on the issue of Iraq (Race for the White House). Joe made a point to show a video of Obama's second press statement, but with every statement where Obama reiterated his support for a 16 month withdrawal edited out. Since Rachel Maddow was hammering Scarborough on misrepresenting Obama's position, I can only surmise Joe felt his ego threatened and purposefully distorted the video they aired to omit any reference to continued support for a timed withdrawal.

Then Scarborough showed just how threatened he was by declaring Maddow had the "Hillary cackle down pat."

That's not just ignorance, that's deliberate misrepresentation and misogyny to disguise it.

Joe Scarborough - yeah, they got Obama alright.

This FISA Bill was Obama's undoing - you don't trash fellow Dems and don't go to this capital building narrow view of middle - center. The Repugs played Obama.

Bush LIE about wiretapping and that is NOT some middle view point perspective, never was, it is NOT some middle ground. Obama can't think outside the box of the capital building - Wiretapping is NOT middle ground, never was and NEVER will be, Jeebus - how could Obama be so damn stupid?

Josh ignore that aspect, he really did - did Josh Marshall think this FISA thing would go away, hell no - like I said, it is too BIG for that?

You want Obama to win, so do I, but you don't win by burying your heads and pretend the FISA flip-flop would simply go away.

This center thing, it is a dead mans's zone.

He's been rock solid about this. Get out carefully, 16 mos period. As apposed to I vote for it. See the difference, dumbass.

I agree that the press has botched this entirely, but Obama should know how the game is played. McCain has seized the initiative on Iraq by first baiting him into announcing a trip and then saying it wouldn't change his mind. It's a trap designed to make news and put him on the defensive. To win, Obama doesn't need people to believe he is open minded, and he needn't be so defensive about it. Instead he should retake the initiative by saying "The real problem is people like McCain and Bush who have already made up their mind that we should never leave. Unlike the other nations in our "coalition" who have long since departed, nothing seems to change their mind despite mounting evidence that even with the vast expenditures of our blood and treasure, we are not achieving any of our goals using Bush/McCain's so called "strategy."

You get a much better headline the next day if you do that...something like "Obama hits Bush, McCain on Iraq Intransigence"

Well, good job getting the MSM to spend several days parroting rightwing smears.

Let's hope Obama can control the newscycle a little better going forward.

MCcain is tghe flipflopper but no one calls him on it, and the MSM ignores it.

No one is vetting McBush, hot-headed angry little creep.

It is very simple to deal with the McCain campaign's claim that McCain and Obama now have the same position on Iraq. Simply say that if that is the case they can put together plans to begin withdrawing troops immediately and surely Bush will follow the joint Obama-McCain position.

Following up on the heels of the Wes Clark "scandal" this is just more rightwing disinformation. At this point, all they can do is try and confuse the voters. They certainly can't campaign on their record of accomplishments.

Reality check: it really doesn't matter what Obama says he's going to do re Iraq. The Dems and Repubs in the House & Senate are not going to let him withdraw in 16 months. I guarentee that once we have a Dem president, the Dems in the House & Senate will stymie everything he wants to do. Ironic, huh?

I think some of those press people just want to have their voices recorded. How else do you explain the fact that 4 of them asked the same damned question? If I were him I would have said..what is wrong with you people? are you hard of hearing or you just don't understand english, what is it???

Are these the same blowhard, tabloid journalists who sat in the White House briefing room SILENTLY over the past 7 1/2 years and didn't ask anyone in the Bush administration anything of substance?

Why weren't they holding anyones feet to the fire when it was proven sixteen ways to Sunday that we were LIED in to this war and over 4,000 have died and thousands are gravely injured, not to mention the thousands more that are suffering from PTSD with barely any acknowledgment from the government? Where were they with the "tough" questions then?

As Dan Abrams likes to say...just one more reasons Americans hate Washington. I'll take it an extra step...I think, no I pretty much know, that I hate the press more than politicians. It's a close race...but they are vile.

You all have a lot fun of intentionally distorting beyond recognition McCain's words about Iraq (e.g. 100 years IF ...), but just let people pick apart Obama's words a little and it isn't so funny, huh?

Unfortunately, as someone who voted, caucused and contributed to the Obama campaign, I find this disturbing, along with his flip flop on NAFTA. I have no confidence in John McCain, but I begin to believe more every day that Obama is just a man with great speeches, rather than a man of his great speeches. To say this trend is disappointing, is to say the least.

So Obama is surprised by the reaction to his Iraq remarks. Well, he better wake up. Anything he says that allows for even the tinest opening for the GOP and Press to find fault or fodder for critism is going to result in negative press. It is simply what they do. He needs to sharpen his game. The General Election is not the same as the primaries. The gloves are off. He, also, better be prepared to take his gloves off. His new kind of politics when it comes to the GOP will get him squashed like a bug.

Would Obama withdraw troops from Iraq? I don't think anybody knows at this point. He's gone back on so many of his positions on other issues that nobody knows for sure what he would do. And that's the point. You can blame the media for making too big a deal about this, but Obama is the one who gave the media license to do it by changing his own motto from "change you can believe in." to "change that depends upon which group of voters he's pandering to."