He is still widely syndicated and appears on a weekend national talk show. He occupies precious mainstream media opinion space that reaches probably far more people than any single internet opinion source does.

Posted at August 8, 2008 10:09 AM in response to David Broder, Getting it Wrong Again

Vicissitudes: I don't think anyone here is expressing gloom and doom, it's all over, Obama is going to lose, etc. Just concern with recent trends.

You write: "So have faith."

At the moment I would prefer to have more hope than more faith. Hope is more closely tied to what is observable.

Posted at August 4, 2008 3:27 PM in response to Denver: A "Biography" Convention Would Be a Disaster

Again, I don't know if Obama thinks he is saving his best for the Convention and the fall but I really hope he and the campaign people are figuring out when and how they are going to take the gloves off in a way that doesn't make many people forget what they like about Obama in the first place.

A question on my mind, though, is this: why, all of a sudden, are some people saying that Obama's race is going to get him defeated?

I mean, it's not like he wasn't in the news much before all the earlier polls showing him doing better versus McCain. Haven't the same Americans who were polled two months ago, and gave him a decided edge then, known what color his skin was all along? So why is it Obama's skin color is all of a sudden now thought to account for his recent slackening in the polls, as opposed to, say, the continued free pass McCain is receiving from both the media and the Obama campaign on McCain's supposed strength, his character, as well as his gold-medal and world record-shattering performance in the Flip Flop event?

After getting beaten up during the primary season, Bill Clinton was re-introduced to the voters at the convention as The Man From Hope. He had a compelling life story and it was told succinctly and well. Obama's campaign can't afford to forget about using the convention to positively define their candidate. If voters do not see a compelling positive definition of Obama at the Convention then the Obama campaign is going to have a hard time limiting the damage the McCain campaign's attacks on him are going to continue to do.

It isn't either/or but has to be both/and, effectively positive at the Convention in particular, and much harder-hitting on attack, during but also before as well as after the Convention, preferably with a bit of humor and wit but not too much of the latter.

If memory serves, Bill Clinton in '92, in addition to conveying a positive message of hope, was quite effective in criticizing, often by implication only but still clearly enough, Bush's ineffective handling of the economy and being out of touch with the voters (he didn't know about those scanners in supermarket checkout lines).

The Obama campaign should not have great difficulty getting traction against McCain on his issue stances, which are now a virtual echo of Bush's policies and simply lack any credibility as possible solutions to any of our pressing problems, and his supposed strength, his character.

What does it say about a presidential candidate's character when, in the interests of his political ambitions, he jettisons virtually everything about his record as a politician that gave him any claim to being a politician of good character?

With all these books he's written for kids and speeches he's made on doing the right thing when it's tough, being true to your beliefs, having the courage of your convictions, etc., etc., is he now the World's Biggest Hypocrite or what?

One can think John McCain is a remarkable person to be where he is now given what he has been through in his life while also seeing his campaign as just the latest version of the sad, depressing, been there, done that tale of The Craven Politician, bailing inconvenient past actions and professed principles faster than a guy in a rowboat with a couple of dozen golf-ball sized holes in its bottom.

Posted at August 4, 2008 2:49 PM in response to Denver: A "Biography" Convention Would Be a Disaster

JohnW1141: Who do you consider a dyed in the wool liberal these days?

Posted at July 31, 2008 1:31 PM in response to Obama-Kaine vs. McCain-Romney? Are These The Tickets?

When I started working for a Congressional committee many years ago, a senior staffer expressed to me his view that the "only people with a right to an opinion" are the people in the room (when a decision is made, that is).

I privately disagreed at the time, and feel the same way 22 years later.

Because interested Obama supporters can't be privy to what comes out in the vetting process, any Obama campaign staffer taking the trouble to surf around on the internet to get a flavor of netroots thinking on VP would, I would assume, take suggestions offered not as "pick so-and-so" but as "please consider or look into so-and-so".

The approach to reporting at the mother ship which Josh has pioneered is testament to how valuable information and suggestions can and do come from just about any place or source. Even the internet.

My thoughts, as a (white male, FWIW) northern Virginia resident who thinks very highly of Tim Kaine, continue to gravitate towards either Napolitano or Richardson as the person I would like to see Obama have as his running mate.

Not that Kaine is particularly charismatic, either, but Napolitano and Richardson both offer more in the way of pertinent government experience. We don't need more "electric" on the ticket. In fact, less in that way might be more.

Posted at July 31, 2008 12:57 PM in response to Obama-Kaine vs. McCain-Romney? Are These The Tickets?

Libertine, thanks for your tolerance of my continuing struggles to get links right. My stereotype of "libertines" is that they are, as a generalization, a highly tolerant bunch. :

Posted at July 14, 2008 11:16 AM in response to How Much are You Willing to Work for Corporate Welfare?

Jason, thanks for the kind words. Thanks also to both you and Ben for your thoughts on this.

Posted at July 14, 2008 11:12 AM in response to Faith in One Another as Americans?

wwstaebler: Thank you for the supportive words, and you're welcome. Likewise I will look for your byline.

Posted at July 14, 2008 11:11 AM in response to Faith in One Another as Americans?

...again (sigh):

Suburban Nation

Man I suck at this...

Posted at July 12, 2008 9:54 AM in response to How Much are You Willing to Work for Corporate Welfare?

Trying this last link, to Suburban Nation, again:

a href="http://www.amazon.com/Suburban-Nation-Sprawl-Decline-American/dp/0865476063/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215870336&sr=1-1">Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream

Posted at July 12, 2008 9:51 AM in response to How Much are You Willing to Work for Corporate Welfare?