Posted on 05/12/2008 12:30:42 PM PDT by shrinkermd
With the Democratic nomination all but decided, it's time for Barack Obama to start defining himself in the context of the general election -- before the Republicans define him. Most importantly, he must answer this question once and for all: What are his values?
Mr. Obama began to do so last Tuesday night, by speaking more generally about who he is and how he defines himself. But this is just a first step.
Exit polls in Indiana and North Carolina show clearly that fewer than 60% of white voters believe Mr. Obama shares their values. In a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, only 45% of the American electorate said they can identify with Mr. Obama's values, compared to 54% who say they can identify with John McCain's values.
Make no mistake, the ongoing controversy over his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright leaves Mr. Obama vulnerable. So does the flap over his comments at a San Francisco fund-raiser over working-class voters' alleged bitterness leading them to cling to religion and guns. He needs to speak directly and forthrightly to the concerns and fears of these voters if he is to succeed in November.
...Most Americans know that Jeremiah Wright's views are not those of Barack Obama; they do not need a point-by-point refutation of Mr. Wright's comments. But moderate-to-conservative voters who once had confidence in Mr. Obama now have doubts, because he has been so close for so long to someone whose values are so inimical to theirs.
Here's what I mean. In 1996, I was the campaign manager for Clinton-Gore in Tennessee and Kentucky. We ran our campaign almost exclusively on conservative values -- on issues such as opposing gang crime, opposing welfare fraud, and fighting street crime.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
If Obama’s values are still unknown, either he doesn’t have any or they are best left unknown.
And, that's only because Indiana was the primary of the moment.
Most people don't pay attention to elections that are not happening in their state ... in fact, I hope McCain's smart enough to put out the Wright videos in October.
Video defines Obamessiah to a T...
Obama will be defined by the company he has kept as an adult.
“1. His mother who was not only an athiest but a Marxist. “
In his book he states that at around 13 years of age he began to distance himself from his mother’s race, but apparently not from her political ideology.
What? The poor pay taxes?
You can add a third: his wife, Michelle Obama -- true believer in black liberation theology and anti-American to the core.
True. I heard on one of the Cable News shows last night taht Michelle was the one who was “really into” Trinity United Church of Christ and Rev. Wright’s “Black Liberation Theology”.
I’ve also heard that Rev. Wright is “ticked off” big-time and he doesn’t care if he derails Obama’s campaign. Not saying I believe that.
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