Posted on 08/25/2008 1:42:06 AM PDT by Stoat
That's easy, I thought. All Obama needs is a personality transplant that makes him a whole new person. Less dreamy eloquence, more grit would help.
Oh, and he should make the change immediately, so this new and improved Obama - this Obama 2.0 - can appear in Denver while the eyes of the nation are on him.
Democrats need a momentum changer, with many Republicans for the first time believing John McCain can win. Instead of consolidating the party behind him, polls show Obama has lost ground in key states since Hillary Clinton conceded in June. The race is a referendum on him, and he has failed to make a compelling case he is ready.
Obama's problems with working-class voters are so well-defined now that the history-making nature of his candidacy is sometimes an afterthought. As the first black person to be the nominee of a major American political party, Obama has scaled heights of success regarded as impossible only a year ago.
Yet "close" doesn't count in elections, and Obama would be the first to say the journey will not be complete unless it ends in the Oval Office. How well he and his party do their jobs in Denver will go a long way to determining whether that greater history is made.
The opportunity is there. Americans remain in a mood to blame Republicans for everything from the war in Iraq to the economy to the price of gas. With eight out of 10 voters saying the country is on the wrong track, this should be a Democratic year from statehouses to the White House.
But for that to happen, Obama has hard work to do. So hard, in fact, that vanquishing Clinton and a rat pack of male rivals for the nomination now looks like it was the easy part.
The good news for Democrats is that Obama and his team, after two months of dithering, finally seem to recognize the seriousness of the problem.
By selecting Joe Biden as his running mate, they opted for a grownup who could plug big holes in Obama's game.
Obama's lack of experience, especially on foreign affairs, was so glaring that Clinton and McCain both exploited it almost at will. Russia's invasion of Georgia illustrated the untenable situation that every world crisis had the potential to help McCain because Obama had no answer to the experience gap.
Biden, for all his flaws, brings some balance to that battle. As the designated attack dog, he will take the fight to McCain in ways that are unbecoming and uncomfortable for Obama.
Yet that brings us back to my friend's concern about Obama himself. For all his inspirational rhetoric and the savvy primary game plan, the fundamental doubts about his readiness that were there on day one persist.
Biden cannot change that dynamic. Nor can Bill and Hillary Clinton, even if they are inclined to honestly try to help Obama win.
If Obama is going to be President, he must propel himself over the finish line. We're about to find out if he can summon whatever it takes.
wow, haven’t thought of that song for a long time.
I love that song. (But it ends with two strikes of the drum, not three!)
FReepers are perceptive!
Just yesterday I noticed that a majority of headlines managed to insert *plugs* and those that didn’t managed to find a place for it within the article.
I think that tells us exactly what the media really thinks of Biden.
I will be waiting for the democrat talking heads and their MSM to start pontificating how his speech at the convention will be ‘the most important speech of his career’ or do they only reserve those comments for President Bush?
“He’s got to be tough and hardheaded and honest about what he’s going to do.”
That alone should do it for McCain as > 50% of Americans realize that Obama will tax and spend the US economy into a real recession, not the fake recession the MSM whines about. To know Obama is to understand he would be dangerous to America.
“In a way, I feel sorry for Obama. He’s been duped by Soros, Moore, Oprah, etc. into believing he’s something other what he really is.”
That’s what my wife said to me yesterday. Obama is in over his head, and it is likely dawning on him that he has been set up.
Correct! Song can be found here for those who wonder what we’re fussin about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcj16EGYYrs
The public liked Obama 1.0.
Then they saw Obama 2.0 and changed their minds.
The Democrats and their lackies in the media are hoping that the public buys Obama 3.0 this week and doesn’t get a tinge of buyer’s remorse until December at the earliest...
Or, y’all can just borrow my copy on 78....
The more I look at Obama, the more I see Robert Redford’s character in “The Candidate.” If Obama wins, I fully expect him to turn to a flunky and ask, like Redford’s all style-no substance character at the end of the film, “what do we do now?”
Obama's disconnect with the yearnings of average Americans was best depicted with his arugula remark. Most Americans have no idea what arugula is. If had said "where are the pork rinds", he would have connected. But I'm sure (even as hard as he tries to depict himself as an average American) he wouldn't understand the problem.
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