Does 0bama follow McCain’s lead?
Rock meet hard place.
Obama: Financial crisis a major threat to economy
MSNBC/MSPDS
Chicago 9/15/08
CHICAGO - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday the crisis sweeping Lehman Brothers and other Wall Street firms posed a major threat to the U.S. economy...(snip)
OK Obama, is it MAJOR enough to actually DO something about it?
True to Form, Barack Obama Waits for McCain’s Reaction, *Then* Comes Up With a Position
On Thursday, freshman Senator Barack Obama promised that he would be unveiling “new proposals” for dealing with the mortgage crisis at a Friday campaign stop in Florida.
On Friday, Obama reneged [Ed.- Somebody call CNN and check if that word is still OK to use] on that promise, instead saying that this was “not the time to present specific details for how to fix the immediate problem” — because, clearly, the height of a crisis, during the last two weeks that Congress will be in session for the rest of the year, is the wrong time to propose solutions.
That night, the administration sent its proposed legislation to Congress, for those still showing up to work to consider.
On Saturday, John McCain released a statement tentatively opposing the bailout and encouraging Congress and the administration to consider his own proposal for preventing similar crises in the future. At the same time, the L.A. Times accused Obama of “voting present” on the bailout, as the freshman Senator maintained his silence and watched his opponent for guidance.
Today, after taking a day to wet his finger and put it in the wind (and to watch his grown-up opponent for what to do), Obama came out guns a-blazin’ (figuratively, of course; we all know Barack Obama doesn’t own any guns, and doesn’t want you to either) and “assailed” the plan, to use the AFP’s word.
The Bush administration has “only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan,” Obama declared at a Charlotte, NC rally (conveniently ignoring the fact that he has offered neither, instead backing off his promise of a “plan” with the excuse that it was “not the time” to present one).
“We have to come together, as Democrats and Republicans, to pass a stimulus plan that will put money in the pockets of working families, save jobs, and prevent painful budget cuts and tax hikes in our states,” said the post-partisan Obama, just before launching his usual, partisan attack on his opponent, whom he accused of wanting to “keep going down the same, disastrous path.”
Of course, his opponent has, as mentioned above, actually made a proposal to alter that path; but then again, when have accuracy or attention to detail been a strong suit (or any type of suit) of Obama’s?
As always, Barack Obama takes the easiest (and lowest) road. From having his political opponents removed from the ballot so that he could run unopposed (or the next closest thing to it), to repeatedly voting “present” on legislation, to, in this race, waiting for John McCain to take a position on an issue before making up his own mind on it, then coming out firing at McCain (rather than actually talking about his own position on, and proposed solution to, the issues), Obama’s career has been marked by cop-outs, relationships of convenience with very disreputable figures, and machine-politics-as-usual attacks.
This situation is no different. Obama is allowing the President, the rest of the Congress, and his own opponent in the presidential race to take all of the risk and make all of the statements, while he sits up straight on his highest of horses and tells them all that they’re going about fixing the problem the wrong way.
Anybody can sit back and tell the folks actually coming up with ideas, be they good or bad, that they are wrong. It actually takes brains and a certain amount of risk to conceive an idea and put it before the public.
And Barack Obama, freshman Democrat Senator from Illinois, former State Senator who voted present over 100 times in seven years (and tried to change his vote ex post facto on even more than that), and former community organizer who was utterly unable to organize his community or to describe what a “community organizer” does?
Well, he wouldn’t know anything about that.