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The Two Obamas
New York Times ^ | 6/20/08 | David Brooks

Posted on 06/20/2008 2:42:38 AM PDT by MartinaMisc

God, Republicans are saps. They think that they’re running against some academic liberal who wouldn’t wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn’t proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson.

But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes.

This guy is the whole Chicago package: an idealistic, lakefront liberal fronting a sharp-elbowed machine operator. He’s the only politician of our lifetime who is underestimated because he’s too intelligent. He speaks so calmly and polysyllabically that people fail to appreciate the Machiavellian ambition inside.

But he’s been giving us an education, for anybody who cares to pay attention. Just try to imagine Mister Rogers playing the agent Ari in “Entourage” and it all falls into place.

Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; barackobama; conservatives4obama; davidbrooks; democrats; elections; issues; mccain; nobama08; obama; obamacons
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To: Reo

Obama reminds me of when we elected David Dinkins Mayor of New York City.Many voters ‘FELT GOOD’voting for a black mayor.4 years later the same people could not wait to get rid of the worst mayor in recent New York City history.


21 posted on 06/20/2008 5:08:40 AM PDT by ardara
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To: LibLieSlayer

The FOX team seem to have loss a bit of nerve when the going gets tough...they are afterall lite weight broadcasters that sniff the polluted air of the DC/Media Morons.


22 posted on 06/20/2008 5:14:49 AM PDT by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))
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To: MartinaMisc; All
The article is interesting, not because it really says something new or different, but because it states it in a very simple and straightforward manner that I hope will get through to people. Basically, that Obama is no silly-head dunce that people here at FR are making him out to be. There is an interest brace of sentences stated in the article, and I quote: 'All I know for sure is that this guy is no liberal goo-goo. Republicans keep calling him naïve. But naïve is the last word I’d use to describe Barack Obama. He’s the most effectively political creature we’ve seen in decades. Even Bill Clinton wasn’t smart enough to succeed in politics by pretending to renounce politics. '

That is true, yet many people are writing him off. I said on another thread how myopic it is for people to write off a guy as 'unelectable' when his entire political career he has been making headway in 'unelectable' situations! I also said that using FreeRepublic as a bellwether of who will win (some thread was asking if FReepers know anyone who is voting for Obama) is pure folly, because Freerepublic is not representative of the general US populace, neither are we representative of the Republican Party at that (McCain was never in the top-5 list of FReeper choices, yet he is the GOP choice).

Obama is definitely beatable, but it will not be as easy as people are making it out to be. The guy can implode, or some crazy skeleton could come a-popping out of the closet, dancing the waltz while whistling a death-dirge for Obama's campaign. It is possible that Obama has 'alienated all of the south' as someone was saying yesterday. All sorts of things could happen, but you can be certain that if we rely on 'what ifs' to win, we will lose! That simple.

Obama is an astute political creature, one of the best in a long time in machiavellian intent and Nitzchean intrigue. On top of that he has basically the entire media behind him, giving him not only a lot of relatively free publicity, but also forming some sort of aegis around him that hides away any mis-steps he may make. Add to that an almost anti-Christ like ability to whip the masses ....the guy is a veritable paragon of a demagogue, whipping out segments of the population that were apolitical at best, and apathetic at worst! Note that many of these people, what some FReepers were referring to as 'Kollege Kids' in a derisive manner, are not even included in polls because most do not have land lines. And for the guy to whip up college kids is a big step ....i remember in 2000 working the local universities trying to sign up people to vote for Dubya .....the irony was that i was not a US citizen but a foreigner (Kenyan) studying in the US, and i was one of maybe three people in the city trying to whip up fellow students to vote. The students couldn't even name the number of states in the nation let alone be bothered .....yet Obama has whipped them up into a frenzy.

The guy has not only been collecting more money from average citizens than anyone before, but he has collected more money overall than anyone has before. And the fact that he has decided not to opt for the public finance method of campaign financing not only shows that he is smart (smart enough not to cripple himself financially), but also sly and pragmatic (sly enough to realize that McCain, even if you add 527 groups, will be in a severe financial disadvantage, and pragmatic enough to go back on his word when he realizes that it suits him). Think about how his campaign threw out those women so that they would not appear behind him in pictures ....the guy is very Nitzchean!

Yet many in FR try to paint him as some typical panty-waist liberal!

The guy chewed out Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, a formidable team that before Obama was considered not only unbeatable in Democrat politics, but as the reincarnation of Lee Atwater (but on the Democrat side instead of Republican), an old-country snake-oil salesman, and a gujarati guru ....all wrapped up in one animal called 'Billary.' Obama crushed Billary to bits, totally castrating Bill Clinton, and making Hillary seem like some vain petty loser.

Yet we say he is just some stupid puppet.

Obama can be beaten, but the only way to do that is to vote for McCain. However it seems like part of the Republican party is waxing poetic about how Obama represents the 9/10 way of thinking (he does, but that is really not sticking), or saying how they cannot vote for McCain (McCain stinks, but Obama is mustard gas and sarin gas combined), or saying how Obama 'cannot' win.

Simple answer: vote! Anything else is an Obama presidency. Yet we are acting as if he is some stupid dude in a suit .....when the fact is that even if his ideals are stupid, he really believes in them, is quite smart, and is willing to play quite dirty while appearing to act clean (and when he slips up the media ensures that the stink doesn't last). Goodness, imagine if McCain had some pastor who made half the comments Obama's did!

In my opinion, Obama is the most formidable candidate to ever face against the Republican party since JFK, yet we make him appear like some hapless fool whose shirt collar is too big for his neck.

Although, as someone said some days back, it is possible that (should Obama win) a 'Reagan' would arise for the next presidential cycle. Because the way ya'll are acting, this non-American (I'm not American) is seeing Obama becoming president. And while one may wonder why i would give a darn, or for that matter why i am not for him even though he somehow shares my Kenyan heritage, that is a question for another day. What suffices now is that ya'll are being quite myopic .....almost like Jimmy Carter claiming that Ronald Reagan is no threat since he was an actor.

Whistling on graves I say. Flame on!

23 posted on 06/20/2008 5:21:14 AM PDT by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: TomGuy
Charles Krauthammer said yesterday on FoxNews that the demographics are shifting. Clinton voters are returning to the camp. He also said that this election is Obama’s to lose.

Chuck is NUTS!!! Obama's to LOSE??? PLEASE!! IF the America is STUPID enough to elect some NEWBIE, NO-NOTHING SOCIALIST, then it's not worth saving or fighting for.

24 posted on 06/20/2008 5:44:34 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....The Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: iopscusa
The FOX team seem to have loss a bit of nerve when the going gets tough...they are afterall lite weight broadcasters that sniff the polluted air of the DC/Media Morons.

Fox seems to bend over backwards during elections. They were cheerleading for Kerry through the conventions and debates in 2004. It was incredibly frustrating, and I am not watching as much now as I did a few years ago. They seem to be bending over backwards to not appear favoring the right.

25 posted on 06/20/2008 5:44:45 AM PDT by ilgipper
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To: MartinaMisc

Brilliant???? BRILLIANT??? “57 STATES and only 2 more to go to” brilliant??? David Brooks is a double-agent....he’s no more conservative than Hillary.


26 posted on 06/20/2008 5:46:13 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....The Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: RoadKingSE

And a SMOKER, no less!!! Yeah...he’s the messiah.


27 posted on 06/20/2008 5:47:17 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....The Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Positive

B.O. HUSSEIN is so empty and a total faux perona, but the handlers and promoters can undue Our Democracy in a few short strokes of the pen. With the MSM 100% kissing his tail
there is no Salvation if the Brainless (per Ann Coulter) ELECT this monstrous fraud. Your perspective on the Roman Empire shuld be heeded by all Good U.S. Citizens who Love their Freedoms. May GOD Bless America and Save Us from Our Enemies Within!
Now We are suppose to believe Chris Dodd when he tells Us he didn’t take a Bribe from Countrywide and he wants to give them a $25 BILLION Dollar Bailout! GEEZ, How Stupid does Dodd think We are? He knows how brain dead his constituents are, thats for sure. You could autopsy each one and it wouldnt adverly affect their brain processes.


28 posted on 06/20/2008 5:50:53 AM PDT by True Republican Patriot (God Bless America and The Republicans)
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To: Ann Archy
Brilliant???? BRILLIANT??? “57 STATES and only 2 more to go to” brilliant???

Oh come on! You mean you aren't buying the mantra? Obama is gifted , brilliant, and messianic. I'm reminded of another "brilliant" orator who presumed he could have regular sex in the oval office and no one would notice.

Truth is, the "brilliance" of these politicians is measured by the ignorance of those who choose to ignore what they are hearing with their own ears.

29 posted on 06/20/2008 5:52:00 AM PDT by Neverforget01
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To: NYC Republican

Michael Savage


30 posted on 06/20/2008 5:55:05 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heros have always been cowboys--Reagan and Bush)
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To: MartinaMisc

Everyone should read Jack Cashill’s latest article on B. O. HUSSEIN and his infamous speech given to a Former SDS/Weatherman Protest organizers group in Chicago in 2002.
No Wonder the dems are trying to hide the speech. OBIE HUSSEIN makes STALIN look like a Saint!


31 posted on 06/20/2008 5:56:12 AM PDT by True Republican Patriot (God Bless America and The Republicans)
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To: yldstrk
Bud, we were talking about FOX News, and how Sean's the only conservative left there... As for talk radio, there are plenty of true conservatives pounding home our cause...

Michael Weiner (Savage) is a lunatic psycopathic sKum who's NOT a conservative... He's a self-promoting fraud, who pounds the right harder than Air America does... Lately he's HUGE on conspircacy theories, and parrots all of the lefty lies... Big Oil... Need to increase the minimum wage... we need to regulate oil companies profits... need to control CEO salaries... we're in Iraq for oil... Goldman Sachs controls our government... Saudis control out government...

I could go on all day.

32 posted on 06/20/2008 6:01:31 AM PDT by NYC Republican (weInfuriate the MSM---Vote McCain... John McCain- Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory...oh g)
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To: spetznaz

I think you are rigiht, the man is a dpell binder snake oil seller, creepy slippery con man who would throw anyone under the bus for his ambition and we can’t even know that he was born an American and no one seems able to make him prove it.


33 posted on 06/20/2008 6:01:36 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heros have always been cowboys--Reagan and Bush)
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To: DeLaine

“Kenneth Griffin of the Citadel Investment Group; Kirk Wager, a Florida trial lawyer; James Crown, a director of General Dynamics; and Neil Bluhm, a hotel, office and casino developer.”

All of whom will be looking for something out of an Obama Administration. If you believe these guys do this out of public-spiritedness, you believe in the Easter Bunny.


34 posted on 06/20/2008 6:14:36 AM PDT by popdonnelly (Does Obama know ANYONE who likes America, capitalism, or white people?)
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To: NYC Republican

Agree - God Bless him. He puts it all out there, and he has a family. I think he’s brave and pray for him often.

Brooks nails this well, the NY Times no less. Lot of people reading this over their lattes.

Not much being said about E D Hill losing her show over her “bump fist” comment ~

Have a good day :)


35 posted on 06/20/2008 6:17:43 AM PDT by IwaCornDogs ("There Will Be Bamboozeling" ~ Nobama 08')
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To: MartinaMisc

So he’s a Chicago pol who quotes Niebuhr. He’s also a neo-Marxist. Are any of these things good qualifications for a President?


36 posted on 06/20/2008 6:17:55 AM PDT by popdonnelly (Does Obama know ANYONE who likes America, capitalism, or white people?)
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To: doodad

Doesn’t matter. In 1976 Jimmy Carter was a one-term governor and a Democrat. He knew so little, it wasn’t funny. But a bare majority voted for the worst president of my lifetime. Carter’s presidency was a disaster and ushered in the tolerance of Islamofacism.

In 1992 a plurality voted for a known philanderer who out-talked the incumbent, bit his lip and said he “felt their pain”. Taxes were raised and terrorism was looked at as a mere “legal problem”.

Here we are in 2008. I hope to God American doesn’t fall for another slick-voiced socialist.


37 posted on 06/20/2008 6:19:25 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: MartinaMisc

McCain has to get him off the teleprompter to beat him. If Obama is on script at the podium, the swooning masses will elect him.


38 posted on 06/20/2008 6:23:07 AM PDT by IamConservative (Character: What you do when no one is looking.)
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To: MartinaMisc
...underestimated because he’s too intelligent. He speaks so calmly and polysyllabically...

ROFLOL. I see no sign of intelligence inside the empty suit. No basic understanding of international affairs, economics, defense, or energy. Being a corrupt Chicago pol doesn't teach you about any of these things or prepare you for the presidency. An as to speaking polysyllabically, just last week he let loose with this laugher...

"And so they incorporated music, you know, ah tracing sort of the history of African music through blues through jazz to modern times, along with history, along with literature, and these kids last year, ah, the year before they started this charter school, about 50% of the kids had dropped out, and now a 100% of them are graduating, a 100% of them are going to college because they were engaged in a curriculum that was interesting to them and seemed relevant to them, ah, and they incorporated art and music to make school interesting.

39 posted on 06/20/2008 6:24:51 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: True Republican Patriot
Links are nice...

Were you referring to But Why Was Obama Against the War?

40 posted on 06/20/2008 6:31:35 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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