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Obama: Standard-Issue Politician with Better Presentation

by

When we read some pieces by some Democrats and Democrat-wannabes extolling the virtues of their man Obama, they delight in defining him as some new kind of politician who transcends traditional politics. Yet, the more I watch him, the more he seems like your average everyday run-of-the-mill politician with a stronger presence and greater rhetorical gifts.

Just watching him try to bob and weave in the Ohio debate earlier this week when he was asked if he accepted the support of Louis Farrakhan reminded me not of some idealistic visionary out to change politics, taking on those voices of hate and division, but as the sidestepping Texas governor of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas:

Ooh, I love to dance the little sidestep
Now they see me, now they don’t
I’ve come and gone
And ooh, I love to sweep around a wide step
Cut a little swath
And lead the people on!

Senator Obama could have answered the question directly, starting with the simple word, “No,” making clear he refused the support of an anti-Semitic demagogue like Farrakhan, but instead, even after repeated followup questions, he never said he rejected that hatemonger’s support. Guess he feared such forthrightness might cost him a vote or two.

As Byron York put it in his review of the debate, “It’s a common technique for a politician who doesn’t want to say something to say that he has said it before without actually saying what he says he said.”

Common technique for a politician? And Obama’s supporters have been trying to convince me that he’s something different!

As the Texas primary approaches, Senator Barack Obama has been perfecting an old political trick parodied in a song by the Texas Governor in a hit musical.  Claiming he’s got great ideas, without being specific about important issues — or even answering tough questions. He’s just dancing a little sidestep and leading the people on.

It’s amazing that some very intelligent people have seen his clever repackaging of old political tricks as some new kind of politics.

Comments

  1. Its like that song from Chicago with Bobby Flynn, Razzle Dazzle.

    Give ’em the old razzle dazzle
    Razzle Dazzle ’em
    Give ’em an act with lots of flash in it
    And the reaction will be passionate

    Though you are stiffer than a girder
    They’ll let you get away with murder
    Razzle dazzle ’em
    And you’ve got a romance

    I do realize how gay it is to use a show tune to make a political point, but I am really straight acting in real life! I go to the gym five times a week and like football!

    But anyway, I never liked Obama and yea…I feel bad my part has been taken over by him. I wonder if the Republicans will be able to stop him, Good Luck to you y’all….I will be watching on the sidelines.

  2. You do know that he did "denounce and reject" the support at the end of the segment, right? Or did you miss that part?
    Also, when it comes to hate-mongers, I haven’t seen McCain reject the support of Hagee yet. Doesn’t Hagee’s support bother you as much as Farrakhan’s? Â

  3. Yes, but it’s just like the Governor in the musical.  He had to be pushed & prodded to do it.  Just like the Governor came out against the Chicken Ranch, though only when pressed.

    He didn’t come clean until he was backed into a corner.

    And yes, Hagee’s support bothers me, but until the media raised the issue, few were aware of his anti-Catholic bias.  Now that it’s out there, McCain should distance himself from Hagee, but unlike Obama, the candidate himself has not been asked about it.

  4. "without being specific about important issues — or even answering tough questions. He’s just dancing a little sidestep and leading the people on."

    He’s leading people who want to be led by platitudes, not by real solutions in a real world.
    I’ve come across some Obamamaniacs on a different list and they are vicious! Not only to me as an evil Republican, but to the Hillary crowd as well.

    This is not a group looking for substance – it’s all about the new Messiah. Maybe by November that messiah will be some pop star and this crowd will simply neglect to come out and vote.

  5. #2: "Also, when it comes to hate-mongers, I haven’t seen McCain reject the support of Hagee yet. Doesn’t Hagee’s support bother you as much as Farrakhan’s?"     Well, that’s interesting.  Gays are free to condemn evangelicals, catholics and every denomination in between as a bunch of hate-mongering bigots, child-rapists and in-bred, slack-jawed yokels, but when Hagee calls the Catholic Church "The Great Whore," then he’s a hate-mongering bigot  and McCain is on the hook for not distancing himself fast enough.     Another fine example of the gay left remaining true to their standards (the "double" is silent). 

  7. With all due respect, GPW, regarding your comment in #3 why would being "asked about it" be necessary to reject an endorsement by someone so hateful and disrespectful of a religious group.
    And regarding Sean A’s tirade against the "gay left", I did not hear any of that coming from the comments in #2.
    Regarding #6, just how long does Hagee have to go?I am not a Catholic but I remember driving Interstate 5 from Medford to Grants Pass in Oregon and there on a billboard was the statement that "The Pope is the Anti-Christ".  It was appalling.I was seriously considering voting for McCain, but until he rejects Hagee completely, that little box is going to remain blank. FWIW.
    Jim

  8. If Barack is elected he’s got to be the most unqualified person since Ben Harrison. The young people supporting him don’t have a clue what policies he stands for. He just makes an emotional connection with his "followers" But I do think it illustrates how hungry the country is for a pol who "seems" genuine. Who appears to listen and do the peoples business. This problem of the average polititian being so detached from the people….ex: the immigration amnesty bill, has led to this. Trouble is, who wants to flirt with a potential incompetent "Carter" like Presidency?

  9. Its kinda like night of living dead, Obambies are an unstoppable force that is marching along the land. They howl, "Change, Change…." and when someone is touched by it, they too are lost…and wander the night howling for Change.

  10. Unstoppable, that is, until it turns out they are only the same small-ish percentage of the population that has always shrieked for Ted Kennedy socialism, and don’t have quite enough votes to beat McCain.  As they found in 2004 with Kerry-Bush.

  11. P.S. As long as we’re on the subject of Obama equivocating about Farrakhan, I want to repeat a point someone made in a private exchange – Not my point – but I think it’s brilliant.

    Gay Clinton Backers Defect to Obama, Eroding Her Base – what’s up with that?  Because Obama is not only a guy who accepts Louis Farrakhan’s support; he actually refused to have his picture taken with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, over gay issues!

    So who are the so-called "Jews for Hitler", now?

  12. The difference is that Obama has nothing to do with Farrakhan.  McCain travels with Hagee.
    I don’t care if Obama denounces Farrakhan or not.  What difference does it make if Farrakhan supports him or not if he never asked for or took up any offer from the Nation of Islam?  This is a bullshit point.
    The rules of the game have shifted once again and just like Democrats didn’t know how to run against Reagan, if you want to run the Karl Rove game against Obama, you are going to lose.  I think McCain wants to debate him on the issues and that may well work, but this bullshit will just increase voter turnout.  We are tired of gotcha politics.

  13. I have a comment, with links, about Obama-Farrakhan and SF Mayor Newsom’s stories of Obama snubbing him (Newsom) for homophobic reasons… I think they’re in moderation… stay tuned.

  14. #13: I’m looking forward to your comment re Obama and Newsom’s priss-fit.  When I heard that Obama had snubbed Newsom, it was like getting a hug from Jesus. I expect it will be the only thing Obama gets right in his campaign.  Newsom is a self-righteous, elitist hack that should be shunned by Republicans and Democrats alike, but of course, he was briefly the shining star of the liberals because like all of their overnight sensations, he did something that was illegal, immoral and/or in direct opposition to his duties as an elected public official.  Liberals are so dense, they see no problem with the fact that this man became famous only because he did the OPPOSITE of what he was required to do as the City of SFO’s chief executive: enforce the jurisdiction’s laws.  P.S. Brendan, if you’re out there, I specifically used the expression "priss-fit" to notify you that I have no intention of submitting to your false accusations of "homophobia" and arrogant demands for other people to censor their speech to accommodate your delicate sensibilities.  You and any other politically correct super-tools out there, who strangely think you have the right to tell others what they can and can’t say, need to take your little Taboo buzzers and cram it.  In fact, it OFFENDS me that you would go on a website devoted to the discussion of politics and have the nerve to assert that certain words and expressions are off-limits.  However, I will admit that it helpfully confirms exactly what we suspected about liberals–they have absolutely no interest in free speech for those who disagree with them.  So, thank you for that.Â

  15. Can someone please explain to me how to insert paragraph breaks on this new system?  Thanks.

    [We’re having problems with it too. It may well be your browser. I find I can post more easily on Firefox than Safari (as had been my wont) — Dan]

  17. Thanks, but I’ve tried that (sometimes leaving three hard returns between paragraphs)–still publishes as a big, solid rectangle of letters.  I don’t know if this makes a difference, but I’m on an iMac and using Safari 3.0.4 (which has had some reported problems).

  18. the more he seems like your average everyday run-of-the-mill politician with a stronger presence and greater rhetorical gifts

    I’ve got to disagree with you on that one. Bookending your ghost stories about depression, famine, and 100 years of war with the words "Hope and Change" isn’t anything special or new.

  20. 15 Can someone please explain to me how to insert paragraph breaks on this new system?  Thanks.[We’re having problems with it too. It may well be your browser. I find I can post more easily on Firefox than Safari (as had been my wont) — Dan]Comment by Sean A — March 1, 2008 @ 2:54 pm – March 1, 2008

    The way to do it for sure is to hit enter at least two or three timesÂ

  21. I’ve seen a memo from the Obama campaign about a possible early debate with McCain really getting into the issues Americans care about.
    #1 What is hope and who has more hope, McCain or Obama.
    #2 Change, who wants it and how much change is good.
    #3 Who has the most hope for change, Obama or McCain.
    If there is any time left…. does McCain believe that "yes we can"?

  22. I wanna know if Obama has ever changed his hope in change. Was it in the past, the present or the future? As president, would he change the past to hope in the future which is now the present and should we feel good about that? Or should we just hope that change in the past will hope for the future?

    And if I say HUSSEIN, can I hope that he’ll piss his panties again? He seems to be hoping he can change on that one.

  24. Seriously, this analogy to a musical Texas governor is pretty lame considering the *real* ex Texas governor we’ve had to put up with for the last 7+years

  25. and PS:  At least Obama (and frankly almost any other politician in the country) can create a complete, grammatically correct sentence off the top of his head….unlike our current former governor of Texas.

  26. In a post that’s not even about Bush, Kevin in #24 and #25, has to bring him up.  Sounds like some kind of obsession to me.

    I guess they’ll still be blaming him for America’s woes when he returns to Texas next year.   Or maybe they’ll concentrate their fire on his successor from Arizona.

  27. and PS:  At least Obama (and frankly almost any other politician in the country) can create a complete, grammatically correct sentence off the top of his head….unlike our current former governor of Texas.

    If only he wouldn’t repeat the same sentence over and over for his cultists.

  30. #24 #25 It is good to see liberals agree about Obamas oratorical skills. Some of his speeches are full of what some might call "blather". Which the listener can interpret any way they wish. It may be gramatical but it is still "blather". Can I get a list of his other accomplishments? Take all the space you need.