Howard Wolfson: Obama Smear Book Dead On Arrival

Gotham Acme:

Although Jerome Corsi's book "The Obama Nation" has been out for just a brief period, it is already clear that it has failed to put a real dent in Senator Obama's candidacy. The book may sell to hardcore conservatives, but its electoral impact will be minimal.

Corsi co-authored "Unfit for Command," which did significant damage to Senator John Kerry's candidacy in 2004. Democrats feared a repeat in 08.

So what changed?

"The Obama Nation" contains no real revelation or new criticism about Senator Obama. "Unfit for Command" purported that Senator Kerry did not deserve his medals and was not really a war hero. This was a big, easily understood attack which went to the very heart of Senator Kerry's candidacy. In contrast, "The Obama Nation" contends that Senator Obama is a liberal. A Republican calls a Democrat a liberal? This is news? Who cares?

Read the whole story: Gotham Acme

Comments

[blue42]

here is the problem alot of these low info voters don't have computers or can't afford them( because they let the repubs trick them into voting for them in which they shipped there jobs over seas.) so they dont have acess to websites only the msm

[HC4BO]

New Pro-Obama book coming out soon ...

Digg It :

http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Obama_s_Challenge_by_Robert_Kuttner_Chelsea_Green

Pre-order at Amazon at Reduced Price ...

[Phil123]

Everyone seems to be up in arms about this book "smearing" Obama.

Will someone please tell me what the big smear is? You are all ranting over nothing.

No potty-mouthed responses please. Just tell me what it is that this book says that is so damning.

Also, don't simply send me the link to the "rebuttal.­" That rebuttal is absurd. There is no smear to rebut. It is a biography. Get over it, or tell me what the smear is.

[Dreamers 101]

I wont just give you a link in rebuttal I'll give you are whole attack against this garbage.

http://mediamatters.org/

[Phil123]

AAAAAAAHHHHH! You failed to do so. You posted a link.

[allonfla]

I knew it. I knew it. A month before this book came out, Dan Abrams asked his panel if this book will be a disaster for the campaign. I told myself no. Ron Reagan also said it wasn't going to cause much of a problem either.

[saneinflorida]

The conspiracy posted theories here remind me of some X-File episodes.

I think one of the reasons that the book has done as well as it has is that people are just trying to get more information about Mr. Obama. The more his campaign appears to hide him, the more he fails to show up for the invites to the town halls after saying he would debate McCain "anywhere, anytime", the more people are going to be forced to look elsewhere for information so they can try and make an informed decision. This is not to say that anything in this book is factual...­it is just another source that is available for them to try gather info.

Most realize that info posted on a candidate's website and campaign commercials is probably somewhat tilted.

[allonfla]

Complete Bunk! Like the article stated, the stuff in that book is ooold! The people who turn to this book, instead of the gagillion articles on the internet, to learn more about Obama are looking for someone to reinforce their belief, not to make up their minds

[saneinflorida]

It would only be old to those that heard the info before. Many, as hard as it may be to believe, don't use the internet to gather information.

I don't know if I can quite understand how spending money on a book equates with reinforcing one's belief. If I already believed something, I certainly would not need to spend any hard earned money to reinforce my belief.

Thanks for the comment.

[Yola]

The reason the book "has done so well" is because the republican nutcases bought it in bulk!

[saneinflorida]

As I stated earlier...­sounds like some of the X-Files conspiracy theories..­.thanks for the response though.

[blue42]

thank you yola the repub buy these books in bulk then hand them ou to there base or the bigots who follow them

[learnsomething]

"" think one of the reasons that the book has done as well as it has is that people are just trying to get more information about Mr. Obama.""

If people are just trying to learn more about Obama, they would read Obama's two books instead of some sleazy smear book.

Those who are reading that Jerome Corsi sleaze are Repubs. Dems are too intelligent to read that sleaze.

[Bettysdad]

People who are sane don't tell people they're sane.

People who are insane tell people they're sane.

[uvymopkq]

The only ones who read the book was Democrats.

[sheikwil]

This book failed completely, even though it was on the NY Times best sellers list, but what most people don't know is that the book was bought in bulk which means it didn't make the best sellers list because individuals ran out and bought the book, but the book was bought in bulk which means that some conservative group could have gone out and bought say for example 500 books then gave them out for free. So if several groups did this even the conservative party could have bought up all the books and then gave them out and this is why the NY Times put a red sticker of some sort on it to let people know that it was bought in bulk, not by individual people. Plus it was investigated and found out that most of the footnote references the idiot that wrote the book was references from himself. It just goes to show that the devil is a lyar.

[krocklin]

Someone wrote that Democrats keep talking about policy but Republicans talk about character.
This is an excellent perspective and one the Democrats need to understand - they must go after McCain's "character", just as Republicans always emphasis this issue, as distasteful and often hypocritical it is in the eyes of most Democrats.
It is true that he who points the finger usually sticks it in his own eye, but neverthess McCain's lies, flip flops, temper, extreme rhetoric, saber rattling, mistreatment of his first wife, cruel and crude remarks and jokes about women, his disparagement of his own wife in words and at the biker's rally - even Republicans won't be comfortable with him if the Democrats hammer away on those issues.

[LeftVetPatriot]

Which Democrats aren't talking about character?
Someone wrote?
Sounds so Foxian.

[Collielady]

The Dems need to start hammering, hard! Yahoo! News reports that McC**n has surpassed Ob*ma by five points in a new poll. WTF?

[MsDoc]

Not according to CNN's Poll of Polls...

O'bama is up by one...

Not good enough... but better than I thought.

[ivegotblisteronmefingers]

ahhh back in the day!
Dana Carvey as GHW Bush.....J­ohn Lovitz as Micheal Dikakis
GHWB meandering w/his !000 points of light and whatnot...
MD w/his 5 languages and on point replies...­..
at the end John Lovitz (as MD) just looks dead at the camera and says "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy!"
and JM makes GHWB look like a Rhodes Scholar!

[Vin4Obama]

Jerome Corsi ties McCain to the mob in February 2008.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=57354

Corsi happens to be a Staff Reporter at WND (World Net Daily).

Jerome Corsi in Feb 2008 writes that "McCain was funded by Soros since 2001"
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56177

FUNNY FUNNY, hey McCain Supporters, you have a hell of a team!

[SMP]

McCains father in law.....th­e Beer guy.......­..was heavily into the Mob

[TonalCrow]

As usual, the Democratic candidates fails to understand that the public votes largely on "character" and not on policy. As usual, the GOPper spends all his time questioning the Democrat's character, and the Democrat keeps praising the GOPper's character. How many times do we need to lose before we begin to understand the importance of questioning the GOPper's character? I'm not talking about lying here, but about vigorously, consistently, and _honestly_ questioning McCain's fitness for office. Go after his flip-flops. Go after his dishonesty. And, for goodness's sake, go after his bad temper and flippancy.

[gage]

It's already been tried. "The Real McCain", by Cliff Shecter. I don't think it sold very many copies.

[Collielady]

You are spot on, and the fact of the matter is there's PLENTY of material to use against McC**n, without spinning or lying. The guy is such a defective candidate I almost can't believe he's running, but then... if we look at the last president.­.. yeah, I can see McC**n winning. Frightening.

[Ammobob]

And he expects you to believe it!

Premier NObama has dropped drastically in the polls over the last month. McBush has gained in all swing states to even lead in some. Nobama's negatives are up, while McBush's remain the same.

But, this has nothing to do with the bad publicity surrounding NObama to include the book. Riiiiiight­.....

[Heavy]

Congrats, lies work on the uninformed. What a thing to be proud of.

[LeftVetPatriot]

Were you polled? Me neither.

You trust that tens of thousands of Obamans and uncommitteds have swung over to McCain based on Corsi's book.

Trust that I'm a minority airline pilot, too.

Wotta fish you are, Assobob.

[Soundofthunder]

The way the polls are skewed in favor of McCain's base, old people with a landline sitting on the phone waiting for someone, anyone to call them, it's a wonder McCain isn't up ten points in the polls. That Obama is ahead in any poll underscores McCain's ability to alienate and frighten voters, something the GOP was banking that Obama and/or Hillary would do.

SOT

[RoboA2008]

As with delegates in the primaries you win with electoral votes in thee general election. It doesn't serve the press to tell you Obama is way ahead of Mccain in electoral votes. And he is competitive in a number of states that went Republican.

[LucieLee]

Of course the book is dead on arrival!!! Coming from Wolfson, this is laughable!! As part of the Hillary campaign, and a contributor to her playbook, that McCain is attempting to follow...W­e don't need Wofson to enlighten us about this nonsense of a book......­it has been thoroughly trashed by Media Matters and the Obama campaign. One thing the book has done is show how really gullible the American people truly are, to even swallow the pablum they fed, instead of spitting it out!! The people who digest this trash, weren't going to vote for Barack Obama anyhow!!

[learnsomething]

""The people who digest this trash, weren't going to vote for Barack Obama anyhow!!""

Exactly

[S1m0n]

Obama's too likeable. Swiftboating works by giving people an excuse to dislike someone they already WANT to dislike. Kerry was a war hero, perhaps, but not really very likeable, so they ads found fertile ground. I doubt many people really believed it, but it was close enough for confirmation bias, and good enough to be a 'reason' they could cite when they talked about how they were voting.

M

[Collielady]

You make a very good point. I've read how that theory works.

[Yola]

I agree but also the American people were fooled 4 years ago and I don''t think this crap is going to work again! There is not a day that goes by that people aren't wishing they had a President Kerry in the WH instead of ----!

[DaveC19]

The new monthly R3uters/Z0gby poll has Mc up 46 percent to 41 percent now.

Something is working. Looks like the wheels are falling off.

[LuvDaH8ters]

Congrats for voting bush, and congrats for being happy that people want to elect 3rd term Bush.

[DaveC19]

I never said I was happy about it. Just stating the facts. It looks like all of the high road stuff doesn't work, negative ads and smear work. If o doesn't get that throught that thick skull it will be over before it began.

McCain/ Armageddon '08

[lboucher]

Obama is quickly morphing into Dukakis riding in that tank.
Time to nominate Hillary~~~

[speakyourmind]

Ain't gonna happen -- stop embarassing yourself.

[PumaAnn]

This is probably a LaRouche poster.

[TerryFL]

.

It's beyond embarrassi­ng.....we'­ve now reached pathetic.
.

[Heavy]

So tickled you are that lies actually work on the uninformed. Pathetic. Republicans bank on bottom feeders and the ignorant. Their base.

[learnsomething]

Exactly.. Some people will beleieve anything the GOP throws at them. How pathetic. The GOP depends on these types of folks to win elections.

[CindyM2008]

The sky is falling!

[marchamlin]

Give it up, already.