What is that Barack Obama is saying? Or more to the point, what is he not saying?
In yesterday's MSNBC interview, Keith Olbermann keeps throwing Obama easy soft balls in the form of short, pithy lines that go straight at the blatant lies at the core of the recent rebound of the Republican ticket, and Obama fumbles every single one, coming off as the most scripted, cautious politician ever. Finally a somewhat exasperated Olbermann asks the candidate if he has given any thought to "simplifying your message." And then, to be even more helpful, he adds, "Like Reagan did when he reduced everything to 'Are you better off than you were 8 years ago?'" Obama replies in the affirmative, then goes off on an explanation of his simplified message which runs for several paragraphs. MSNBC meanwhile runs a text underneath reading "Can Obama Keep It Simple?"
But verbosity is not the only problem. Obama's comments on the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae meltdown suck all the politics from the issue and reduce it to a matter of competency. The crisis, according to Obama, is merely "a structural problem that needs to be fixed. He further notes, "I have to be fair on this one, Republicans and Democrats I think, in Congress, did not pay enough attention to the structural problem." And what is the structural problem? "Not regulating the financial markets generally," and specifically "not updating some of our financial regulations... This has ironically hurt the market... a little bit of well-applied regulation and transparency and accountability actually helps the market, helps the economy grow, and that's what I want to restore when I am president."
Right.
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN: "THEY'LL PAY ATTENTION TO STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS!"
Umm.
How about this instead: "We need to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to protect American's investments in their homes. But if the government can lend a helping hand those at the top of the economic ladder, it can and must lend a hand to those at the bottom. My plan balances both. John McCain's just helps the rich."
Was that so hard?
This comes just days after Obama's assertion on Fox News that the troop surge in Iraq "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams." Not only a stupid thing to say, but flat-out wrong.
According to Richard Cohen's op-ed in today's Washington Post, Obama's performance on ABC's This Week was no better:
Obama was cool, diffident, above it all -- unflustered, unflappable, unexcitable and downright unexciting. These "uns" ran on, a torrent of cool that frosted my flat-panel TV... Pathetic... Maybe he's worried about how America would receive an angry black man or maybe he's just too cool to ever get hot, but the result is that we have little insight into his passions: What, above all, does he care about? The answer, at least to the Sunday TV viewer, was nothing much.
Ouch.
I have heard all about Obama's cool disposition, and how this supposedly qualifies him to be commander in chief, but unless he can show some fire he is never going to get there. More than that, this is not just a question of style but substance. McCain's program is just more Bush/Republican corporate giveaways. Welfare for the rich. Obama can save all that "well-applied transparent regulation" for "structural problems" for the classroom, which is where he may end up if he keeps up like this.
Silly me, wanting an erudite president, when so many talking heads are calling for an angry one quick with pithy statements. Where have we seen that before?
I watched that mad man on THAT other channel for as long as I could take it. Even though that Bill is cute he sure could do a life-time in charm school.
My daughter, age 7, and I watched Obama's discussion with George S. last Sunday. Obama made some of his usual points, but afterwords, only one point stuck with my daughter. "Obama says that John McCain is a good man" she told me. "McCain is a good man"
That may be so, but that is not the main message to convey to US voters, many of whom will pay about as close attention to this campaign as my daughter.
It seems he may have finally stopped talking like professor. Good he needs to make clear how Obama and McCain differ on torture, taxes, science and education.
I agree, he needs to keep it simple. The very characteristics that would make him such a good president also make him a flawed candidate. As much as it will pain him to do it, he needs to dumb it down for the masses.
It's beyond time that we chuck our flawed presidential system of government in favor of one that would at least make good presidential material actually end up as president.
A lot of us black folks, wouldn't mind trading the other various things we are considered in American society to be reduced to level-headed, calm and reserved individuals. The freedom to simply be seen as a person who on face level is exactly who he says he is, appears frightening what your piece seems to steal from Obama.
Like most people, no one is calm or angry all of the time; as I imagine most complex, intelligent people are based on the situation, here Obama choose to be measure with Olbermann who is considered to be rather excitable. Good for Obama.
Part of why the Repugs have beaten the Democrats in so many presidential elections is that their candidates are coached by a seasoned PR machine to deliver pithy, easy-to-understand sound bites.
In the KO interview, Obama made the classic Democratic blunder of talking too much. He used a lot of words and a lot of complex sentences. What he needed to do was distill his message to its essence.
Until he learns to do that, he will come off as "aloof," and this will put off many swing voters who might really like what he has to say, if only they could figure out what the heck he is saying.
Here is another thing he could say:
"Can you afford to send your kids to private schools? Cause John McCain has said he supports abolishing the Department of Education and in his speech at the GOP convention he said he support more "options" for parents on schooling for their kids. If his education plan is similar to the options he offering on his health care plan, then I guess he's for supporting private or corporate of our school systems and eventually eliminating public schools. I ask you - Do you think the average American afford to send their kids to private schools? And are private schools going to set up in rural or economically depressed areas? So the best schooling will go to the rich kids and the rest of us will be stuck with a failing school."
Olberman is passionate and his heart is in the right place, but it is Obama and Biden's campaign to win or lose, and they must make the tactical and strategic play as they see it. Calling the opposition liars (as Olberman obviously wanted Obama to do) would have been a grave error -- they are liars but to call them liars as opposed to challenging the lies treads perilously close to an ad hominem attack.
Obama handled the interview well, given the circumstances.
The republicans always play dirty, and they appeal to the truth of our darker sides in the process. Obama needs to take off the gloves and start swinging...he's smarter, and in the end I believe that people will see the difference.
It is up to Obama and Bidden as to how they fight this thing to its conclusion, but given what's at stake, we ALL deserve their best efforts, and so far I don't believe we are seeing that.
Frankly, the cautious nature of Obama is good not bad; and in no way indicates the lack of fire or drive; he is smart to be who he is and not reach in the gutter just to satisfy those who want their politics fought in a sewer. I saw a person who handles himself in a manner that we have become unaccustomed to over the past 7+ years, and should Obama lose, the American people will gravitate to the leadership they deserve.