The Snooze Factor
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.
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where have you guys been, this site for the past two day have been littered with Obama hitting back. and I'm sorry it is his job to remain calm because if he goes crazy so do we, someone has to remain calm, Obama fights back when he needs to- and if you look at huff post today and yesterday you see evidence of that. Everybody has an opinion- if you think it is so easy to run for president then i think you should do it. this man has to fight every stereotype their is, from elitist, to possible angry black man with millitant wife, to possible sell out (depending on who you talk to)- he is who he is and unfortunately he has to be careful with what he says because everything gets turned around and distorted and after that "bitter" thing (taken out of context- i actully read the entire thing) so he is more guarded, people are mad because he won't react to things the way they want him to. he is his own man- and i'm sorry the whole surge thing - this is not new from Obama he has said from the reduce of violence stand point it has succeded (see what i mean even the author of this post didn't even catch that) and he goes on to say how the reason for the surge though has not succeded-Pay attention people obiously this guy didn't or he would have fully quoted Obama
Frankly, he would do well not to take the bait offered by second-guessing, lukewarm, waffling commentators like Ostertag. Getting sputtering mad at McFeeb and the Palindrone repeating their stump speeches over and over again is pointless. Something tells me that this campaign knows what it is doing and it has a few things up its sleeve. Wny show panic by going off message? People want to know what these candidates are going to do and running around saying "maverick" is not going to fly in Michigan and other places where people are hurting. I thought he showed insight about the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issue - more so than the monumentally stupid Palin when she said taxpayers were fed up and that's why they were seized.
Oh, please forgive him for not thinking we're stupid. Yes, he does give us too much credit for being able to think. My, oh, my---how condescending of him. And darn all those serious issues.
I have to say, I totally agree. I watched him yesterday as was like WTF! You better get it together and quick or this race is all but lost.
I'm reposting this because it's relavant here as well.
Obama's interview with Olbermann should have been a cakewalk--i mean the guy just got demoted for allowing his overwhelming support to eek into his reporting so you would think Obama would be comfortable talking to Keith. i don't understand all the stammering, the 'uhs', and long-winded professorial answers. didn't we learn anything from gore 2000? KEEP IT SIMPLE....
and another thing....n
i don't agree with the rethugs, but you gotta admire their strategy..
he needs to play to win and not let others win for him he needs to do it himself...
You are so correct. I wonder if the enemy has planted someone inside the Obama campaign to turn him into such a soft boring candidate. He needs to wake up and go on the offensive with crisp direct statements of truth. Same for Biden. No more avoiding the word lie--by saying misstatement or some such nonsense. This is hard ball and all of us got behind him because we thought he would fight for us. Where is the fight? No one will rally behind a weak candidate. Meanwhile, I canvas in Ohio--the Cleveland area, which is supposed to be behind Obama; don't be so sure. There is a lot of vote changing here. Palin has redefined the game.
oh my God- are you even looking at any other article on the rest of this site- don't believe everthing- Obama is fighting back- Hello- try going to a few more articles on this site. This was posted today, and there as been a lot of developments since then, not only that a new ad that obama put out mocking mccains ad, an now Obama hitting Mccain on education (he is play offense on this one)- I wonder sometimes it is like some of the writer on here don't even pay attention to the stuff that happens on this site- the say how obama needs to fight back and their story- is right next to a story where Obama is really taking Mccain to task. i swear. it is like no one pays attention anymore
OK OK - I do agree that perhaps going too hard in early September is bad planning - rathcet it up as we get closer to November
It seems so easy too - as this article points out.
paint all these issues not as structurally problems, but as what they really are - the regular americans getting scrwed by the republican deregulation machine - why is that so hard. Come on Obama. People get fired up over effing Palin because she is a pit bull - even if she is an utter and complete lier. Since you are on the right side you can be a Pit Bull AND tell the truth.
Get to work and start slamming republican heads over the Rape Kit issue in Alaska. That should fit quite well with the anti abortion stance AND McCains vetting problem.
This happens in all of your elections. The enemy is not planted some"one" in the Obama camp. The Obama camp is overrun with enemies of the state as are the Republican camp. You people are too trusting to see that both of these parties work in tandem to keep you down. And while you squabble over table scraps they wage wars all over the globe in your name, with your money and they make billions of dollars which they keep for themselves. This, because you fall for their lies. The arrogance and over confidence of the average American makes them very easy to manipulate. So you continue to pay billions to your government so it can kill Arabs to steal their oil, and there is never quite enough left over to give health care to Americans. Fools.
Yeah, if Biden says one more time how 'smart' sarah palin is I think I will murder my tv set. He is confusing smart with ambitious. Sarah Palin comes off as stupid and stubborn, just like George Bush. Smart she isn't.
If O and company continue intellectualizing everything to death most Americans will find Palin's ridiculous, fundamenta
Keep it simple guys. Between 8 hours of TV a day, endless Internet scrolling and deadening political gibing how much do you think the average American actually has left to listen to you?
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Obama is starting to worry liberals, progressives and Democrats.
He's projecting a John Kerry-like unwillingness to punch back when the bullies shove him around.
And Biden won't be able to say a thing to Palin because it will be seen as a man picking on a woman.
Part of Obama's problem is that he wants to avoid the ``angry black man'' perception.
But it leaves both Dem candidates fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.
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My view exactly.
I have been worried about the campaign's avoidance of "angry black man" . It's a problem because most Americans will fall easy prey to that -- and the Rs are so dirty that they will pounce on the slightest hint and work it like crazy.
The words "lie" and "liar" have to be used though. Those words are accurate and on point.
Someone has to call it for what it is.
Maybe it is time to skip the whole "poor women" sentiment and just get over it and start attacking Palin for what she is - a McCain gamble with no vetting. I say, attack palin mercilessly and tie it to McCains lack of decision making ability and vetting.
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