Don't get me wrong. I like Barack Obama. If the primary were held today, he'd probably get my vote. But the honeymoon is over in Obamaland and it can't be written off with canned responses about how unreliable early poll numbers are.
If you look around the liberal blogs today, there's a lot of frustration with the Senate bill to grant immunity to telecoms who have helped the Bush administration illegally spy on Americans. High profile bloggers like Glenn Greenwald, Markos Moulitsas, Atrios, Jane Hamsher, and Big Tent Democrat at MyDD have been urging their readers to put pressure on the Senate to block the bill by contacting...Chris Dodd.
If anyone from the Obama campign is paying attention, this should serve as a wake-up call. A representative cross section of the liberal blogosphere no longer thinks Barack Obama is willing to stand up to the Bush Administration. These bloggers have already been disappointed enough over the last few months they didn't even bother asking Obama to oppose the bill this time around, instead throwing their support behind a candidate who's trailing Dennis Kucinich and Undecided in the polls. Writing about an Iraq appropriations bill last month, Markos Moulitsas perfectly summed up frustration with Obama (and Clinton) :
So where are the two "front runner" candidates on Iraq? Have they conquered their fear and actually said something of substance regarding the pre-emptive capitulation bill?. . .
Last supplemental, Hillary and Barack hid in the shadows, refusing to talk about the issue. They voted at the last second possible. They may have voted the right way, but did ZERO to move their caucus, the party, and the national electorate on the debate.
For a bunch claiming they deserve to lead our party and our nation, they've done everything possible to avoid any leadership.
The Obama campaign has been playing it safe for months now, so it should be no surprise that the base no longer expects him to, in the words of his campaign, "challenge the status quo and get results". It's not too late for Obama to turn things around. I still think Obama would make a fantastic president, but if he wants his grassroots-fueled campaign to regain some momentum, he needs to start by recognizing that people no longer see him as the go-to guy to buck the Washington establishment and be a champion for change.
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As I have said elsewhere, H&O are in hiding. They have failed miserably in standing up and being counted.
Obama seemed fresh and energetic during his Congressional campaign. Now he's about as fresh as canned soup. His answers just seem like the same contrived crap most of the other candidates belch up during interviews and debates.
A peacock may be stunning as an individual, but when you heard 10 of them together, they all look the same.
Maybe the Democratic front-runners have been tipped off that the Iraq War is part of a last ditch strategy to save the crumbling American Empire. Maybe someone has let them in on the impending world crisis related to the diminishing
petroleum supplies worldwide paired with astronomical increases in worldwide demand for petroleum.
I wish someone would also tell them the Bush/Cheney strategy to preserve American hegemony isn't going to work. Nothing is going to preserve America's top dog status because it's already gone. Why? One reason is that we use more petroleum than any other nation and we have very little left of our own. We are dependent on oil producing nations and we are no longer one among a few elite buyers. You might say we sold our birthright to China and other new economies so we could buy cheap toys that poison our kids and make huge profits for corporate shareholders. These new economies are not only undermining American workers they are competing with us for larger and larger slices of an ever-shrinking petroleum pie.
Fossil fuel, a finite resource, will soon give the lie to the myth of unlimited growth. It's time to replace neo-classical economics (a belief system based on money) with something like true-cost economics which is based on the recognition that natural resources do not expand infinitely but are depleted and ultimately used up.
Our current economic system does not take into account the truth about diminishing nonrenewable natural resources such as air, water, fossil fuels, etc. It rewards those who exploit such resources for their own profit (and that of others in select groups) and barely asks nothing in return. Wall Street encourages the idea that playing with money is a legitimate means of increasing wealth while the value of work and of natural resources is undervalued. So far the availability of cheap energy has underwritten this system. But the era of cheap energy is gone. The ground is shifting under our feet and neither American politicians nor the American people are facing it.
GREAT POST!!!
Let's face it. Obama would make a good president.
In 2016. Until then he's earning his spurs.
No. His time is now. Be patient. Hilary will bring us into WW3. Obama has the judgement to keep us out. He is the right candidate at the right time. Whoever wins the nomination will inherit this war He knows what he is doing. Nothing will change until the 2008 elections. Who else do you trust?
I'll keep typing this until I'm blue in the fingers. Total years in elected office:
John Edwards - 6 (one term, U.S. Senate)
Hillary Clinton - 7 (one term, U.S. Senate; re-elected 2006)
Barack Obama - 11 (4 terms, Illinois Legislature; elected to U.S. Senate in 2004)
I agree with you about his experience. I live in Illinois and wish our "Favorite Son" would demonstrate his ability to push important things through more on a national level. I am going to support him, although I hate that he is leaving the Senate. I also am sad that his run for the Presidency has kept him from demonstrating his ability to stand up and say what needs to be said. I really hate politics in this country.
everyone who would make a trustworthy president Died 100 or more years ago now, they all just want to get rich and get jobs as lobbyists so they can bribe public officials.Yes i said bribe and if congress didn't make their own rules it would still be a crime..Want to buy my vote?
They all claim support for the vicious and genocidal Israel. And as long as this goes on, we will have war and the costs of it. So far we have provided Israel with hundreds of billions of dollars, supposedly in part because of their intelligence work, based from the outset on torture. Not a single politician in this presidential race, except for Kucinich whom everyone silences as much as possible, understands that Israel has been gaming us all along.
On the other hand, what elections? Does anyone really believe that Cheney will hand over the dictatorship he's created to someone else? Dream on.
"Does anyone really believe that Cheney will hand over the dictatorship he's created to someone else? Dream on."
You just might be a little too paranoid for your own good. Relax. Election time will be here before you know it.
I'm truly ambivalent about Barach Obama. I don't think he can win the primary or the general election; yet I would like to vote for a change in politics as usual.
Luckily for me, my state, PA, won't be in an early primary contest. By the time we vote in any primary, the choice made have been made.
I'm horrified at Washington's political cynicism although as a old woman, I realize poltics is not what it seems; few have ideals once they state in Washington. I just wish I didn't have to view the crass corruption.
How can you possibly say, you think "Obama
would make a fantastic President." This is a
guy who instead of voting on the Kyle Lieberman
bill, decided to campaign in New Hampshire
instead. And when asked about this said, "I
don't always know when voting takes place."
This is a guy who promised the people of
Illinois he "would not run for President in
2008." HE LIED. This is a guy who when asked
a direct question, such as in all the debates,
is a disaster. He is an empty suit, a guy
who tried to sell "hope" in a jar and the jar
was always empty. He speaks in sweeping
generalities - and there is clearly no -
there - there. He is a media manufactured
candidate - and the media still keeps pushing
this guy. Hillary is 30 points - ahead of him -
30 Points! He is losing the black vote to
Hillary. I am NOT a supporter of Hillary -
but she dwarfs this guy in the debates and in
substance. Obama is an arrogrant as Bush, he
is a guy with less than 2 years in the Senate,
when he decided he wanted to be President.
He is beyond arrogrant and now he is getting
desperate trying to attack Hillary and even
President Clinton - the latter making no sense,
it merely shouts Obama's desperation!
He never had the chance to vote on the Kyl-Lieberman amendment. Reid took it off the floor and gave everyone the impression it would be reintroduced in the near future. So Obama went to campaign in New Hampshire. The very next day, without notice, Reid suddenly brought the amendment back to the floor.
By the way, did you know that Reid's son works for the Hillary Clinton campaign?
Did you know Obama proposed a resolution finding that the Iraq Revolutionary Guard was a terrorist organization?
http://www.cjcj.org/pubs/clinton/clinton.html
The Clinton's use black people and when they are done, well.... lets just say during Bill Clinton's reign, prisons were built by the hundreds around this country and what race comprises the majority of the prison population? He signed "tough on crime" legislation when crime had gone down and gave the Republicans billions of dollars to build prisons all over rural America. Black folks fill those prisons at unprecedented numbers. Once they are built, they must be filled (it's the prison industrial complex stupid). Any black person who votes for Hillary over Obama, is crazy and doesn't know anything about either Bill or Hillary Clinton and how they used the black people to their advantage but not really giving a hoot about any of them. At least Obama isn't sounding bla bla bla yet which is refreshing. I'm from Chicago, and I know he is not a fake and a phony. He has a good record here in Illinois as a Senator and a community organizer. He knows the issues.
Yes, Reid controls the floor. He was able to immediately get the MoveOn.Org thing on the floor, but nothing about Limbaugh. I just can't trust any democrat who voted for the bankruptcy bill, which he did.
I'll vote for Obama in the primary (and hopefully the presidential election). The more I watch Hillary the more I believe she really is Bush Lite.
Thanks Jim. Obama has raised as much money as the Clintons. He has broad support in this country. He can win, if you vote for him. Look at the contrast in his voting record with Hilary's (The Daily Kos has it) On progressive issures he voted correctly 17 times to Hilary's 4. She voted to call part of the Iranian army terrorists, the first step towards war with Iraq. Additionally, her new thing is providing more unpaid leave to people who have sick relatives to take care of. Fine. Bit who is she representing? The average working woman cannot aford UNPAID leave. She is doing the Geraldine Ferraro thing, speaking to her peers, not women who constitute the poorest amd most stressed group in America.
Someone posted that the primary qualification of being a law maker is to be a lawyer. I dno't think so. It is not in the job description. If there is a preponderence of lawyers in the system it is because they are looking for loopholes in the laws they enact. Romney's comment that he would consult his lawyers before attacking Iran underscores this fallacy. OUr elected officeials are sworn to uphold the constitution of the United States. Last time I read it I did not need a lawyer to interpret for me, it is written plain and simple for everyone to understand. I don't blame lawyers for this mess as they were brought in to the system by those in power as a later date and as a result have created this antagonistic approach to our politics and policies. The fact of the matter is that we only need lawyers because lawyers say we need lawyers. If you read any of the laws passed after the original constitution you can see why; just try reading one and make any sense out of it.
http://fitsnews.com/2007/10/18/fitsnews-exclusive-clintons-claflin-crackdown/
Students at Claflin University, a historically black college in Orangeburg, S.C., are accusing the school's administration of prohibiting them from forming a "Students for Barack Obama" chapter, yet simultaneously compelling them to attend a press conference supporting his chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton.
In fact, several students who serve as volunteers on Obama's presidential campaign tell FITSNews that they were coerced into holding Clinton signs and standing behind State Sen. John Matthews, who unveiled Clinton's higher education plan at a press conference held at the school last week.
About three weeks ago, an honors student at Claflin University says she approached the administration about establishing a Students for Bar ack Obama chapter at the school. The student was told that she and fellow students could not form such a group on campus, but no reason was given for the school's decision.
ETC
ETC
ETC
Which would probably explain some of the unenthusiastic expressions visible in this photograph
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/blog/view/?id=14620
WOULD-BE "STUDENTS FOR BARACK OBAMA" TOLD ATTENDING
HILLARY PRESS CONFERENCE WAS "PART OF CLASS"
WOW! Would you blog this over on dailykos? The picture is worth a thousand words.
Thanks.
He's relegated himself to VP. Hillary is acting as though she's already been crowned. What a bunch of talk but no real action- smoke up our asses again.
Draft the next Executive Branch. Through out in Congress that has paved they way to this Imperialistci agenda. Revoke all Bush Appointees. '00 was stolen and thus the rest is fruit from the poisonous tree.
Real national unity will come when the wrongs have been righted, Treason charges and punishments- then we can address the global f*ck ups.
All the main candidates are DC Whores and complicite in crimes against US and humnaity.Queen of Hearts? "Off with their heads!"
never in the course of human events have so few ripped off so many for so much, for so long email the rats tell them times up...
Nice article -- and it's definitely not too late for things to start turning around. Check back in about 2 weeks to see if this blog holds up or not. It's also possible Hillary Clinton has peaked and the fickle press will start to turn on her. Also, if you look at NEW people participating in the political process, you will probably see a lot of Obama supporters. And you may have noticed that many Republican/conservative commentators show a lot of respect toward Obama, an indication that he has the potential to pull people together to work toward common goals like making sure the climate doesn't get so unstable we don't have a reliable food supply.
Actually Obama has done nothing that all of the other candidates has not. He is pandering he has changed from the pre Candidate he was he no longer takes positions and he misses votes rather then get the friction...Like I said he is doing nothing different then the rest. Come back Al Gore..Obama could use 8 years as a VP to get the experience he lacks.
Just because Obama doesn't play the political bill game that will only get vetoed as this President seems to be stuck on these days, doesn't mean that he's copping out. He is one vote and the majority are still backing lobbyist in one form of bill or another. When he is president, they know the jig will be up. The sunshine bill will see to that.
Oh did I mention that was his idea. He wants the American people to have a say in the laws that govern the people of the country.
He's not a whore, and his supporters of low income, elderly republican and democratic voters, as well as our brilliant young leaders in college, longing for our country to invest in their own people for a better world.
It's our turn to lead and all the old war hungry WWII vets, still want to have remember whens.
This situation of "Saber Rattling" that George Bush does to boost the ignorant's rants of divisionalism, is the stupidest thing to happen to this country since, the board stretcher.
There's an odd phenom occurring. Many of us have noticed that Obama has to do twice as much to get any credit.
Who stood on a corner in 2002 and publicly denounced the war? Who stood in front of the bigwigs of GM, Ford, Chrysler and told them they had to stop making crappy cars? Who stood in front of Wall Street and told them that they have to check their greed? Who stood in front of a black congregation and told them they had to curb their homophobia?
Pander? How can you say that?
Who put a "hold" on Bush's von Spakovsky nomination three days ago when Harry Reid was willing to just hand it over to Bush? von Spakovsky? The guy who erased the Dem voting register in Florida in 2000? Bush wanted to make him head of the FEC.
No gonads? Right.
All of which has amounted to less than a beer fart in a Texas tornado although it does make for great sound bites.
Do I smell the odor of the "race" card? The stench grows ever more pronounced.
You would know about the race card. If you knew anything about African Americans, you would know they vote on the issues and on trust. We trusted Kennedy, Lincoln, Johnson. We do no trust the RepubliKlan base that has emerged since 2000.
Case in point, it took us 400 years to get a black candidate we trust. We were not ready for a preacher named Jesse, we were not ready for Al to march in and not compromise, for unity.
We are ready to throw all support behind Obama.
At least the ones that finished high school and can read history of just what the Clintons did while in office. They blessed our low wage, undereducated workers with NAFTA. After all the years of waiting our turn to take over the jobs we were already working and not getting paid right for, we now have no jobs to work. Unemployment of almost 50% for our youth.
Thank you Bill for the increased poverty and ignoring of our education in America.
Well, you say, you just have to go back to school and get better training.
You mean the same schools that we have always been unable to afford? Right.
It's time for all Americans to have their issues on the table to make this country united and the crime go down to improve our lot in the future. We have to get busy on the "Green technology that will soon be sweeeping the world, in a bid to stop the global warming that Geaorge and his buddies have been hiding from the American People.
I trust Al Gore and Obama to make this happen whether Al is in the Political Arena for 08 or not.
Hillary will bow down to special interest everytime if it will get her in the House again. I guess she misses all the opportunities to wield the contracting power for foreign nationals to take our jobs.
The past seven years have entirely changed my view of politics,politicians and parties. I was a Republican for years but Bush changed that for me. For several years I thought the Democrats are the solution. I now no longer believe that either party has the answer. Our government is now run by lawyers and, in my opinion there's not a penny's difference regardless if they are Democrats or Republicans. So, what am I to do because all we seem to have a choice in is a lawyer? Vote for the one that seems to have their head on straight, less corrupt and indebted to contributors and special interest groups. In my opinion there may be only two that are safe to vote for. Barrack Obama is one and Mitt Romney is the other. Neither are indebted to their contributors and both are smart. Romney may have the heads up because of his vast successful business career. Either one is going to have a difficult time reversing the damage that the Bush administration has created. After Obama and Romney I don't see anyone that will get my vote.
I am having a lot of difficulty understanding why Americans can's see through the Hillary poll numbers and her inability to unite the country. I guess it's the Bill factor!
Obama teaches Constitutional Law. I guess he knows something about the Constitution, unlike the current Washington pols.
You might want to take a closer look at Joe Biden. He's the only one out there who doesn't sound like a used car salesman/woman.
And Bidens had years in the House, to master his speeches on the floor.
But is he still, going with the flow as usual?
I think the same about Dodd and all the others who have had time to do something towards change in every issue we face today, including Iraq the authorization to a President who had vendetta on the brain since day one of office.
Americans knew it when he slipped up and said, Sadaam tried to kill my Daddy.
Sadaam had nothing to do with 911, and the Congressional members and Senate authorized a dry drunk to go to war with Sadaam on trumped up, non proven, inspector denied, WMD "Weapons of Mass Distraction programs of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney.
In short we sold our troops out for the Oil Companies Quarterly Profit Quota.
BLOOD FOR OIL. YOUR CHILD'S BLOOD FOR THE OIL COMPANIES OIL VENTURES AND INTEREST.
AMERICA IS BEING PLAYED YET AGAIN, WITH THEIR EYES WIDE OPEN.
SHOCK AND AWE WON'T ALLOW IT TO COMPUTE IN OUR BRAINS BECAUSE THE TRUTH IS SO VERY EVIL.
GREED!
Okay - Im not trying to be snotty here... but to say you don't believe in the political system because its run by lawyers is a bit like saying you don't beleive in medicine because its run by doctors.
To be a lawyer is the primary qualification to become a LAW MAKER.
I would be far more concerned by the fact that our government is no longer being run by lawyers - but by unelected MBA's who sit in large corporate offices and are now being allowed to DICTATE legeslation to the lawmakers we elect, because we have now made the election process so expensive and unfair that the only way to win is to become a legal secretary for big oil, big pharma, and big media.
Liberals Bloggers keep on pushing it; keep on pushing it.....you are all dying for Barack Obama to paint himself into a corner as an extremist; but you won"t win.
Barack Obama is a genius he knows what he is doing. People are no longer interested in your left-wing politics, they want justice.
You sound like the others saying that he is not enough of this or enough of that. He is enough of what he should be-a just man looking to bring everyone together. Eat your left wing and liberal politics. You are just scaring people. Look at the spineless liberals in the congress.
Obama knows what he is doing. You want him to be a flamethrower, so then you can write him off like you have done Kucinich.
No thanks
Wrong. I've been an Obama supporter, but I'm starting to wonder why. His campaign of vague, gassy platitudes and let's-play-nice-kids isn't cutting it. At a desperate time when we do need a flamethrower, we seem to have a wet firecracker here. And Obama's weakness will hand this country over to Hillary, who is backed by the same military-industrial complex that makes Bush dance. If Obama has any fight in him, we'd better see it soon.
Posted October 18, 2007 | 02:01 PM (EST)