Obama Gets Tough. Too Little, Too Late?

For all that's right and good about Barack Obama, he suffers from the same fatal flaws that have afflicted most Democratic presidential nominees over the last thirty-two years: he is both a gentleman, and a scholar. Fine attributes if you're applying for the job of headmaster at some patrician New England Boy's School. But they don't get you elected to the highest office in the land. Just ask Mondale or Dukakis or Gore or Kerry. All stood idly by like guys respectfully waiting for a fresh pour at a wine bar while they were mocked, maligned, denigrated and Swiftboated from contention by agents of the other side.

Obama has been no better. Since the day he tossed his hat into the ring he has been hit up with vicious innuendo and outright lies regarding his heritage, his patriotism, and his religion. And in almost every circumstance his denials have been tepid when not simply nonexistent. Contrast that with the entire Republican machine (aided and abetted by the media) getting "outraged" by the "lipstick on a pig" line.

Meanwhile Georgia Rep. Lynn Westmoreland calling the Obamas "uppity" -- a slur that is one more downed beer away from being nigger -- barely got a register out of the left. In response Obama could have legitimately said, echoing the words from his acceptance speech; "this uppity smear is not about me, it's about you, the people. And this is what the Right thinks about you: if you're different, even if you work hard, do good and put yourself through the best of schools and achieve, you're still uppity for thinking you deserve a seat at the table." In other words, hit 'em where they live.

But when asked about the uppity remark by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, Obama punted on second and one with: "I am confident that, the American people, once the dust is settled, will ask themselves, do we really want to do the same thing we've been doing for the last eight years, or do we want something new?"

Zzzzzzz...

With pushback like that Obama oughta be looking to play cribbage this November with the guys at the assisted living home for Democrats.

Maybe.

Except that Obama had himself a siddown with Bill Clinton -- one of two Democrats elected president in the last three decades and the only one re-elected. Re-elected because among his attributes Clinton knows how to get tough. He is not afraid to go "there;" to say or do what's gotta be said or done to blunt the other guy. And despite Lewinsky and impeachment by the House of Representatives, alleged scandals and conspiracies and nontroversies, Clinton left office with an approval rating of 65%. Some people don't want Clinton anywhere near the Obama campaign. They think Bill (and Hillary, too) are "too political." Well, it's politics. If you're getting your computer fixed nobody ever says: "don't go to that guy, he's too techy." Why would you not want to align yourself with somebody who knows how to get away with throwing some elbows? And from the pants down spanking Clinton gave Fox's Chris Wallace, to the digs he got in on Obama during the primary, clearly the man's still got political game.

So, Obama making the pilgrimage to Clinton's Harlem office (I'm sorry, did somebody order a big, steaming plate of irony?) is an open acknowledgment from Team Obama that they need to bring out the BFG of Democratic politics. Though I don't think polls are the end all/be all, Obama's softening numbers indicate it's time to do...something. Especially with that crazy Hail Sarah ball McCain tossed up looking like it might just make it into the end zone. Her deer-in-headlights responses to questions about the Bush Doctrine notwithstanding.

Supposedly, Obama's been holding back until after 9/11 to go into attack mode. At least, that's what's been reported with the Sturm und Drang of a belated call to arms for a reluctant warrior. But now that he's seemingly ready to go to battle -- and has enlisted the enemy of his enemy to do so -- Obama supporters had best hope the fight hasn't already passed their man by.

I'll be back with more of the Conservative Palinguage next week.

Comments

[Karisma]

It ain't over, till it's over!

The tough get going when the going gets tough!

Obama is sly like a fox!!!

[bellier20]

As Democrats, we're going to have to get a great deal more tired of "dying on the high ground" than we are, or we will most certainly once again. I'm not questioning the nobility of such a sentiment; I'm questioning its efficacy. I think more of the uncommitted will follow a passionate leader than they will a highly intellectual but coolly detached one. The best part about Obama is that we can have both, if he puts up his dukes a bit.

[CeeCee]

So -- are we to understand that American voters don't want the likes of Gore or Obama because they're GOOD people????

Good grief!

[ehemingway]

John, I miss your visits to “Morning Joe.” Come back. I agree with what you say. But consider this. I think I’ve finally put my finger on what has been annoying me about Barack Obama. It’s subtle and most of us miss it. Obama’s formative years lacked a father figure, the all-important male role model to show the boy how to defend himself against bullies and other assorted tough kids.

As a result, even when Barack does go on the offensive, he lacks that necessary fire in the belly that you see from Joe Biden types, the street kids that have to fight to survive. It’s not something you can easily teach unless you learn martial arts. I thought I’d mention it.

Barack has but a few weeks to recognize and overcome his passive persona if he is going to take the media’s lemming mentality and the public’s obsession with celebrity back in his court.

[bellier20]

Hell yes Obama should get mean and nasty. I'm repeatedly reminded that, above all, Obama is the product of the rough-and-tumble world of Chicago machine politics and his tutelage came under some of the harshest fire a politician can face. I want that Obama. Lead from the center once you're in and use the sucker punches to win. Steve Schmidt will; he understands the use of cultural hot buttons to divide the electorate. Obama had better to.

[Karisma]

You don't have to get mean and nasty to beat an opponent!

Outsmarting them is much more effective.

[redsongia]

I think it's good that he waited and REALLY LET THEM HANG THEMSELVES. It's like shooting fish in a bucket from now until November. They'll never run out of lies and contradictory footage.

The debates should be fun.

[Bartxx2]

What John Ridley writes is the essence of "The Political Brain" by Drew Westen, a neurological, sociological, linguistic, political, and detailed analysis of what Gore, Kerry, and others did wrong and what they should have done.

Westen gives credit to linguististics Prof. George Lakoff and his excellent work.

From the end of the primaries, I have been trying every way I could think of to make Obama and Dems aware of the books and the likely willingness of either man to be consultant. I doubt that my messages got past a first reader. Obama's handlers, like those of Gore and Kerry, will become In Westen's terms "long on experience and short on success."

[Riker]

The new ad attacking McCain's truthfulness is a good start, but Obama needs to crank up the passion that made so many of us excited about his candidacy. His standing in the polls is a direct reflection of the low-level energy that has afflicted almost every Democratic nominee in the last few decades (save Clinton). Isn't it astonishing how they get their mojo back once they've lost? Come on, Barack, we need you to get back to your passionate electric self.

[ahilpuge]

Ridley, it's going to take people like you to speak up, expose the rotten right and fight back. When they attempt to make "community organizer" as derogatory as "uppity", call them out. When the mother who talks abstinence-only parades her 17 year old pregnant daughter before the masses, all of us knowing full well that if Barack Obama had a pregnant teenage daughter the right wing would ripping him a new one, call them out. Get more air time for telling the truth and tell it Ridley. Now is the time. Now.

[ffny]

This race will come down to Race......­..........­.unfortuna­tely. It is a reality so all the talk as to getting tough etc. means little when people go into the booth to votewith a trembling hand and an out stretched arm they will pull the McCain lever for White.

[LaurettaK]

So, as a Clinton voter, Obama supporter, I feel completely at peace with my advocacy. That is something new. Not having to be apologetic for the mean-spiritedness of my candidate. I like it. My hope is that Professor Obama will get through to his biggest class, and Father Obama will persuade his parish to look to the better part of themselves, and not buy into the haters, the power-brokers, and the deceivers and reclaim their own power. He really stands for something different.

The internet and Netroots have given him a tool that Gore, Kerry, Dukakis didn’t have. A direct route to his supporters to not give up hope, to not let detractors spoil the realization of your dream of a better America, a different kind of Washington. One, where a candidate CAN get elected without taking lobbyist money, who owes nothing to big-business and everything the larger electorate. Obama’s campaign has been very smart, technologically progressive, and future focused. Sooner or later, we all look to the sunrise in America. Don’t sell Obama short, he may just be the Democtratic Party’s Ronald Reagan.

[bellier20]

So we've got a Professor Obama and a Father Obama. How about a PRESIDENT Obama? Because unless he comes on a little stronger ... no, make that a LOT stronger, we'll never get to know that third option. The Obama people have to understand what the McCain people understand about politics, namely that when charges are leveled, no matter how ridiculous, and not answered, people begin to wonder WHY they're not being answered. Is it because the candidate is above such garbage? Or is it because there is a seed of truth to the accusation and the candidate is hoping it goes away if he or she ignores it? Both are possible in the mind of the uncommitted voter.

I like where Obama is going now, pointing out to the public that McCain's campaign is without honor, more focused on cultural diversions that win elections than issues that benefit the country. It's either that of the McCain camp continues to define the debate and Obama ends up sounding like a double-talker.

[LaurettaK]

I have followed this election closely and have seen that it is a different kind of election, particularly Obama's campaign. Obama's beautiful campaign has, for the most part, not been about mass deception and triggering outrage. But, it is passionate, but passion for the principles that America stands for (or ought to stand for). It is a campaign about deconstructing the false outrage, and about believing in the American electorate. Believing that regular Americans are capable of not being fooled, so long as there is a leader out there speaking truth to power. I hope and pray that Obama is that leader. If he forcefully and respectfully persuades the American electorate that Guilliani and Palin are insulting the very heart and sole of the electorate when they diminish and mock community organizers, he will prevail both morally and in the voting booth. He has work to do, but has begun to chip away, in his unflappable manner and educate the electorate that the Republicans are not just insulting Obama but PTA members, the Catholic Church and many, many other religious groups who organize to serve the poor and underprivileged, . . . like Peace Corps volunteers, your Neighborhood Watch group, MADD, the Polly Klauss foundation, the folks over at American's Most Wanted, Legal Aid Society workers, Megan's Law reformers, Ryan White, the Sierra Club, the list of "community organizers." This includes all of us, at some point, hopefully, in our lives. That part, is the better part of us.

[LaurettaK]

I think Obama does have to hit back, and hit back hard. But, being a recent convert to Obama, I think that there is a feeling of rightness about him, a levity that keeps him above the fray, and that it really is a part of him. Every time he tried to get mean and old-school politics against Hillary Clinton, he had the look of child telling a lie. I have to admit that I thought he wasn't tough enough. That his ill-ease in going on the attack was a weakness. But, he prevailed against Clinton in a way where he didn't have to destroy her career or her reputation. He allowed me to put my Clinton banners away and join the Obama team, really without a hitch (all PUMA's aside).

[shadow322]

This is exactly what I have been saying. There is a right time to be enraged at what is going on and to not do so implies you are ambivalent to the current situation. Obama is past that stage and could end up being viewed as Kerry and Gore were - did not appear to care enough to fight for what is right. Obama has to step up to the plate. Like it or not, he ran as wanting to represent us and this obligation runs on both sides of the Democratic Party coin. That candidate in Maine (I believe it was Maine) who 2 weeks ago condemned VoteVets for over supporting him - and the Republican complimented VoteVets - that candidate is exactly what we do not need in our party. If you are able to look around, see the real damage that has been caused by the Republicans (Bush did not do this alone) and not be mad - step aside, take a break and let us fight this one through. We must win this one for our country's future as 4 more years will have irreversible consequences.

[john2003]

Or maybe he could actually take a stand, but then that would ruin all those “present” votes. Clinton was right, McCain has a lifetime of experience, she has a lifetime of experience, Obama gave a speech………

[DragonBuddha06]

We idolize JFK, and he came from nowhere when he ran for office. Clinton was a governor from Arkansas, and he managed to beat the incumbent HW Bush. Sometimes the people that do the job best are the ones that come from the modest beginnings and haven't had the lifetime in Washington to conform them to standard politicians.

The true irony here is that everyone says they can't stand the stereotype of the lying, cheating, corrupt politician. We the people say we want something different, yet as soon as something different comes along, it's "he's too young, inexperienced, 'risky' (to use Obama's own phrasing)". So The ultimate hypocracy becomes that we want someone who's not the corrupt politician, but has the Washington experience. The American people say one thing then do another.

Maybe there's a little George Bush in all of us.

[TheMastadon]

Experience to do what? I don't care a lick about experience my question is... where do you want to take this country? The choice is clear. You basically don't care what the man stands for because he has experience? What a vauge rediculous non-argument. What is the experience that matters to you in deciding your vote?

Let me guess:

Navy = executive experience
congress = washington experience

Check! I have my guy, that's about as far as you went huh?