Barack, You're Nice Enough

I write this before the New Hampshire primary results are all in, but from the early morning voting tally it appears that Barack Obama will have a victory over Hillary and Edwards, and probably go on to capture the Democratic nomination. America seems to be prepared to give him the keys to the car. I know he's got the gas, but I am still not sure that he can drive, and without that knowledge, I am unprepared to become a passenger in his vehicle. If he does win the Democratic nomination, I fear that we will all of us be panning for facts and policies, knee deep in a puddle of rhetoric. Highfalutin' words are quite nice, useful in a seduction, but they are insufficient in a marriage. Yes, yes, yes, I'll vote for him against any of the twisted sisters the Republicans are offering, but I still have my questions about this Mr. Smith going to Washington.

Did I see a bit of mean spirited sarcasm coming from Barack when during the ABC debate he remarked, "Hillary, you're nice enough," his voice dropping on the enough, just enough to suggest that he finds her a middle-aged pest, a first class nuisance for daring to run against and withstand his all powerful charms? Nice enough for what? For losing what has become a beauty contest. Barack will grant her "Miss Congeniality" if she will only drop out now, taking Edwards with her, and stop speaking about the issues that interest some savvy voters: real national health insurance, the true diplomatic engagement of this country with the rest of the world, the outsourcing of jobs overseas, and a better education for America's children.

Right now I know that Barack Obama would make the best high school class president in these United States. He has the smarts, the looks, the charm, and the popularity, likes sports, and he plays well with others. But this isn't high school, or even Harvard Yard, and I think we should ask more of our Presidents. We don't. Ergo, George W. Bush. Hush, yes, I do know he won't be another Bush. He's smarter, more decent, and I think he's truly idealistic. At least I hope he is, otherwise all this talk of change and bringing people together is so much palaver. But incompetence takes many forms, and it starts with an unwillingness to articulate practical policies. Speaking in generalities is a wonderful election strategy, you become all things to all people, but it's a helluva lousy way to run a government. Having said all this, Barack may well become a great president, should he survive the Republican attack machine which is revving up, and the doubts of a few old guys like me.

A note of warning to all interested parties: As a New Yorker I caution you, "Beware of Michael Bloomberg." He has the power to convince so many that a billionaire frog is really a genial prince by using those billions to bombard the electorate. He has been a decent enough mayor and New York looks pretty good and feels good these days -- despite some hideous architectural additions and the pricing out of the middle class through astronomical rentals -- but he is arrogant, willful, and secretive, just what we don't need more of these days. He cannot become president, but he can become the new Nader, the spoiler who brings the presidency by default to a McCain with his hundred year occupation of Iraq.

Comments

[bobh]

but how is Obama in a razor fight? Because that is where he will be headed in the general election.

[Myrrhis]

Sherman,

Barack is nice enough, but you are not hard working enough.

Surf on over to Obama's website and check out the Blueprint for Change. When he is elected president, that will be the document that I hold him to.

[cblcar]

I think to win in November, Obama had better pick a very experienced running mate or the Repubs are going to cream him. I can't see him withstanding a debate on foreign policy against McCain. I think he will just look foolish. I'm very afraid we will have at least four more years of Repub rule if he gets the nomination. I support Joe Biden because he is the most qualified, but clearly Americans do not care about qualifications. Electing Obama is like taking a kid from the mail room and promoting him to CEO of the world largest corporation with no training in between.

[vippy]

Sometimes I wonder if people actually read these blogs here. One gets it from every angle if you pay attention. What I don't understand
is that Hillary's voting record is the very opposite of what she is trying to portray and yet the some people still think she is the best to win this election. How stupid is that. With facts on hand Hillary is much more of the same, might as well keep Bush in office!

[SouthpawSass]

All I can say to your article is :


I'm gellin for Sherman Yellen!

I'm with you.

[TheKiddy]

I think I just read a fairly decent opinion piece that was attacked by the Obama fans in the audience as though the writer were a murderer. I am tired of it. The breathless defensiveness and anger on The Huffington Post is so out of hand, and most of it comes from people who are not for Hillary and not for John Edwards. Your guy is in the lead and is the probable Democratic nominee (due to our crazy way of nominating people based on two states). Can you all calm down a little? I am going over to Daily Kos now where people are polite to one another almost all the time.

[Vixen0932]

but I still have my questions about this Mr. Smith going to Washington.

THAT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I THOUHT OF AFTER THE DEBATE SATURDAY...!!!

I am African-American and I am also a political scientist and also young...Barack reminds me of Mr. Smith going to Washington...

[thepainter57]

Barack Obama is an EMPTY promise for change.

Same old same old political bullshit - just different color.

[Mr.Fitz]

Americans aren't issues voters in the first place, so why does it matter that Obama doesn't have a detailed plan of what he intends to do when elected? For that matter, do any of the candidates have this plan? We like to vote for perceived winners and ideologues. Luckily, Obama isn't an ideologue.

[SamanthaJaneSalem]

One of the most discouraging things about following a presidential race too closely is to witness how seldom the media breaks away from their narrow themes in order to focus on the actual plans of the candidates. The media assumes we have a short attention span-- and they must be right. If you've been living in a cave for the past year then Wolf Blitzer is your guy.

Yet it's all there on C-SPAN. Just watch an Obama event and hear him take tough questions from undecided voters. One voter asked about Obama's support of nuclear power because Illinois is a big state for nuclear power plants. His one vote in the Senate regarding nuclear power was to regulate nuclear power plants with greater scrutiny.

Obama gave two or three paragraph answers for his plans regarding every issue from immigration to toxic emissions. If he had said any more he would have sounded like a know-it-all lecturing the crowd into submission. The plans are there. They are on his Web site.

All the Democrats have good plans. But the best thing that can happen to a candidate is to have people want to vote for him even though they might disagree with him on many issues-- they like him, they trust him. And the worst thing is what Kerry and to a lesser extent Gore went through-- they had better plans, but they couldn't connect with the voters.

Obama will probably be labeled by the shallow media as, well, shallow, and then the shallow public will buy that notion like we also buy greasy burgers advertised on TV. But all you have to do is watch C-SPAN for a while, just any Senate coverage, and you'll see that the most experienced Senators usually just love to talk and sound smart, and Obama is certainly no more of a windbag than his 99 colleagues. I ask voters to cut him some slack and not expect him to be Mr. Perfect, just the best out of this current crop of candidates (especially since Gore isn't running).

[MooseToga]

"...incompetence takes many forms, and it starts with an unwillingness to articulate practical policies."

Is it that he's been unwilling to articulate them, or some people are just unwilling to listen? I just took a peek at his campaign website and it lays out in no unclear terms his proposals on health care, the environment, and (most importantly to me) transparent government. There isn't much there about Iraq, but show me a politician or pundit with a concrete solution to that clusterf@ck and I'll show you one with a gambling problem.

[Kane]

A review of a few of your talking points:

"Highfalutin' words are quite nice..."

"mean spirited sarcasm coming from Barack"

"knee deep in a puddle of rhetoric"

"incompetence takes many forms"

"Obama would make the best high school class president"

Your rhetoric sounds like Clinton talking points.

[DietrichMoody]

Don't you think that if he DOES win the nomination he's going to get the support of Hillary, Bill , Howard Dean and all the other heads of the Democratic party, which in fact will advise him ???

Again, Obama has a formidable team that are NOT wet behind the ears but are very knowledgeable political war horses. He's not going to be sitting alone in the White House, people. There is a team of hundred and thousands of people with vast knowledge that come in when you become President. There is a TEAM that comes into the White House when a President is elected. Don't you think that some in the other Democratic parties teams will be part of Obama's team if he is elected President. I think so. Especially if they want America to move forward. What, they are going to withold their knowledge just to be vengeful?? I hope not, this is not the baby boomers Hollywood and their vindictive selfish mentality, this is hopefully a changing American government and society, for the better ofcourse. This is NOT High School, sir.

[sonofloud]

The Democrats were dumb enough to lose before by letting the media and Republicans convince them that Howard Dean could not win.
If they do the same with Hillary and Obama becomes the nominee, the Democrats will lose the next election.

[villastrangiato]

So Mr. Yellen,

Now that we know you're a strong Hillary supporter - perhaps you could answer a few specific questions about Hillary that a lot of people have found troubling lately....

1) Do you support Joe Lieberman and AIPAC?
2) Do you support or condone Ms. Clinton's acceptance of fundraising from Rupert Murdoch?
3) Were you disappointed that Hillary didn't admonish Israel for indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon last year - i.e. the bombing of the Beirut airport?
4) Do you think we should demand that Iran not develop nuclear technology while we say nothing about Israel's substantial (and secret) nuclear arsenal?
5) Do you support NAFTA and the Clinton's support of NAFTA?
6) Do you have trouble with Hillary's reputation as the biggest recipient of donations from the insurance industry?

Show your stripes Mr. Yellen - don't just talk in platitudes about somebody's perceived advantages in experience. Let's see some real positions and some real facts - for a change.