My thoughts exactly.
He's taking the high road.
I was mildly but quite pleasantly surprised by that.
The more I see this guy exposed, the more I like what I see. Which is quite the turn-around; it's almost always the reverse.
Sounds as if Sen. Obama is pretty confident of victory. I imagine there are gnashings of various bodily parts over at the Forelorn Hope.
They're on the run!
Let's keep them that way.
After all, isn't fighting amongst ourselves what the Republicans like?
That's just another reason the corporate led media is hammering on this nomination fight.
I'm not fooled. I've NOT seen one thing in that McCain ad.
Why is he running as an American for Americans because he loves America the way all Americans love America?
Because he doesn't want to be a Republican.
Get it?
The Republican brand is screwed. It's what happened to Tylenol. They had to scramble to keep their Brand from becoming just another word for "death."
Just as the Republicans are scrambling now.
Remember to call McCain a Republican from now on.
Because they are afraid to do so.
In 2000, Lance Armstrong came into the Tour de France after winning his first tour victory in 1999 with a field depleted by drug suspensions. Although Armstrong was the returning champion, commentators thought the 2000 field was wide-open due to a number of returning cyclists who had not raced in 1999 including Jans Ulrich and Marco Pantani.
During the mountain stages, Armstrong rode into a substantial lead. The only rider with form to keep pace with him in the mountains looked to be Marco Pantani who was a climbing specialist and poor time trialist and therefore, far back in the overall standings. During the harshest stage of the 2000 tour up Mont Ventoux, a brutal mountain climb in Provence, Armstrong and Pantani dueled the entire way up far out ahead of the rest of the field. During the climb, Armstrong looked to be the stronger climber, leading much of the way. However at the summit he sat up and let Pantani spring uncontested to the line for the stage win and time bonus. Armstrong acknowledged that he had not contested Pantani's final surge, saying: "In the minds of many people, he's the greatest climber in the world. He deserved to win here."
The Euro press was completely abuzz about Armstrong's gesture and Pantani was forced to continually answer questions about Armstrong in the post-race interviews rather than his own "victory" on the legendary Mont Venteux stage.
In the end, Armstrong had completely gotten inside Pantani's head with his gesture. Pantani went out and won the next mountain stage, attacking and leaving everyone behind. On the following final stage in the mountains, Pantani broke away early, setting a vicious pace in an attempt to crush Armstrong. He ended up "blowing himself up" on the last climb as the cycling commentators call it when you bonk, and on that stage was forced to drop out of the tour completely in a quivering mass of fury. He had destroyed himself in an attempt to beat Armstrong.
It was the last cycling race Pantani ever won. He never again rode in the tour and by 2003 had admitted himself into a clinic suffering from clinical depression. In 2004 Pantani was found dead in his hotel room of a cocaine overdose.
Armstrong, of course, went on to win an unprecedented 7 consecutive tours, a feat that's not likely to ever be repeated. Armstrong has always been a master at psyching his opponents. But his 2000 psyche job on Pantani was one of the most devastating in the history of sport.
Although I hate to stretch sports metaphors too far. But Obama giving Hillary "permission" to stay in the race has the same feel to me as Armstrong giving Pantani the victory on Mont Venteux. I'm betting that speech really got under her skin. And I think he's really getting into her head. Because it reinforces every message Obama is putting forward. And it paints Hillary in one hell of a corner. Obama is being gracious. Now she'll be expected to be gracious in return...or risk looking even more churlish.
The more Obama takes the high road, the more it highlights the low road that Clinton has mapped out as her only path to the nomination. It is a masterful psyche.
Personally I don't mind if Hillary stays in the race as long as she wants. But I do get enraged if all she does is kiss up to McCain and pick at Obama with right-wing memes and silliness like this Wright business. The model for honorably staying in the race past the point of mathematical inevitability actually comes from the Republicans. This year Huckabee stayed in the race long after the math was against him. But he ran an honorable and positive campaign during that time, sticking to his issues and refusing to attack McCain. Clinton could learn something from Huckabee I think.
Texas is looking better every day.
:o)
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homep...tory/
32023.html
With Gore and Edwards still sitting "neutral", if Obama can do this without them, and with so much of the democratic "leadership", sitting doggo, and talking bullshit about "two fine candidates", he is going to own the democratic party.
Which is just fine with me. :o)
He's taking the high road. She's trolling World Net Daily and the American Prospect for dirt on him and palling around with Richard Mellon Scaife, former sole funder of the Arkansas Project.
Kent, if it is a psych-out in disguise it's a damned beautiful one. But on its surface it's a wonderful gesture. She's fought long and hard, as has he - it's only fair to see it through to the end.
I'm very disappointed in how fast the GOP field faded away. The bloodletting I've seen so far from the Democrats is sorely lacking among the Republicans (and it may be therapeutic for the Rogue Elephants).
The only thing Obama didn't say was "Even though it's clear I have this thing nailed down..."
It was both smart and right. I don't think much of Hillary, but a lot of people do, and the only way Obama can win them is to give Hillary every honorable chance.
That it shines a spotlight on any slaeze on her part doesn't hurt.
Whichever candidate gets the Dem nomination, Hillary is going to end up looking like a pissy, entitled, win-at-any cost spoiler. Obama, on the other hand, continues to turn this race into a no-lose situation for himself.
Stormcrow nails the reason I like Obama more and more. I've never seen anyone do political judo like this. As with the Wright speech, here he's done the right thing AND boxed his opponents into a corner. Who says a campaign can't be ethical and vicious all at once?
The answer, I suppose, is Hillary. At this point, she can't take the high road, because she knows where it would lead her: right back into the Senate.
Kent - brilliant analysis, though it's a smart move even at the basic, "I'm presidential and mature" meme level. It need not play with her mind to be a great move, but I suspect you are right.
I don't want to jinx things, so speaking hypothetically, what happens once Hillary returns to the Senate? Will she grow even more bitter and self-centered? What will she do, join Lieberman in the Attention Whore Coalition? Will she make it all about her, and hamper a new and dynamic administration in the process?
Building a united party front will be key to the massive clean up before us. She can't be trusted to tell the smallest truths. What place does she have in Senate leadership, the cabinet or SCOTUS? None.
She reminds me so much of Nixon. Intelligent on paper, crafty and cunning, but he never knew where to engage the true enemy because it was all about his real or imagined entrenchment in the fox holes. Us -vs- everyone else, even his own party. Sound familiar?
Agreed, brilliant move on BHO's part. Moreover, I am certain that Kent is correct. Being told "yes, you can", is guaranteed to drive a narcissist wacky since then the focus becomes on the person giving "permission" and not the narcissist.
Guys,
You're still acting like you're in a child's fort with a sign up that says "NO Gurls allowed"...
I don't like Clinton either, but goddamn, this "stick it to her in the ass" mentality is about as loathesome as some asshole asking Chelsea about her parents' sex life and then whining because Chelsea gave the self-important jerk who asked the question the bitchslap he deserved.
Either Clintor OR Obama as president will be better than the ugly thugs who are currently in charge of the administration... So, would you guys start looking at them for their stands on issues instead of parsing every syllable that comes out of Hillary's mouth for something you can do a "gotcha" on? That's something Rethugs do and most of us are goddamned sick and tired of it.
dejah: Are you familiar with HRC's latest contemptible shenanigans? She's been forwarding articles around from Worldnet Daily and the fucking American Spectator in attempt to smear Obama. That's the kind of behavior the rest of us object to. She deserves to be run out of public life.
"Either Clintor OR Obama as president will be better than the ugly thugs who are currently in charge of the administration... So, would you guys start looking at them for their stands on issues instead of parsing every syllable that comes out of Hillary's mouth for something you can do a "gotcha" on? That's something Rethugs do and most of us are goddamned sick and tired of it."
-I'm goddamned sick and tired of Hillary & Bill praise John McCain, knowing that the Democratic nominee will have to face him, and you know McCain and his people will use that praise to hit the Democratic nominee.
But, I guess that's parsing syllables.
Look! A Bosnian sniper! Run!
Kent, that was a really sad story - I'm mainly sad for Sen. Clinton, because I've been there: ie, roundly and soundly rejected in a situation where you didn't see it coming.
it hurts.
but she can still show the content of her character, she can still rise to the occasion, and Sen. Obama is giving her an open opportunity to do just that.
I hope she takes it.
Off topic -- Shrub just got booed throwing out the first pitch in DC. A loooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggg, prolonged boo.
WenG:
"She reminds me so much of Nixon."
Hammer-nail-bang. :o)
Right down to the "everything is wonderful, because I'm up here talking" smile.
Norman Mailer, of Nixon:
"His smile was as false as false teeth."
I only wish the enfant terrible was still around, to have a shot at Hillary. :o)
Aviva032
video link! please! I need something to cheer me up. freezing cold rainy and depressing monday in tokyo....
tlHg, some guy on dailykos is on it. Any minute now... ta da!
http://www.dailykos.com/comments...1723/970/
58#c58
And here we thought the highlight was having Denyce Graves sing the national anthem.
Hope your Monday gets better.
You're still acting like you're in a child's fort with a sign up that says "NO Gurls allowed"...
Just find a better 'Gurl', and I'm sure people will be quite happy to vote for her/him/it/whoever.
Obama says its ok for Hillary to run. Hey Obama, go fuck yourself. Even if you didn't want her to run, you can't do anything about it. She's gonna beat your ass, watch and see.
"Either Clintor OR Obama as president will be better than the ugly thugs who are currently in charge of the administration."
Agreed. But whoever wins the Dem nomination, barring a third party candidate, it'll be either President Obama or President McCain next January.
"So, would you guys start looking at them for their stands on issues instead of parsing every syllable that comes out of Hillary's mouth for something you can do a "gotcha" on?"
At the momemnt, most of us will settle for a Dem who can WIN against the GOP. So, yes, we look closely at who's run a better campaign, hired better people, presents a more dynamic image. We look at who's building their political goodwill and who's squandering it.
In the course of that, we parse the syllables coming out of Obama's mouth as well as hers. But unlike Hillary's, they sound a whole lot better. And not, as you keep implying, because he has a deeper voice. Most of us leave that "boy vs girl" narrative to the moronic MSM (and right wing trolls like jimbo who are torn between their racism and their misogyny).
"some guy on dailykos is on it. Any minute now... ta da!"
Thanks, Aviva. At first I thought the commentators were going to say something like "There have been few Presidents who've received such a negative reaction," but no, it was the usual empty MSM ass kissing about his supposed baseball skills (with a reference thrown in about 9-11, natch).
It's a shame he didn't achieve his true life goal of becoming baseball commissioner. He'd still have been booed by the fans (because this is Bush we're talking about), but the damage would have been limited to the American and National leagues rather than the entire country.
Here's the thing.
Clinton and Obama have already run an epic campaign. And they could turn it into an even more epic campaign by continuing with an upbeat positive campaign firing negatives primarily at McCain. I would have no problem with that. In fact, with both Clinton and Obama on the warpath against McCain I think we'd have the best of both worlds.
However that's not what's been happening. It's clear that the Clinton campaign knows their only real path to the nomination is to destroy Obama. So we end up with sickening scenes like Hillary sitting around the table with Richard Mellon Scaife expressing faux horror at Obama's former pastor. And we get Bill Clinton puffing up McCain as the only other equal to Hillary in the race.
Once Hillary started to channel Matt Drudge it was clear that her campaign had jumped the shark.
Now the Obama campaign is not perfect either. Obama surrogates have been spinning every on of Hillary's mis-steps with urgent frenzy. But when comparing the two campaigns, the difference in tone is striking. And it mostly seems to come from the top. Obama is just running a more presidential operation. Simple as that.
OtD, you're welcome.
Sure, the commentators bs'd, but they didn't talk over the booing. They coulda made it much harder to hear it.
I would've loved to see the expression on Colin Powell (or some of the other VIPs in the crowd there tonight) as that booing went on and on.
"Obama surrogates have been spinning every on of Hillary's mis-steps with urgent frenzy."
Hopefully this will be good practice for the general. I once had a professor who was a pollster for an Arizona Senator (not McCain) who told us more than once that it was very important to respond to an attack, especially a false one, within 48 hours or it was much harder to get the resulting meme out of the public consciousness. I still think that Kerry should have taken much more umbrage at the Swift Boat nonsense, and more quickly, though the bizarre campaign finance rules which effectively gave Bush a chance to run an extra month on Primary funds, while Kerry would have had to spend General Election money, were more of a factor than is generally recognized. It's nice to see that some people have learned this lesson.
"I would've loved to see the expression on Colin Powell"
I would like to think he was biting hard down on his lip to suppress a smile at seeing the booing of the man who hung him out to dry in front of the whole world.
I feel much more comfortable about the Clinton run to ruin now. Since Obama has accepted this futile fury, I can accept it. He is one tough, strong politician.
Of course, should Clinton continue on with the praise McSame bullshit over Obama, I may be forced to disagree with my candidate. Everyone in my local party unit understands how I feel about it and the Clinton supporters and I no longer discuss it... we work together on neutral candidates and issues.
Clinton is running on "experience" and that means doing things the same way it was done before -- isn't that what "experience" means?
Forget it, Jesse...those on the Hillary Grievance Train are going to say "How MAGNANIMOUS of him to give Hillary PERMISSION to continue running." You can't argue with people bound and determined to confuse being a victim with empowerment.
Am I the only one that sees some weird parallel between Clinton stating "I will fight until the Convention and won't back down" and Obama replying "I won't order you to cease and desist, you decide what's best, and you can go on campaigning if you will", and Maliki stating "I will crush the militias to the bitter end and won't back down" and Sadr replying "We should negotiate, it'd be better not to waste Iraqi civilian lifes for this, but if you want to fight we'll fight". On one side, people that are cornered and with a reduced overall support, who can only go on a rampaging attack as their only hope of victory, by totally defeating the opponent, and on the other side people who are in a position of strength and therefore can afford conciliatory positions because they wouldn't weaken them as much as they would destroy the opponent, who can't win without attacking?
Actually, Clueless Joe doesn't sound in the least bit clueless.
Conciliatory positions? Just more crap. But appropriate, from Obama.
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