http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/20/Opinion/...tampabay.com
Obama talks change but offers none
By Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post Writers Group
Published February 20, 2008
WASHINGTON
It's hard not to be dazzled by Barack Obama. At the 2004 Democratic convention, he visited with Newsweek reporters and editors, including me. I came away deeply impressed by his intelligence, his forceful language and his apparent willingness to take positions that seemed to rise above narrow partisanship. Obama has become the Democratic presidential front-runner, precisely because countless millions have formed a similar opinion.
It is, I now think, mistaken.
As a journalist, I harbor serious doubt about each of the likely nominees. But with Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain, I feel that I'm dealing with known quantities. They've been in the public arena for years; their views, values and temperaments have received enormous scrutiny. By contrast, newcomer Obama is largely a stage presence defined mostly by his powerful rhetoric. The trouble, at least for me, is the huge and deceptive gap between his captivating oratory and his actual views.
The subtext of Obama's campaign is that his own life narrative - to become the first African-American president, a huge milestone in the nation's journey from slavery - can serve as a metaphor for other political stalemates. Great impasses can be broken with sufficient good will, intelligence and energy. "It's not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white," he says. Along with millions of others, I find this a powerful appeal.
But on inspection, the metaphor is a mirage. :bounce: READ THAT AGAIN..... A MIRAGE!!!! Substance... The HARD Stuff... WHERE IS IT? WHERE WAS IT?
ANSWER... IT NEVER WAS.....
Repudiating racism is not a magic cure-all for the nation's ills.
It requires independent ideas, and Obama has few. :eyes: :think: Ah but it is too late for that....
If you examine his agenda, it is completely ordinary, highly partisan, not candid and mostly unresponsive to many pressing national problems.
***** POINTS WHICH I HAVE MADE REPEATEDLY IN THIS FORUM... WHEN THE RACE STILL OFFERED ALTERNATIVES TO CHOOSE FROM... i.e., John Edwards!
By Obama's own moral standards, Obama fails. Americans "are tired of hearing promises made and 10-point plans proposed in the heat of a campaign only to have nothing change," he recently said. Shortly thereafter, he outlined an economic plan of at least 12 points that, among other things, would:
- Provide a $1,000 tax cut for most two-earner families ($500 for singles).
- Create a $4,000 refundable tuition tax credit for every year of college.
- Expand the child care tax credit for people earning less than $50,000 and "double spending on quality afterschool programs."
- Enact an "energy plan" that would invest $150-billion in 10 years to create a "green energy sector."
Whatever one thinks of these ideas, they're standard goodie-bag politics: something for everyone.
They're so similar to many Clinton proposals that her campaign put out a news release accusing him of plagiarizing. With existing budget deficits and the costs of Obama's "universal health plan," the odds of enacting his full package are slim. BTW Obama's so-called Health plan IS... Decidedly... "UN- Universal"!
A favorite Obama line is that he will tell "the American people not just what they want to hear, but what we need to know." Well, he hasn't so far.
Political candidates routinely indulge in exaggeration, pandering and inconsistency. Clinton and McCain do.
The reason for holding Obama to a higher standard is that it's his standard and also... HIS CAMPAIGNS CENTRAL THEME! :think: :bounce: Ah but it is too late...
He has run on the vague promise of "change," but on issue after issue - immigration, the economy, global warming - he has offered boilerplate policies that "evade" the underlying causes of the stalemates. These issues remain contentious because they involve real conflicts or differences of opinion. "WHERE'S THE B E E F?" To coin a phrase from the past w/ political implications.... AHhhhh But NOW... It IS TOOOOOO LATE... Just as I predicted in: This IS... Corporatist Nation 1 and 2!
The contrast between his broad rhetoric and his narrow agenda is stark, and yet the press corps - preoccupied with the political "horse race" - has treated his invocation of "change" as a serious idea rather than a shallow campaign slogan. NONSENSE...A WEAK EXCUSE by Mr. Samuelson on behalf of his "esteemed" colleagues sic......
This charade of a historic race has been contrived, planned and executed well in advance of the actual campaign itself. Hillary's gang... McCauliffe et al, bear much of the responsibility w/ front loaded contests etc., all designed to insure Hillary an "easy skate" but it appears at this juncture to have... backfired!
(The "Mesmerized" Press postulated by Mr. Samuelson is a WEAK EXCUSE FOR THE PURPOSEFULLY MANUFACTURED EFFORT BY THE CORPORATE PRESS TO IGNORE AND SINK ALL OTHER COMPETITORS... UNIQUELY Singled out by the MSM for political decapitation was of course... John Edwards!) America will.... in the end feel like this... :rofl:
He (Obama), seems to have "hypnotized" much of the media and the public with his eloquence and the symbolism of his life story. The result is a mass delusion that Obama is forthrightly engaging the nation's major problems when, so far, he isn't.
I ONLY wish people would have thought about this when something could still have been done about this... :think: Ah, but it is too late now for that......