Obama lost because he played defense; his campaign was outplayed

[BeyondGeography]

Hillary's kitchen sink strategy gives her a pulse at the end of the day, but the real story is the almost complete fuck-up that was the Obama campaign since the debate last Thursday night, a debate which he won, by all accounts and should have been enough to get him through tonight.

The red phone ad, the NAFTA flap, the no-subcommittee-nonsense which was made into an attack ad that was actually effective, the turban photo endlessly displayed on television...it was an endless stream of negative news about Obama snd the campaign did absolutely nothing to counter it. All the talk was about the ground game, phone calls, and knocking on doors. Meantime, they took no steps to create a single negative news cycle about Clinton and pissed away another chance to close the deal.

It's absurd that Obama hasn't done anything to remind Democratic voters how much vetting there is actually left to do on the Clintons. A simple ad citing her refusal to release her tax returns, playing her mealy-mouthed response at last week's debate, would have told voters that he isn't the only candidate with vulnerabilities. The secrecy surrounding Clinton Foundation donors is another rich vein of narrative that needs to be explored.

Sorry, Barack, the high road isn't getting you where you need to be. Negative attacks have to be counteracted, not just responded to. The Clintons will only go away when you drive a stake through their black hearts; you can't just talk delegate math anymore.

[thereismore]

1. hopefully he'll get the message. If not, he should not be the nominee. But he will. nt

[Bluerthanblue]

2. Obama hasn't lost ANYTHING yet- But- if he

were to take your advice, and act like Hillary- then he'd be losing everything even if he won-

What good is winning if you have sold out everything that makes you different, and yes BETTER than your opponent, just so you can say "I win"?

Gandhi reminds us:

"remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always."



peace~

[goclark]

3. Beautiful

[BeyondGeography]

7. Here's why you're wrong

A key element in his whole appeal is transparency and open government. He can contrast the Clintons' penchant for secrecy to his own record and register a double hit.

He needs to do this. People have heard the stump speech; it's time to make people understand why the Clintons are an unacceptable and unworkable alternative.

[ProSense]

14. No, not wrong. The notion is that the media and establishment will play along with Obama in the same

way they play along with Hillary. They will simply twist any negative campaigning he does against him. Look at what they did with the NAFTA and health care mailers and he was right. Strong, right and distorted!

The majority of people in both TX and Ohio agreed that Hillary wasn't running a fair campaign. Let's see how long that lasts. She is not, not going to win despite it. Tonight was Hillary hanging on, nothing more.

[Bluerthanblue]

27. he doesn't need to go negative in order to highlight the garbage Hillary

throws around- All he has to do is face her head on- as he has, and tell the truth, as he has. She will, ultimately, sadly- destroy herself-
If he gets agressively negative, he only gives Hillary the chance to play the sad, opressed victim- something that she has incorporated into her very being- for over 35yrs. "Experience"- she's speaking more truth than she or many other people realize when she says that is what she is running on.-


As a woman who went from a very troubled childhood, into an abusive marriage, and then stayed in that marriage for 15yrs.- I understand better than I want to admit, what I'm talking about. Hillary has learned to use a soft kind of 'victimization' to her advantage. - she plays on the sympathy of other people. It is 'familiar'- and oddly comfortable, and reliable to her-
Obama doesn't want to play into that- He can win without being played. He can win by being the classy, patient, honest person he has shown himself to be.

America is tired of playing co-dependent- Obama has obviously learned from his life experience. He understands what breaking destructive cycles is all about.

I DO believe- that he is going to be a very good president.

We sure are in need of one.


peace~

[bicentennial_baby]

16. !

:applause:

[depakid]

18. That post is precisely why you condemn us all to lose.

You won't fight.

You want Kumbaya.

It doesn't work that way- though it seems obvious that some types of folks will never learn.

Hence the fine results we've gotten- and keep getting, in the House & Senate.

[Bluerthanblue]

28. no, I'm not talking about surrender- I'm talking about

NOT surrendering.

If Obama plays Hillary's way- he might win the NOM- but he wouldn't win the House- and he'd have become someone not worth supporting in the process.

He will win on his merit- not by rumor, gossip and slander.

peace~

[woolldog]

21. Mark 8:36

"What benefit will it be to you if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

[grantcart]

4. yeah except that he came back from 20 points

also he is only down 5 points in PA and if had gone negative and it didn't work it would have been worse. These guys are 13-3 for the last 5 weeks so I am not going to try and out guess them.

[FrenchieCat]

5. You got it!

That's what I'm talking about.

[leftstreet]

6. He needs to get back to that ~YES WE CAN~ thingy

The HOPE and CHANGE business that catapulted him to serious frontrunner status.

He should just ignore Clinton's negative stuff.

[RamboLiberal]

13. He tried to ignore the Clinton negative stuff

and like Kerry he kinda got his ass handed to him tonight.

He needs to hit her back. They're going to run with this Rezko crap for the next 7 weeks in to PA. He needs to hit her back with Whitewater, Norman Hsu, Marc and Denise Rich, Billinggate, Cattlegate, etc. She and Bill have a lot of skeletons in their closet as well. Remind voters how sick of all these scandals in the 90's we all became sick of. Let her whine this is unfair.

IMHO another mistake Obama made is what many football teams make. He was looking ahead to the GE and McCain and not focusing on the team he is currently engaged against. He needs to forget about McCain for the moment and concentrate on the knock out punch against Hillary.

I quoted Sean Connery's Malone in the Untouchables in another thread, but I seriously think the Obama campaign should all get this memo:

They pull a knife, you pull a gun. She sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of hers to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way! And that's how you get Clinton. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I'm offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?

[leftstreet]

19. Maybe he should just go for The Lewinsky?

:D

You make a good point though.

[TheDonkey]

8. It's heartbreaking that we have to play politics so dirty

but when there is someone as slimey as Hillary there is no option it seems.

[JimGinPA]

9. Like A Pendulum, The Bad Press Is Going To Swing Back To Hillary Now...

She will get a day or two in the limelight because of this "momentum" and then watch what happens.

[Tom Rinaldo]

10. I largely agree with you

I differ with some Obama suppoerters who in my opinion are too quick to call any negative campaigning against Obama "swiftboating", but not all campaigning is positive. It never has been and it never will be. Whoever we run against McCain in the Fall will have to be very effective at landing solid body blows AS WELL AS dealing with the body blows thrown by his or her opponent.

Because it isn't just Hillary Clinton who won't go away, the Republicans won't either. And Hillary Clinton will stand up against them.
Obama has money, he has supportersw, and he has over a month to get the job done. Let's see him win a closed Democratic Party Primary in Pennsylvania. Let's see how well Obama can fight and win when his isn't the only campaign with money, moomentum and media support.

[Tropics_Dude83]

34. Despite all my fury at HRC

Right now, I no longer think that she has any electability issues whatsoever in the GE, certainly no more than Barack Obama.

[thewiseguy]

11. This will be a very good lesson for him and his supporters

We will not win the nomination or the general election by playing nice or being defensive.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

12. In reality - we allowed ourselves to be "beat" in 2000/2004 by being "nice."

meanwhile - the Repubs "won" by being nasty and by fighting dirty.

[MadBadger]

15. I completely agree. He really lost it this weekend

If this election happened last tuesday, he would have won in Texas. But the past three days he has sat back and played defense and some of her shit stuck. I'll let you know when I get a thread back tomorrow what I think Obama's strategy should be.

[RiverStone]

17. Yes - I agree 100%

Obama MUST counter punch with aggressiveness.

His mistake was complacency - he moved his focus to McCain rather than fighting toe to toe with Hillary. I hope his advisers tell him he needs to get down and dirty - he needs to come back ASAP and get Hillary on the defensive.

She knows how to go negative - sadly, he can longer stay exclusively on the high road - he needs to go low and go strong!

[barb162]

20. He outspent Clinton by about 3 or 4 to 1 and he still blew it. bigtime

And he didn't take the high road. He even dissed Clinton in his speech tonight. A true sore loser.

[BeyondGeography]

24. The money point is irrelevant

when you allow your opponent to dominate the free media the way Obama did.

[MadBadger]

30. Sore Loser? He congratulated her on her victories...something Hillary didnt do in Feburary at all.

[LaPera]

22. He better not be "outplayed" in PA.....A big state, he better be on his toes....

PA will be for ALL the marbles!

Leading up to the Convention!

While the republicans are in such glee...

[casus belli]

23. He Kerry'd out. She won't phase his lead, but...

he can't let attacks linger about and expect people to know what is false and what isn't. I STILL see people, even here, claiming he made assurances to Canada that were never offered. That line is STILL being played even after an outright dismissal of the characterization by the Candian Embassy. He has to quickly and forcefully end BS stories like this before they are allowed to breed doubt.

We live in a nation where shows like Jerry Springer not only stay on the air, but thrive. Negative attacks stick around much longer and still continue to fester even after they've been debunked. He simply cannot underestimate negative attacks, and has to start forcefully addressing them the MINUTE they occur. Not a day later, not a week later...

[Zachstar]

25. Sadly This is the way America picks the people to represent them.

*Sigh*

Ok time to move to the offensive. It wont take much to convince voters Clinton is scum. A few 30 second ads to show he is on the offensive and what is the real "Experience" Clinton brings to her campaign.

The real test for obama is standing up in front of people and going on the offensive. He needs to CONSTANTLY slam the Clinton's on their past on her support of the Iraq war and her fucking refusal to apologize for it.

If he constantly remains on the defensive Clinton will win big later on at this rate.

The gloves are off.

[MojoMojoMojo]

26. "the no-subcommittee-nonsense "

"the no-subcommittee-nonsense which was made into an attack ad that was actually effective"
I also think that ad hurt Obama badly.Or rather he hurt himself by revealing how poorly he managed his responsibility.
Obama has been using the same tactic by hitting Hillary with negatives for his entire campaign.You all say its only the truth not negative when its done to Hillary.
Hillary finally has used the same tactic and it does work.
The 3am ad is just dumb IMO.
Care to explain why Obama had no oversight on Afghanistan?

[Emit]

29. Obama today "I don't want to change the tone of our campaign because that's how ..."

...I ultimately think we're going to able to govern"

'We do things differently' 3:13
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama says he wants to stay focused on the issues.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?iref=videoglobal

[Bluerthanblue]

33. and THIS is a perfect example of why Obama IS THE BEST

choice for America.

thanks for posting this-
peace~

[Emit]

39. No problem, Bluerthanblue

:hi:

I agree that it is a perfect example and I hope he stays on the high road. He seems sincere in trying to do the right thing, and I hope he sticks with that.

[bling bling]

31. You're right.

I appreciate his campaign trying to stay respectful by not capitalizing on the many opportunities that have been available to go for Hillary's throat. But that will need to stop. For example, Instead of taking the high road when he's shown a clip of Hillary mocking him about the clouds parting and birds chirping, instead of being respectful and ignoring the pettyniness (by simply acknowledging her larger point and responding to that) he's going to need to take the opportunity presented. She didn't look like a leader Dem's should be proud of in that moment. Is THAT attitude what we want the world to see? America has been the beacon of hope to millions around the world. What would her message be to those who seek America simply because the only thing they have left is a speck of hope? Anyway, there must be a hundred good jabs that could have been made about that. He needs to start taking advantage of those chances and hitting her back hard.

[babylonsister]

32. So the high road is unattainable; he must take the low road to win?

There's the quandary. We'll see. If that's what it takes, go for it, Barack, but I would love the high road.

[Jonathan2000]

35. As I mentioned in an earlier thread

Hillary has not been fully vetted concerning past Clinton scandals. At the time, the press was more interested in Bill’s involvement rather than Hillary’s and the issue of Hillary’s judgment was not relevant. This is part of her lifetime experience she now promotes.

[Blondiegrrl]

36. I'm betting he'll change his tune somewhat.

Obama tried valiantly to take the high road, even in the face od Clinton's smears. He's remained classy and dignified throughout this race, and I admire him for that. But I think he's also growing tired of her shit. I also think that Hillary and her co-president-in-waiting have far, far more skeletons in their closet.

[Dogmudgeon]

37. "The Clintons will only go away when you drive a stake through their black hearts"

That's a positive message of hope, all right!

:rofl:

--p!

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

38. Yes he was, and that's why I support Clinton.

Obama has David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel and the whole Cook County Machine at his beck and call. (Axelrod isn't some high-minded idealist, you know; he advises Richie Daley, the man intent on turning Chicago into a theme park for the 2016 Olympics by raising taxes and pricing the middle class out of the city, not to mention all the disenfranchised poor Obama used to help.)

So that's Obama's muscle, and he still gets his ass kicked by a girl.

Throughout 2004 I would literally groan watching John Kerry try to sidestep GOP attacks. John Kerry did a shit job of defending himself, and I can't take another presidential campaign of our nominee stumbling over his own feet while his opponent keeps jabbing and punching.

I like Obama just fine; he's likeable enough. I don't respect him much, but I would respect him a lot more if he could prove NOW that he can fight back. I don't want to find out too late that he just can't.

[KoKo]

40. After the Bush/Cheney years....you think anyone cares about Bill/Hillary's

donors and connections? You think anyone cares about anything but winning?

Obama isn't as clean as you are making out, either. There are no "clean" politicians who make it to the Presidential level. The "clean ones" like Kucinich and Edwards are weeded out because they aren't...bought and paid for.