Barack Obama Gets Bogged Down
In the wake of Tuesday’s Democratic primary wins for Hillary Clinton in Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island, pundits are beginning to question the “inevitability” of Barack Obama, who as recently as just days ago seemed primed to knock Clinton out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Clinton’s win and her slight 238-194 edge in superdelegates means she will stay in the race for at least another seven weeks until the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, while John McCain has locked down the Republican nomination, leaving him free to start his general election campaign.
Jonathan Weisman and Shailagh Murray of the Washington Post posited Wednesday that this means Obama is now facing a two-front war against Hillary and McCain, stating:
Even before the polls opened, campaign officials were dreading an outcome that would keep Clinton (D-N.Y.) in the race at least through the Pennsylvania primary on April 22. Those seven weeks will cost Obama at least $10 million, and possibly much more, campaign aides say, as he battles a rejuvenated Clinton who will have every incentive to try to force him into a major mistake.
Obama aides also expect to take concentrated fire from McCain (Ariz.) and his Republican allies, who have already begun raising questions about the 46-year-old Democratic senator’s credibility, authenticity, and even his patriotism.
For months before his victory in Iowa, doubters questioned whether Obama had the stomach to deliver the blows necessary to wear down Clinton’s advantages. Now, the question is whether he can take a punch — “and you know they will be coming,” said former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack (D), a Clinton supporter.
The battle ahead may see Obama survive Clinton, only to be too bloodied to succeed in the general election against John McCain. Controversial associations, unforced errors, and radical positions are slowly catching up to him, and will lead to his inevitable defeat.
Troubling Relationships
The extortion and money laundering trial of fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko begun in Chicago earlier this week. Jury selection began Monday in Syrian-born Rezko’s 24-count extortion and money laundering trial, a case expected to drag out at least three months, dogging Obama throughout a crucial time in the remaining Democratic primary season, and tarring his carefully-crafted message as an agent of change. There is no indication that Obama did anything directly illegal in his dealings with Rezko, but Rezko’s assistance in a real estate deal for Obama’s home and the extorted money Rezko donated to the Obama campaign — since given to charity — called into question Obama’s judgment and put on display his unsettling naivety.
And though the line of attack is perhaps unfair, the “Muslim” whispering campaign against him is only exacerbated by his passing relationship to William Ayers, best known as an unrepentant terrorist leader of the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground. Ayers was part of a left-wing terrorist organization that bombed both the United States Capitol and the Pentagon among other targets, and Ayers refuses to apologize for his actions even today. Ayers was on the board of directors of the progressive Woods Fund with Obama from 1999 until 2002, and an Obama supporter has described their relationship as friendly. For those willing to question Obama’s patriotism, even this slight association with a known terrorist may cause his support to falter.
Obama’s pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., has also been a point of concern for some, running a congregation of the Church of Christ that even people in his own camp feel is too Afrocentric, perhaps to the point of alienating some white voters.
Even Obama’s spouse, Michelle Obama, has become problematic for her husband as a glum Eeyore of a perspective First Spouse. In recent weeks, she has managed to cause increasing controversy as she makes one seemingly disloyal verbal gaffe after another, from intoning she was not proud to be an American until her husband began his campaign for the presidency, to stating (falsely) that in America, “living has gotten progressively worse since I was a little girl”, to stating that America is “just downright mean.” Michelle Obama’s life is a remarkable example of living the American Dream to the fullest, and yet, she has found ways to squander the natural advantage that is her life’s story.
By themselves, none of these relationships should be enough to significantly damage the Obama campaign, but taken together, they start to build a picture of a candidate who too closely associates with radical ideologies, a perception already being shaped by both the Clinton and McCain campaigns.
Unforced Errors
Monday saw Obama face a combative press corps for the first time, and a seemingly bewildered Obama collapsed under rapid fire questions concerning his relationship with Rezko, and apparent deception about a campaign aide’s conversation with Canadian officials over Obama’s statements on NAFTA. Sensing weakness, the media pounced. Obama, known for his soaring oratory in prepared speeches and friendly “townhall” meetings, looked inexperienced, evasive, and vulnerable. Obama has largely sustained his campaign based upon perception and “hope” until recently as he isolated himself from the press. Now his presumed inevitability is tarnished, never to return to its former luster. As a newly critical press begins to more closely monitor his campaign, look for chinks in his armor to steadily widen.
Radical Positions
Does the Bible sanction abortion and gay marriage? Most Americans would answer in the negative, but this past Sunday, Barack Obama tried to invoke Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount to support his positions in favor of abortion and same-sex civil unions, Biblical interpretations that are far outside the mainstream of theological thought.
Obama’s past positions on gun control — he favored an outright ban on all semi-automatic firearms and handguns, and does not explicitly recognize a right to self-defense — are steadily becoming a problem, and his campaign refuses to answer direct questions posed to them about his current stance on the issue.
His proposals to raise Social Security taxes on both individuals and businesses, eliminate the middle class tax cuts of the Bush administration, implement programs that would increase spending by the federal government to an estimated $278 billion per year, and support a trillion-dollar “global tax” plan to give American tax dollars to foreign nations are perhaps far more than Americans worried about a looming recession are willing to bear.
End Game
Freed of primary challengers after clinching the Republican nomination Tuesday night, John McCain is now free to hammer on Barack Obama’s substance — or presumed lack of it — until the general election, a tack that the Hillary Clinton campaign is also playing at least until the Democratic contest in Pennsylvania in late April.
Obama may perhaps survive this two-front assault to escape with the Democratic nomination later this summer, but even if he does, he will find himself too isolated, too fragile, and too damaged to defeat McCain in the general election.
Barack Obama will not be the next president of the United States. In the end, he promises the kind of changes most American voters will decide they can’t believe in.
Bob Owens blogs at Conservative Yankee.
Michelle Obama benefited from affirmative action. This ungrateful, anti-American, ivy league (un)educated, pathetic woman could occupy the White House.
Scary, isn’t it?
Comment to Ted~
Absolutely, she would never have the opportunities in ANY other country in the world. As far as I’m concerned she is an ungrateful
B!tch….also, her hubbie wants to really “ramp up” how unfair the “system” is to blacks, when actually the reverse it true. They have far more entitlements than whites, and want more?? Larry Elder is correct when he says the blacks have to become self-sufficient and stop looking to the government to pave there way.
ted goldman :
Michelle Obama benefited from affirmative action. This ungrateful, anti-American, ivy league (un)educated, pathetic woman could occupy the White House.
Scary, isn’t it?
Mar 8, 2008 07:56 AM
“Barack Obama will not be the next president of the United States.”
The odds are definitely against “Barry” Obama. As matter of fact, John McCain may win by a landslide. Hillary Clinton subconsciously, if not perhaps even consciously, has decided to destroy Obama’s presidential hopes. She prefers that McCain serve one term and this will allow her to start anew in 2012.
I was one of the very first people who clearly saw that Hillary Clinton was in deep trouble after her third place finish in Iowa. Obama was the beneficiary of whites who voted for him to prove “I’m not a racist.” The hard questions were ignored, but common sense dictated that they would eventually have to be answered. The stuff has hit the fan. If Obama had instead finished third in Iowa—his campaign, for all practical purposes, would have ended. Hillary would have been well on her way to capturing the nomination. Black Democrats would have simply shrugged their shoulders and supported Hillary. No big deal. But now Obama is on the top of the heap. These same blacks will now be embittered and enraged if Obama is pushed under the train.
Bob Owens, What is Hillary have on you. Wait to people start hitting on Hillary there will not be enough media space or time.
Better get used to saying it now folks and avoid the rush.
Barack Obama the 44th president.
Obama 08, YES WE CAN!
Thanks Mr. Owens:
Everyone should read this article; AND; the great article quoting a speech by Michelle Obama. No conscious citizen should vote for Obama; for several reasons, including those reasons listed in Mr. Owens’ great expose above.
Soldier forever, USArmy (R)
Former Fed Investigator, still serving in both capacities!
One problem with Obama is that he doesn’t have a lot of substance. I went to his Web site to see what he really has to say about issues, beyond the hype about hope. It’s hard to tell whether he himself is hopelessly naive or whether he just thinks his constituents are. It’s also hard to determine whether he just makes up “statistics” to support unsuportable claims, or whether whoever writes his material does.
This blog post on Obamanomics analyzes Obama’s take on the key problems with the economy. Like everything else Obama says, the words sound great, as long as you don’t pay too much attention to their meaning…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cCG5Tp4ZwZI
HILLARY 2008
The United Church of Christ is not the Church of Christ. From Wikipedia:
“Although similar in name, the UCC denomination is theologically and, for the most part, historically distinct from the Churches of Christ, a loose affiliation of conservative congregations[1] that arose primarily from the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement in the 19th century.”
There are many basic differences between the two denominations. Take a few moments to google the United Church of Christ, and you won’t confuse them again.
I am a foreigner and to me it is amazing that the only person who can inspire Americans is part Kenyan( His father was Kenyan and never took US Citizenship)..Nowhere else in the world would people be proud of this.
Not sure if this is good or bad…
lt’s very demoralizing and also very very sad as to what extent people are willing to stoop just to paint a bad picture of Obama. People have said a lot of awful things about this poor guy: l mean, he’s been called a radical islamist, a muslim, Osama bin Laden, a con-artist, a fraud, a terrorist….common America!, whats with all the HATE? Are we hating on him because he’s the 1st minority citizen to ever have a clear chance at winning the DNC nomination? Or are we just playing the politics of hate these days? Remember, he was right about the war in Iraq; which has claimed thousands of American and Iraqi lives, and which Hillary and McCain voted for. He ws right about Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And as for Bob Owens, l think you should be very ashamed of yourself for putting up such a mean and deceiving message, feeding the American public the lies they definitely don’t need at these crucial times. Well ok, since you think Obama is soooo bad and doesn’t deserve to even run for the presidential seat, why dont you then go and take off his name from the DNC presidential ticket huh? Hillary Clinton, up till today, has not shown the public her tax refund from 07 and nobody seems to be complaining about that these days b’cos all eyes are on Obama and his wife, give me a break America. Give me a break! We should all remember that the world is patiently watching us, and they’re really interested in knowing the outcome of this DNC situation. My fellow Democrats, fighting b/w Obama and Clinton is not really helping the party and you all know that, we’re only entertaining the Republicans, and they seem to be enjoying the show too. We should start using our senses. We should stop this madness before it tears the party further apart. B’cos if we dont, then J. McCain is likely to walk into that oval office in Jan. as the 44th American president, and that we seriously dont need – (another Bush admn.? No!). Let us come together, find a common ground and work out this problem. Oh, and once again….Shame on you Bob Owens! You’re violating the rules of ‘Freedom of Speech!’
I am for Barack Obama – - So, Yes We Can!!!
Michelle Obama should THANK America for giving her the American dream….a great education and job, a mansion, husband and 2 kids.
Do we want her as first lady? No way…….she has a major chip on her shoulders
HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT !!!
Frankly, I wonder how close Obama’s church is to any group of Christian churches.
A church that characterizes its membership as black first and Christian second, then starts announcing its allegiance to the black community and the African homeland, describing its values in Marxist terms and blaming American society for the suffering of blacks, seems to be a black political movement masquerading as a Christian church.
A core teaching of Christianity is that all Christians are one in Christ without respect to gender, status, nationality, or race.
This is the unfortunate result of having the Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and their ilk of brainwashing one segment of the population into believing they have always been and will be victims. They simultaneously blackmail businesses into supporting them to continue the message and extortion. How anyone who has had the benefits of this country so lavishly bestowed on them and not be proud is beyond my comprehension. But, there you have it: extreme leftist ideology which Marx, Stalin and Meo used to kill 100′s of millions of people and rule them harshly. Need we say more? They are blind, deaf and dumb to the truth, to our peril!!
Challi, MD–it’s hard to know whether you’re simply naive or completely stupid. I assume you’re young and impressionable, and therefore naive. Some of the points you make, however, are moronic at best. Labeling a written piece as a violation of free speech is about as stupid as it gets. If this is the typical Obama voter, I’m encouraged. Folks of this intellectual caliber probably don’t know where their polling place is anyway.
Most of these comments sicken me to my stomach…. Most of you sound like racists!! Including the individual that wrote the article! You are so afraid that CHANGE could actually take place, that your precious White America could be led by someone whom you believe is beneath you, because he’s not white!! How dare he believe that we’ve come far enough from the days of slavery, or even the civil rights movement to a place in time where he could actually be “judged not by the color of his skin(or his name), but by the content of his character”! You have not come right out and said it, but that’s just the way racism is in today’s America. It is not blantantly told for the most part, but it’s in the undertones of articles such as this one! And if this is the America that we live in, then I too am ashamed to be an American!
Alot of these comments are soooo taken out of context, just so that the person’s words could be used against them. Michelle Obama did not say she was not proud to be an American, she said that “for the first time, she was REALLY PROUD to be an American”. This to a sane person who is not looking for something evil to convey, just says she has some personal pride in what is taking place in her husband’s life, and hers as well. It says that she was thinking that Americans are finally able to come together, and possibly be able to elect a President that they would not normally elect, simply because he makes sense, and is saying something other than the same old stuff normally heard at campaign rallys, or simply because he’s getting people, that haven’t done so before, to come out and take part in the process, and it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t have the physical features that “the President” has had for last 40 something times!
I’m prior military and I’ve been in situations on foreign soil where I was less than proud to be an American. I’ve seen my fellow service members be disrespectful to those who were not Americans, on their own soil, hence, one of the MANY reasons why Americans are disliked abroad. We behave as if we are better than, because we are Americans.
In reference to Mr Obama’s PAST affiliations with individuals who have now found themselves on the wrong side of the law, that’s their business. It has no bearing on what kind of man Mr Obama has shown himself to be through out this campaign. Through all your tauntings and other attempts to make him resort to dirty politics as usual, he’s still risen above that, and, when and if he does need to fight for this nomination, those of us that believe in his message, believe that he will fight and do it with more dignity than all of you and his opponents put together!
CHALLI MD……..YOU ARE ON THE MONEY with your comments. Bob Owens is another one of the haters for writing this article and is fueling the fire for the America that wants to continue with politics as usual and put another George Bush back into the white house, and Bush was the worst President in history! God forbid we do any worst than Bush!!
BRAD YOU ARE ONE OF THE ONES THAT SICKEN ME BY YOUR COMMENT! JUST GET READY TO FORM YOUR LIPS TO SAY “PRESIDENT OBAMA”!!
This is quite a scary association list Obama is drawing up: the Weather Underground and Farrakhan, a devout anti-Semite. What is bothersome is that Obama still supports his church after learning its pastor and Farrakhan are connected/friends. Wouldn’t you leave such a church if that was discovered? Unless, of course, you support the pastor’s decision.
This is quite a scary association list Obama is drawing up: the Weather Underground and Farrakhan, a devout anti-Semite. What is bothersome is that Obama still supports his church after learning its pastor and Farrakhan are connected/friends. Wouldn’t you leave such a church if that was discovered? Unless, of course, you support the pastor’s decision.
The main difference between Clinton and Obama is one of character. Any one paying attention can see that Senator Clinton is diverting attention from her own shortcomings by projecting them on to Senator Obama
On NAFTA
While blaming Obama, her own campaign asked asked Canada to take her anti-NAFTA crticism with “a grain of salt” http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g9rwO9WjyXz5a-SfrETivAeTEnnw
Meanwhile, Obama’s only fault on NAFTA has been to hire smart economists like Goulsbee who speak their own mind
On Corruption,
While digging up a fifteen year old, thoroughly vetted relationship with Tony Rezko, both Clintons are concealing their own indictment in the largest election law fraud is US history
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xq8aopATYyw&feature=related
On Experience
While comparing her 35 years to one Obama speech, Hillary is concealing the lack of ANY substantive accomplishments
- Legislative
http://barackobama.meetup.com/254/boards/thread/4201317
- Foreign experience
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Clintons_experience.html
Meanwhile, Obama passed healthcare reform and hundreds of other bills in Illinois
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/29/us/politics/20070730_OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html
Whatever experience the Clinton’s bring can best be used under the transparent leadership of an Obama presidency, not as a family dynasty.
Neither Clinton or Obama have much to show for their decision making skills. When looking at their voting records (when they actually voted), I see “fluff”. I see go-with-the-flow votes that don’t comprehensively define what their platform is. There is nothing there that says either one can lead our nation for the next four to eight years. The word “Change” on the front of Obama’s podium is not enough to make me think twice about considering him a leader.
Anthea, I will agree with you on the comments about Michelle Obama. Any person with an ounce of gray matter will know that her statements were taken out of context. But with a population of Americans dominated by those that have little to no ability to think for themselves, the “string-pullers” only have to make a tiny effort to persuade the public. Oh, and don’t worry, I am not just accusing the liberals of being great “sheeple”, there are a lot of conservatives that wouldn’t know which way to turn out of their own drive-ways without the advice of Ann Coulter or Fox News.
I will admit that I consider myself more of a conservative, if I must pick between the two: Although Libertarian more accurately defines my beliefs.
If you want my opinion (if you don’t that’s all right as well), I think that Colin L. Powell would make a darn good president. I wish that he would have stepped up and taken a shot at it.
The Obamaniacs are beginning to sound and behave too much like the members of the People’s Temple, and we all know what happened to them.