The Obama Myth Exposed?

National Review Online: His Now Apparent Weaknesses May Prove Debilitating

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Peter Wehner.

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Dan Balz, one of America’s finest political reporters, wrote this on his Washington Post blog:

The most important decision Barack Obama will make between now and the November election is the selection of a vice presidential running mate. That makes all the more remarkable his effort Tuesday to suggest that the people he has put in charge of helping make the decision are somehow not really part of his campaign.

Obama is on the defensive over his selection of James A. Johnson the former CEO of Fannie Mae, to help lead the vice presidential search process, a role he played for John F. Kerry four years ago.

Johnson is drawing fire over his jumbo home loans from Countrywide Financial, a major actor in the subprime mortgage mess, that may have been below market rates.… It isn't clear whether the uproar over Johnson is a passing storm or a more serious problem for the Obama campaign… But the candidate's response has raised questions about the candidate himself that could well linger past the moment.

After Balz’s piece appeared it was announced that James Johnson will be leaving his post at the Obama campaign. Throwing Johnson under the same bus that rolled over the Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. and Trinity Church may be politically necessary. Yet the damage, I think, is real because of an accretion effect.

It can’t be said often enough: the conceit of the Obama campaign is that its candidate is the antithesis of politics as it has been practiced for decades, if not for centuries. He is, we are told, the agent of change, the great turner of the page, a man unstained by politics and who will alter the way it has been practiced. He is bi-partisan and post-partisan and beyond political labeling. He will not unfairly portray the views of his opponent or engage in petty distractions. According to his wife Michelle, he will heal the broken souls of America. And according to Obama himself, he will begin to heal the planet.

The bar has been set enormously high - and it has been set there by Obama, his wife, and his campaign.

If voters begin to believe that the Obama Phenomenon is really an Obama Myth - that he is just another conventional politician, but in this instance one who emerged out of the largely polluted waters of Chicago politics - then Obama is reduced to being a one-term senator with very few achievements in his life that commend him to be president. He also happens to be the most liberal candidate for president since George McGovern. We are now in the early phase of that transformation; it remains to be seen if it continues or if Obama can find a way to arrest or even reverse it.

Obama still has things working in his favor, from a horrible political environment for Republicans, to a first-rate campaign to enormous fund-raising abilities, to some very impressive political skills. But Obama’s now-apparent weaknesses may prove to be debilitating.

Barack Obama will be the focal point of this election. If Americans find him to be an acceptable choice for president, he will probably win, given all the factors that are working in his favor. But if the doubts that have persisted about him begin to grow and metastasize - if large numbers of Americans come to believe that the Obama appeal is, at its core, a mirage - then McCain has a real chance to prevail. And if he does, the Democratic party and liberalism will have a nervous breakdown unlike any we have seen.

Democrats remain hopeful, but they are also beginning to harbor some doubts and even fears. This may not be as easy as they thought.

Stay tuned.

[patriot12436]

element51
I agree with you about mccain, i do not want him in office but my fears about obama have not been settled and i fear him more. I hear what he says and like what he says, but i still do not trust him because of his affiliations. He belonged to the church for 20 years so i believe he accepted wrights beliefs as well. While attending college American history was one of my favorite claesses. I had a prof that was a history buff and taught us the real untold history, not like the *** they tried to feed us in high school. I especially enjoyed the parts about slavery so that i could learn the truth and what we need to fix it. What they haven''t found is a way to heal the racial rift in our coutry. I think people like wright keep it an open sore.

[it_oldtimer]

See what I mean, lol? Misandry, pure and simple. Sad.

[it_oldtimer]

@ jncc1701 and Element51:

The phenomenon of these rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth Hillary fanatics threatening to vote for McCain interests me too, since I can''t recall ever seeing anything quite as paradoxical occur in any previous election (and I''ve seen a lot of Presidential elections).

I question them whenever I encounter one of them, and in just about every single case their motivations have boiled down to one of two things: it''s either been "misandry" (they hate all men) or "racism", or a combination of the two. It''s virtually never actually about "politics" at all, per se.

These are people (mostly women) who are truly so dumb and emotionally out-of-control that they''re actually proud to brag that they intend to cut off their own nose just to spite their face. Scary.

Also interesting is the fact that not one of those that I''ve talked to believes that the Republicans will offer up a female Presidential candidate in the next election cycle, or even in their lifetimes, and many doubt that the Dem''s will put forward another female candidate again for quite some time either, after all the inter-party animosity it''s caused this time around.

Hard to say with any certainty, of course, but they just might be right about that, unfortunately. Apparently the only way to really avoid the gender- related bickering would be to run only female candidates against each other.

My, what a nasty cat-fight that would surely devolve into.

[it_oldtimer]

@ zgomer:

The party''s ARE the country, in case you haven''t noticed, you fascist simpleton.

Crawl back into your cave and practice painting your hand-print on the wall or something - don''t bother straining your brain trying to understand something as complex as politics when it''s obvious you can barely even read and write properly yet.

[sparks224]

The NRO Myth Exposed?

Does anyone really think the NRO is anything but a right wing noise machine?

[elz523]

Some of these nuts on here, spouting their hate and pretending to be disaffected Democrats, are actually stupid Republicans grasping at straws, doing whatever they can to disrupt Democratic unity. They are best ignored. Eventually they crawl back in hole.

I actually saw someone posting on here one day who was using English in such a way that it reminded me of the English style I hear when I call my credit card company. So I''m thinking the right wingers are now outsourcing their political hatchet blogging to India!

[element51]

jncc1701....You nailed it exactly. I can understand disappointment at not winning but I can not understand the blazing hatred these people seem to feel toward Obama. I have followed up on every charge made against him and I fail to find substancial proof that he is a danger. I believe that McCain is simply going to continue the same policies that we have now and look at the condition we are in as a result of those policies. This election is the most important one of my lifetime and let''s hope we make the right choice.

[element51]

patriot12436....Thank you for your post. Yes, we disagree but we do not find it necessary to hurl insults at each other. I respect your opinion and welcome your comments. The issue of Obama''s church is a difficult one to disect.
While I agree that the comments made by Wright were outrageous, I also find comments by McCains religious leader to be equally outrageous. Yes, it is true that Obama attended his church for 20 years while McCain, to my knowledge, didn''t attend any church but sought and accepted Hagee''s endorsement and then rejected it. There are similarities here. I do not believe that either candidate is contaminated because of this one issue. As for comments by Obama''s wife I can only say that over the years there have been times when I was not that proud of my country but I always loved America. I served in the military and dedicated my life to teaching young people the history of this great country. Certain parts of that history were hard to discus such as slavery, treatment of the native people, racism and interment camps for the Japanese Americans during WW2 just to name a few. But I never wavered in my love of America. Perhaps she was trying to express the same feelings. I don''t know. My research to date has not uncovered anything about Obama that causes me to fear him. But I do fear McCain. I have issues with his character and I firmly believe that he will keep leading us down the same path we are now on.

[jncc1701]

I cannot understand how anyone who is NOT pleased with Bush will get all bent out of shape over Hillary not winning the nomination - and not vote for Obama. She was beaten fair and square (if you subscribe to the idea that she was sunk by the sexist media - do you think that was going to get better against McCain? Think of what Rush would have done to her)

come on people at least turn on your brains. do you really think the country can survive four more GOP years - especially when one takes into account McCain is 71, too old to fly a plane for a major airline. Who is really going to be making the decisions in his administration?

I will be holding my nose and voting Obama - this election is one that will affect generations yet unborn - it is no time to be stupid.

[patriot12436]

it_oldtimer
Your test doesn''t stand scrutiny. Bush was elected president, do you think he was qualified for the position ? As for party''s having strength in numbers, maybe that is part of the problem. They have had the strength but have done nothing to effect change. That is why i think it is time to do away with the national parties.