Not The Obama We Know

National Review: An effective, Dishonest Speech

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Ramesh Ponnuru.

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Everyone knew that Barack Obama can give a good speech, and he did just that tonight. The Obama we heard from was an attractive figure. Too bad he doesn’t exist.

The speech was very well designed to achieve its many political objectives. Obama worked hard to express his identification with ordinary Americans - simultaneously countering the perceptions that he is a vapid celebrity and that he is uncomfortable with conventional patriotism. Obama was very careful on this point. There was no Clintonian (or David Brooksian) talk of himself as a globalized man, no reference to Indonesia or even Hawaii. He wisely declined the opportunity to talk a lot about race; doing so could have led him nowhere helpful. If it had not been the anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech, perhaps he would not have alluded to it at all.

He tied McCain to Bush and hit both hard on economics, while (naturally) neglecting to mention the rough edges of his own economic policies: the taxes on small business that his health-care plan entail, for example. He didn’t even mention his tax hikes on the rich. And he presented himself as a unifying moderate on social issues.

If all you knew of Obama was what he presented to you in his speech, you would think of him as a typical Democratic politician improved by the addition of a bit more thoughtfulness and idealism than the average representative of the class. You would be amazed to learn of his extremely close relationship to a radical anti-American preacher; or that he has followed a no-enemies-to-the-left approach to politics that put him in the company of an unrepentant terrorist. You would not suspect that he favors taxpayer-funded abortion or drivers’ licenses for illegal immigrants. You would not realize that he has crossed party lines far less often than McCain. You would not imagine that he had ever voted against funding for troops in war zones. It would not cross your mind that this denouncer of hardball, self-interested politics might be having his campaign intimidate reporters out of looking into his record.

Obama was less successful in making the case for himself on foreign policy, but no less dishonest. He did not acknowledge the success or even the existence of the surge. He presented McCain as the lone holdout against a consensus on withdrawal from Iraq that includes President Bush. If he had had his way, we would have been out of Iraq a long time ago and the country would be in far worse shape - but by presenting a timeline of the Iraq debate that excludes the last two years, he kept all but the most attentive listeners from noticing.

The senator argued that we should be able to disagree on political issues without questioning each other’s character. True. But he concludes that we should therefore ignore the evidence that he has, in fact, adopted the foreign-policy positions he has for political reasons. He acts as though he is being gracious by not leveling a like charge against McCain. But it is no concession to declare off limits an accusation that applies to you and not your opponent.

I am not sure who the real Barack Obama is. I do not believe that I saw him Thursday night.

[lordmi]

Do you know what the first two "powers and duties" are for the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska? Check their municipal code:

1. Preside at council meetings. The mayor may take part in the discussion of matters before the council, but may not vote, except that the mayor may vote in the case of a tie;

2. Act as ceremonial head of the city;

All that she added is Ball of intrigues.
Read details : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/the-worst-vice-presidenti_b_122491.html

[lordmi]

Truth about MonsterMom & McBush

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/the-worst-vice-presidenti_b_122491.html

[lordmi]

poor creature, all that You wrote here is NOT true.

[kansas1946]

Good God. Where does NRO get their journalists, from the Rush Limbaugh happy-hour club?? This was just a miserable piece of journalism. Miserable. If this is the intelectual level of the folks that support McCain and Bush, then Republicans really are in a world of hurt.

[dremn1]

You people are so mis-guided. Sarah has more experience then Obama. Even Hillary agrees when she said "Obama''s experience amounts to a speech he gave in 2004"

You will see McCain leapfrog to the lead after Sarah delivers her speech in a few days and everybody will see what she is about.

McCain tossed away any hopes he had of winning the election by picking Babmi as his VP... a beauty queen a heartbeat away from the presidency and the guy''''''''s already had 4 bouts of cancer. Brilliant! I see a lot of advisors heading for the unemployment line.

Posted by WogerWabbit at 12:41 AM : Aug 30, 2008

Exactly. Biden has foreign policy, etc. experience WITH or WITHOUT Obama.

If anything happens to McCain, can people say the same thing about Palin? Or when she has to go up against terrorists or Putin, are they just going to say ''''Oops''''''''?

[ofbyfor1]

Republican programs generally reduce regulations and give you more choices. Obama''''s programs will leave you with few to NO choices about how to run your life, will overburden you with taxes, and will cost millions of jobs as small and medium business begin to feel the cruch of his short sighted plans.

Posted by vranger at 12:28 AM : Aug 31, 2008

Yes, Republican deregulation has led us to:

-the Savings & Loan scandal (in which Dubya''s brother, Neil had to settle out of court with the FDIC)

-the Enron fiasco, which was also complicit in the California electricity crisis

-the current mortgage crisis

-credit card usury

-the Bear Stearns bailout, etc.

Obama''s tax plan will essentially go back to the Clinton tax levels, and will raise taxes on those making over $225,000/yr, while reducing taxes for virtually everyone else.

Small businesses will benefit by an affordable health care plan, increased investments for the Small Business Administration, increased development for small businesses in rural areas and a more moderate tax structure.

[ofbyfor1]

Endever, you will now be renamed end0dumber, you and your little puke friends in the liberal freedom hater party have nothing better to do but try to pull the wool over peoples eys''''s...won''''t work here you maggot! your party did one thing right! you screwed over the Clito''''s big time! good for you and you moronic lib friends. Your Obuma is a liar still and you are a homosexual butt rider!

Posted by zgomer at 10:58 AM : Aug 30, 2008

Do McCain supporters actually think that they are doing their candidate a favor by posting juvenile garbage such as this?

[ofbyfor1]

McCain tossed away any hopes he had of winning the election by picking Babmi as his VP... a beauty queen a heartbeat away from the presidency and the guy''''s already had 4 bouts of cancer. Brilliant! I see a lot of advisors heading for the unemployment line.

Posted by WogerWabbit at 12:41 AM : Aug 30, 2008

Exactly. Biden has foreign policy, etc. experience WITH or WITHOUT Obama.

If anything happens to McCain, can people say the same thing about Palin? Or when she has to go up against terrorists or Putin, are they just going to say ''Oops''''?

[ofbyfor1]

Each and everyone of his campaign contributors should have their welfare checks taken from them...They obviously don''''''''t know that my tax dollars were meant for them to live on...Not donated to a lost cause...

Posted by no2zeebas at 09:36 PM : Aug 29, 2008

What a rightwing nutjob you are! You assume that all Obama''s supporters are on welfare (also, code for ''black'' by the rightwingers), when the simple truth is that the VAST majority of his supporters are hard-working, middle class people, both black AND white. And since they EARN their money just as you supposedly do, they can spend it in whatever way they want.

Just goes to show the kind of BS that is coming from the right these days. Stop whining!

[ofbyfor1]

13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

Posted by GarbageStopr at 09:27 PM : Aug 29, 2008

Could just as easily be referring to some of the religious right

[ofbyfor1]

Of all the smart, compassionate, patriotic people we have in this United States, look who we get to pick from.

Posted by NotforObama at 08:18 PM : Aug 29, 2008

Sorry, but that sounds like Obama to me.

[ofbyfor1]

Come on people...Do we want a vice prez with ZERO experience or do we want a prez with equally ZERO experience?

Posted by no2zeebas at 04:43 PM : Aug 29, 2008

Use your head and THINK for a moment. Biden has foreign policy, etc. experience WITH or WITHOUT Obama.

If anything happens to McCain, can you say the same thing about Palin? Or when she has to go up against terrorists or Putin, are you just going to say ''Oops!''?

If you don''t get that point, then I have a sneaking suspicion that ''experience'' really isn''t the issue for you.

[ofbyfor1]

All republicans are either very wealthy or very dumb. Which one are you?

Posted by im4honesty at 02:55 PM : Aug 29, 2008

I''''m for Honesty...LOL!...the whole point regarding Obama in the article.

Posted by easeltine at 03:31 PM : Aug 29, 2008

Except that this piece is profoundly biased and skews the facts, so what''s your point?

[wlmrtpatriot]

Biden voted for the Iraq war. Obama voted yes to FISA. Where is the change? They are both pretty much on the same page.

[stopkidding]

Thank God the Republicans will soon be out and the era of big government regulation of personal life will be over and done.

[meritocrat]

Wow,
Senator Obama''s great political fortunes return as once again during this election his opponent turns out to be a nincompoop. Senator McCain shows his political prowess is equivalent to that of Allan Keys -remember him, the non-Illinois token minority freak show the Republican Party sent to prevent Obama%u2019s election to the Senate. And now McCain picks a token female to woo disgruntled Clinton supporters, revealing just how stupid and superficial he and other Republicans think those supporters are -somewhere George Carlin is begging to be brought back to life to tell just a few more jokes. Yes, she%u2019s been a governor and mayor of the least-populated state -smaller than most US cities- and a tiny town, -I think they now have a stoplight though -and she%u2019s a moose hunter, a sports reporter and a beauty queen. A lifetime member of the NRA and chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission -Cheney approves. A BS in journalism-communication from Idaho -very prestigious; clearly no other education is required. Fully qualified, you betcha; to ruin Republican chances to keep the Presidency. She makes me yearn for Dan Quayle! Senator Joe Biden vs. Governor Sarah Palin, there%u2019s a wartime VP debate for the century. President-Elect Obama might as well start selecting his Cabinet%u2026Ding-dong, hello Mrs. Bush, I%u2019m Michelle Obama, would you mind if I came in to measure the drapes, thanks

[meritocrat]

McCainiacs- you get an "A" for blind optimism and an "F" for substance. You%u2019ve been watching Hannity again, who is an idiot, and his audience has proven to be among TV''s most ignorant. This woman - a governor of a state with a whopping 600K citizens that is floating on oil has - in her less than 2 years in office - had to deal with only one crisis...Getting an honest state employee to fire a state trooper because he happened to be divorcing the Governors sister - now that%u2019s great Republican experience - worthy of Monica Goodling - though at least she had a phony law degree! Do you really think McCain would have picked her if she was a man? All the Republican hypocrisy over affirmative action and McCain passes over many more imminently qualified men and women to pick a NRA-loving pro-life, nobody. That%u2019s judgment we can trust (to ruin our country)!
McCainiacs- your knowledge of history - Zilch. Obama has equivalent experience to Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Theodore Roosevelt, shall I continue? I guess this token, unqualified, uneducated, affirmative-action-for-political- expediency McCain-pick does have Biden and Obama on one bit of experience; they%u2019ve never won a swimsuit competition...

[wlmrtpatriot]

This picture is so scary. Don''t go into the light Obama! Don''t go into the light!

[meritocrat]

McCainiacs- Yes running a REAL state is a challenge, especially if you''ve done it at least two years (she hasn%u2019t yet). Alaska has only 600K citizens, and that%u2019s only during the summer. This right-wing-nut has neither the education nor the experience to be competitive for selection as a Whitehouse Intern, much less a senior and permanent member of the National Security Council. She%u2019s a great lady, but barely qualified to be a 2nd Lieutenant in our military much less one heartbeat away from being Commander-In-Chief. You keep smiling and push this clown and his gimmick sidekick, I am going to do my upmost to make sure my children are protected by leadership that was picked democratically (IE Obama%u2019s primary win) or by undeniable qualifications (IE Joe Biden%u2019s preeminent national security resume). As for Mrs. %u201CMainstream,%u201D I%u2019ll pass, this isn%u2019t a contest for %u201CMs Congeniality,%u201D though she%u2019s actually won that prestige, this is about the security of our nation during a time of WAR! Which would you pick to do your open-heart surgery, a well-educated doctor; or Mr. %u201Cmost-like-me-an-you?%u201D Duh.

[meritocrat]

McCainiacs- your posts are very Hannity, very Limbaugh%u2026an EMPTY brain is easy to fill with crud, and the divide and conquer right wing media has filled yours well. My Lincoln to Obama comparison stands%u2026without any substantive rebuttal from you or anyone else%u2026because it is valid%u2026What makes Obama more qualified you ask? How about winning a Primary, over a well-healed and supported Clinton, and earning about 10 million more votes than your feeble candidate%u2026