Oct. 10, 2008
Who Is The Real Barack Obama?
National Review Online: Even Democrats Don't Know The Answer
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Photo
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a rally in Schwarzman Stadium at Abington High School in Abington, Pa. Friday, Oct. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Photo Essay
Barack Obama
A look at the life and meteoric rise of the president-elect.
Such was Obama’s strategy as a high-school student for dealing with white people who might be discomfited by a young black man. In the closing weeks of the campaign, Obama has hewed to this long-ago operating procedure. If “the economy, stupid” was the de facto slogan of Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, “no sudden moves” could be the motto of Obama’s.
After the Democratic primaries, Obama’s challenge was connecting with working-class voters on their economic concerns. Could the dispassionate Obama rouse himself to do it? Could he overcome his exotic background and elitist vibe? Then, a stock market that lost almost 21 percent in value in seven days rendered the questions moot. The vertiginous drop sent every Republican candidate in the country reeling, and relieved Obama of the burden of connecting. Now, he only has to seem reassuring and nonthreatening. That he knows how to do.
The masterly execution of a political straddle is among Obama’s many talents. His second book, The Audacity of Hope, is devoted to the craft. As Time magazine writer Joe Klein noted at the time, he “counted no fewer than 50 instances of excruciatingly judicious on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-handedness.” So while the McCain campaign wants to revive the Obama of Dreams - an angry young man, lost until he finds a home in left-wing Chicago - Obama is presenting himself as the cautious candidate of the inaptly named Audacity.
Obama could have been prepped for the presidential debates by Shakespeare’s Polonius, whose perfectly balanced advice to his son - “be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar,” etc. - is weak-mindedness masquerading as wisdom. Obama repeatedly promised “fundamental change” in the second debate, but otherwise portrayed himself as the embodiment of moderation, nay, even a kind of conservatism. In his own telling, he wants to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans, reduce spending, preserve but improve the current health-care system and win the war in Afghanistan while prudently drawing down troops in Iraq.
In the first debate, he said John McCain was “absolutely right” about the need for more government accountability, for fewer earmarks and for spending cuts, and about the success of the surge in reducing violence in Iraq and the danger of a nuclear Iran. At times, he seemed determined to be the first presidential candidate to win a debate on the basis of sheer agreeability.
The Democrats are on the verge of a strange victory. If Obama is elected, they will arguably have won the most left-wing government in American history. FDR and LBJ had raging Democratic majorities in Congress early in their presidencies, with which they forged massive increases in the size of government. But that was before the post-Vietnam culture revolution in the Democratic Party that produced a leftward lurch on social issues and a reflexive hostility to American power. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also had Democratic majorities, but they both consistently ran as, and had records as, Southern moderates.
But no one can know whether Obama is the leftist his associations suggest, or the irenic uniter of his iconic 2004 convention speech; whether he’s the down-the-line liberal who kowtowed to the base of his own party in the Democratic primaries, or the pragmatist who readjusted to the center as soon as enthralled liberals handed him the nomination. The consistent line running through his career is opportunism, a willingness to accommodate whoever - Bill Ayers or the swing voter in Ohio - can help him up the next rung in his ladder of ambition at any juncture.
When McCain asks, “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it is taken as a desperate smear. But it’s a question even Democrats don’t know how to answer. We’ll find out with more certainty only if Obama is elected and has to make tough governing choices. Until then - no sudden moves.
By Rich Lowry
Reprinted with permission from National Review Online.
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See all 121 CommentsPosted by Bacio83 at 02:01 PM : Oct 10, 2008
REPUBLICANS ARE LYING JERKS WHO HAVE @UCKED OUR COUNTRY OVER FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS!!!!
Before the South Carolina primary in 2000, for example, phone calls were made to voters in which the callers claimed to be taking a poll, asking: "Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?" McCain had done no such thing. He and his wife had adopted their daughter Bridget, who has dark skin, as a baby from Mother Theresa''s orphanage in Bangladesh. A professor at Bob Jones University also had sent an e-mail message telling South Carolinians that McCain had %u201Cchosen to sire children without marriage,%u201D which wasn''t true. McCain lost the 2000 primary, and the Republican nomination, to George W. Bush.
Such attacks usually can be disproved with less effort than it takes to forward them to others. The statement that Snopes endorsed the false claim that Obama is a Muslim radical is an example. So we find it disappointing that they continue to circulate. But we expect to see more of them as the election year wears on, and we''ll do our best to expose them when readers bring them to our attention.
And what is really sad is McCain hired the SAME BUSH campaign TEAM that smeared him in 2000 to run his smearing campaign against Obama NOW!!!!
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_obama.html
I am holding 3 fingers up..Guess which one is for you ?
Well - Palin how is your witch hunting preacher doing today????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biP3Wdd7PRI
The McCain campaign''''s "ad facts" also point to a single troop-funding bill that Obama voted against in 2007. As we''''ve written before, Obama first voted for a version of the bill that included a timetable for withdrawal. President Bush vetoed the bill. Obama then voted against a version that did not contain withdrawal language. And for the record, McCain himself voted against the troop-funding bill when it contained withdrawal language. (Factcheck.org)
Hey Cindy - turn to your RIGHT when you are in bed as your own HUSBAND vetoed against FUNDING FOR OUR TROOPS and HIS SON!
Cindy you have no HONOR and you are NOT JACKIE KENNEDY!!!! YOU ARE A REFORMED DRUG ADDICT WHO WILL LIE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE to get into the White House!!!!!
The Wasilla Bible Church has made waves as well. Two weeks ago, a guest speaker, David Brickner - a conservative Christian who condemns Jews who fail to accept Christ as the Messiah and tries to convert them through his Jews for Jesus ministry - suggested that terrorism in Israel is God%u2019s judgement against Jews.
The McCain campaign has acknowledged that Palin was in the audience. But in a press statement, campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb said the governor did not know Brickner would be speaking, and Palin does not share the views he expressed.
%u201CShe and her family would not have been sitting in the pews of the church if those remarks were remotely typical,%u201D Goldfarb said.
Although her spokesman notes that those remarks aren%u2019t typical of the church, Palin and her family did not choose to leave while Brickner was speaking.
http://dailysource.org/palin
%u201CWhen Jesus was standing in that temple, He spoke that that judgment was coming, that there%u2019s a reality to the judgment of unbelief. ..Judgment is very real and we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television. It%u2019s very real.%u201D
Brickner described when his son Isaac recently %u201Cwas in Jerusalem, he was there to witness some of that judgment, some of that conflict, when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment-you can%u2019t miss it. %u201C
Here%u2019s an audio link to Brickner%u2019s speech.
In a CNN interview, reporter Randy Kaye spoke to Wasilla Bible Church pastor Larry Kroon and asked him about Brickner:
Kaye: Would David Brickner be invited to speak here again, after making those comments?
Kroon: Yes, yes he would be.
In his introduction of Brickner before the sermon, Kroon said an encounter with Jews For Jesus in the 1970%u2019s first drew him to Christianity.
Jews for Jesus reported in a newsletter that Kroon, while at Wasilla Bible Church said %u201CIf it were not for Jews for Jesus, I would not be standing here.%u201D
You delusional comments are like RNC roaches - you can smash them but they keep working their way out of the wood work!!!!!!!
McCain is an idiot... and a traitor to his own conservative Republican party!!!! Good!!!! They all need to be booted out of office!!!
Actually thinking that taxpayers were going to pay the full original loan value for a pre-foreclosed house and then renegotiate THAT HOUSE back to the pre-foreclosed home owner at THE ACTUAL & NEW VALUE OF THE HOUSE (which is much less) - IS JUST ONE MORE RNC @UCK AFTER ANOTHER!!!!!
Obama ''''08!!!!!
mccain''s flip-flopping inconsistencies and erratic behavior of the last 6 months is enough to fill 3 volumes. much less the long historical trail since the keating 5 scandal showing where he stands on important economic issues. just follow the money to see where his values are. 25% of tax cuts to families making 2.8 million or above. and y''all care about what exactly - anything that can be measured?
perhaps the next coming of christ. the sentimental ramblings and vacuum of facts that is the national review astounds me time and again.
Who is the republican party "base"??
I think we''re seeing that right now...
A few dozen ANGRY racists and bahble thumpers...
Seems like a good fit with John Sidney McCain III. Especially with all that "maverick" pretentiousness stripped away.
This malarky that Democrats are "socialist", and Obama is a "terrorist" is all untrue, but you guys apparently (like Palin who can''t name a single newspaper) are not well enough informed to recognize it when people lie to you.
This is dangerous for our nation.
The Republican party has lost its way... McCain doesn''t even know what he stands for anymore. Palin is not only unintelligent, she knows nothing about our government or the world, and she is affiliated with radical groups in Alaska that do not honor the US constitution.
Bush/McCain economics and Bush wars may just bring this nation to its knees... time for a Democrat to take over.
An Obama presidency means more of my money to losers who don''t pay any taxes now and still want a hand-out from the government. I''ve had to pull myself up from the ''projects'' and give my fair share to charity. But I want nothing to do with Socialist Barry''s vision of America.
He even cares about republicans even though I would not give a d amn if they all were homeless
Please... is the real Obama the one who sat in the pews listening to Rev. Wright spew his hatred over and over again.. And then lie about his relationship and knowledge of this man''s ideology. The same real Obama who lied about Ayers being just some guy who lives on his street and not a man he''s worked closely with for 20 years. Come on now the point is Obama isn''t up front with his voters. Wake up, read a bit and get off DU and Huffypost and open your eyes. Obama is not qualified to be a Senator never mind run this country of 57 states....
What kool-aid have you been drinking? You''veswallowed the smears as though they were the gospel.
Unfortunately, they all come from a serial liar who lost his integrity when he began running for President.
"Worked closely" with Ayres? You and Sarah Palin are the only two who believe that. Every other independent source confirms they barely know each other.
As for lying, how about these whoppers:
The rich-people tax break is wrong and immoral
The rich-people tax break must be made permanent
The fundamentals of the economy are strong.
Oh, no, I mean the workers!
I am suspending my campaign
1300 ads ran, his offices were open and he did Katie Couric beore leaving 20 hours later.
Obama voted for tax increases 94 times.
McCain even included tax bills that -lowered- taxes if anyone under the new bill had to pay a penny more. By this standard, McCain has voted to raise taxes 477 times.
Palin was fully vetted...
I will run an honorable compain the biggest lie of all
Your man is a liar, a hate-and-smear merchant who is rallying violence....
... but perhaps you''re one of those who yell out "kill him" at McCain/Palin campaigns? It would make sense, since you''ve swallowed all the BS as though it were of whole cloth.
This is what I see in him so far - approval/acceptance is the source of his power, and he gets his kicks from idolatry. His ability to remain vague allows people to see in him what they want to see, and he will then morph into whatever it is that people then want. Which means he avoids taking stands like the plague and if pressed to commit, he''ll tell you what you want to hear as well as what the competition wants to hear.
How will that affect how he wields power? You would expect him to avoid whatever he can that''s controversial for as long as he can, and what he can''t avoid he''ll likely delegate to others. Foreign policy - Petraeus and Biden''ll be in charge. Economic policy - Clinton''s economic advisors''ll be spearheading that. If it goes great, he''ll share the credit but claim he''s got an eye for talent. If it turns sour, there was no other expert who could have done better under the circumstances.
He''s not going to leave Iraq or Afghanistan no matter what''s happening because he needs to look hawkish for his re-election. GM is NOT going to go bankrupt because the UAW are the group he needs to please for 2012. Women - we''ll get something too. And he would LOVE to bag some more Conservatives . . .
This malarky that Democrats are "socialist", and Obama is a "terrorist" is all untrue, but you guys apparently (like Palin who can''t name a single newspaper) are not well enough informed to recognize it when people lie to you.
This is dangerous for our nation.
The Republican party has lost its way... McCain doesn''t even know what he stands for anymore. Palin is not only unintelligent, she knows nothing about our government or the world, and she is affiliated with radical groups in Alaska that do not honor the US constitution.
Bush/McCain economics and Bush/McCain wars may just bring this nation to its knees... time for a Democrat to take over.
You''ve read BO''s book right ''Audacity of Hope?'' Now read the transcript of that sermon of Wright''s where the quote comes from and where BO talks about listening to that sermon, then come talk to me.
AAKalan-
I''m a PUMA we don''t drink the kool-aid we detox others from it. I''ve known about Ayers and Wright and Rezko and Auchi and I have for a year now. There''s no doubt about this I''m a registered democrat who will never vote for Obama and not because of race but because of trust. Birds of a feather, flock together. Period.
I just gotta know....You voted for Bush twice didn''t you? I''m sure you didn''t know that W. would send this country into financial ruin and tilt the global economy off its axis. And now, you want to vote again for someone who would allow another American to be threaten in an open forum?
I think you''re more Republican rather than American!
It''s funny how some people do not like the idea a Black man in the White house....hmmmm.....
1. ACORN (community organziers) has had several of it''s offices raided by the govt in the last few days uncovering thousands and thousands of fraudulent voter registrations. ACORN not only endorses OBAMA but has received over $800,000 from the Obama campaign this year.
2. The Obama campaign has a manager in charge of muslim relations. The first manager had to be let go because of his terrorist ties. The second met with hamas and hezzbollah this week.
3. Louis Farrakhan is calling Obama the "messiah" in speeches to his racist members.
Obama is a far left extremist who hates America (just like all of his friends and wife).
B.O. stinks!!!!
Jimmy was a visionary, the answer to everyone''s problems, he''d fix it, he was perfect, he sounded too good to be true, new on the scene,not much experience but it was time for change and he was the darling of the media: you get the picture. Jimmy changed things all right: double digit inflation, 13-14% mortgage interest rates, months of gasoline rationing, unbelieveable unemployment, factories closing, rolling electrical brownouts, people freezing to death because of no heating oil or its cost. Remember the humiliation of the Iran hostage crisis? For 444 days, that little country made us the laughing stock of the world and because of lack of helicopter parts, our brave servicemen, on a rescue mission, died in the desert. In a short time, no one, and I mean no one, including the media, would admit to having voted for Jimmy Carter. Let''s fast forward thirty years. Barack Obama is the clone of Jimmy Carter. Be careful what you wish for America. History does repeat itself and a year from now, will you publically admit you voted for Obama?
America is changing and Obama reflects the future. McCain is very out of touch and his handlers are frustrated. They are busy throwing the kitchen sink at Barack Obama. Obama is every bit an American as John Sidney McCain III. Obama is too classy to use the kind of tactics that McCain is using , of course you an be classy when you are in the lead.
Obama naturally relates to people of every race and culture, gender,faith and persuasion. McCain has a base of fanatics and some disillusioned conservatives. He has no chance.
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