Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Eloquent but Empty

McCain gave a shot across the bow to Obama, calling him eloquent but empty. Obama gave a 45 minute stemwinder after his win, proving that Clinton cannot touch him on the Change theme. His Houston crowd was jazzed for the whole address. Someone must have thrown some water on her, because Hillary is melting away.


Whether America gets over its swoon soon enough to avoid the second worst administration of my lifetime will depend on whether John McCain can rise to the level of engagement needed to address the real issues Obama raises. He raises them, speaks to them, yet behind the curtain, there is no there there. Obama says that Washington is the place where good ideas go to die, insinuating that if only we'd let him tinker, all will be well. But the root-core problem with American politics is that DC and the whole political culture is chock full of bad ideas, and Obama's promise of change is a promise to make bad problems worse in area after area.


The Obama Delusion tells us that the real problem with Obama is not that he's an empty suit, so much as a deceptive salesman for an impossible dream, covering boilerplate left-liberal policies with glad-handling and vague rhetoric:

Obama is largely a stage presence defined mostly by his powerful rhetoric. The trouble, at least for me, is the huge and deceptive gap between his captivating oratory and his actual views. ...If you examine his agenda, it is completely ordinary, highly partisan, not candid and mostly unresponsive to many pressing national problems. ...

He has run on the vague promise of "change," but on issue after issue -- immigration, the economy, global warming -- he has offered boilerplate policies that evade the underlying causes of the stalemates. These issues remain contentious because they involve real conflicts or differences of opinion.


The Liberal Democrats try now and again to evade fighting lost argument by reinventing themselves with names like "New Democrat" and rejecting "liberal" label, but pushing the same slogans. Obama takes a different tack, and weaves his campaign into a narrative of social advance. In other words, vote for the multi-racial multi-culti progressive to get to the Liberal Nirvana. He out Hillary'd Hillary. But in his narrative, the liberal advances in the 1960s were not mistakes but preludes to what is to come. If we rejected 1960s liberalism before, why would we accept its 21st century offspring? The battle is not a new battle after all. These are not new ideas, but old ideas in new package. Obama's 'change' message is simply the tactical call to reject non-liberal policies and move America left.




UPDATE: Advice to McCain - Call him a liberal.


Obama's Roe v Wade position
Obama's plagiarism
Obama's collective politics.
Policy Mysteries.
Obama casts his spell.
Obama - old wine in new bottle.
Name that accomplishment!
His silver tongue is forked.
Obama's New Vulnerability by Karl Rove: "For Mr. Obama, words are merely a means to hide a left-leaning agenda behind the cloak of centrist rhetoric. That garment has now been torn. As voters see what his agenda is, his opponents can now far more effectively question his authenticity, credibility, record and fitness to be leader of the free world."


You Tube of a man who knew Obama in Chicago.


Obama Cultists can get their fix here.






Obama's votes. National Journal pegs him the most liberal Senator in the Senate.


The real Barack Obama, annotated bio.


Radical Muslims for Obama. Also, Obama aide "Foreign adviser's 'anti-Israel policies,' sympathy for Hamas, raise concerns".


Partners' funds in lobbyist firms given to Obama.


Obama shrugged.


Admits he's not ready for the job of President in 2008 - "You know, I am a believer in knowing what you're doing when you apply for a job."


Cautionary tales about Obama.


More details on the Chicago corruption links of Obama: "The handshake heard round the world took place in April, 2004, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago between Barack Obama and a mysterious London billionaire named Nadhmi Auchi."


Raised funds for Palestinians.


Michelle's 'proud' statement.

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