New, improved Barack Obama must surface at DNC

The New York Daily News ^ | August 25, 2008 | Michael Goodwin

[Stoat]

A friend and ardent Democrat who is distressed over Barack Obama's stall in the polls was laying out his vision for a breakthrough. "He's got to talk with more specifics about the economy and connect with average Americans who are hurting," my friend said. "He's got to be tough and hardheaded and honest about what he's going to do."

That's easy, I thought. All Obama needs is a personality transplant that makes him a whole new person. Less dreamy eloquence, more grit would help.

Oh, and he should make the change immediately, so this new and improved Obama - this Obama 2.0 - can appear in Denver while the eyes of the nation are on him.

Democrats need a momentum changer, with many Republicans for the first time believing John McCain can win. Instead of consolidating the party behind him, polls show Obama has lost ground in key states since Hillary Clinton conceded in June. The race is a referendum on him, and he has failed to make a compelling case he is ready.

Obama's problems with working-class voters are so well-defined now that the history-making nature of his candidacy is sometimes an afterthought. As the first black person to be the nominee of a major American political party, Obama has scaled heights of success regarded as impossible only a year ago.

Yet "close" doesn't count in elections, and Obama would be the first to say the journey will not be complete unless it ends in the Oval Office. How well he and his party do their jobs in Denver will go a long way to determining whether that greater history is made.

The opportunity is there. Americans remain in a mood to blame Republicans for everything from the war in Iraq to the economy to the price of gas. With eight out of 10 voters saying the country is on the wrong track, this should be a Democratic year from statehouses to the White House.

But for that to happen, Obama has hard work to do. So hard, in fact, that vanquishing Clinton and a rat pack of male rivals for the nomination now looks like it was the easy part.

The good news for Democrats is that Obama and his team, after two months of dithering, finally seem to recognize the seriousness of the problem.

By selecting Joe Biden as his running mate, they opted for a grownup who could plug big holes in Obama's game.

Obama's lack of experience, especially on foreign affairs, was so glaring that Clinton and McCain both exploited it almost at will. Russia's invasion of Georgia illustrated the untenable situation that every world crisis had the potential to help McCain because Obama had no answer to the experience gap.

Biden, for all his flaws, brings some balance to that battle. As the designated attack dog, he will take the fight to McCain in ways that are unbecoming and uncomfortable for Obama.

Yet that brings us back to my friend's concern about Obama himself. For all his inspirational rhetoric and the savvy primary game plan, the fundamental doubts about his readiness that were there on day one persist.

Biden cannot change that dynamic. Nor can Bill and Hillary Clinton, even if they are inclined to honestly try to help Obama win.

If Obama is going to be President, he must propel himself over the finish line. We're about to find out if he can summon whatever it takes.

mgoodwin@nydailynews.com

[Stoat]

For all his inspirational rhetoric and the savvy primary game plan, the fundamental doubts about his readiness that were there on day one persist.

And they will persist on Election Day as well, and for good reason.  Asking Barry to make such a radical, fundamental change is not humanly possible, and even if it were, anyone who is paying even the slighted attention will smell a rat.

This election is McCain's to lose.

[goldstategop]

Obama is discovering that glib generalities and blaming the Republicans have only gotten him so far. This week is his opportunity to rise to the occasion and show Americans he is a leader and a man and not a child in a man's body. Its his job to convince Americans he is ready to be President.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

New Democrat theme song.

Phil Harris’s “The Thing”

While I was walking down the beach one bright and sunny day
I saw a great big wooden box a-floatin’ in the bay
I pulled it in and opened it up and much to my surprise
Ooh, I discovered a boom-boom-boom, right before my eyes
Oh, I discovered a boom-boom-boom, right before my eyes

I picked it up and ran to town as happy as a king
I took it to a guy I knew who’d buy most any thing
But this is what he hollered at me as I walked in his shop
Oh, get outta here with that boom-boom-boom, before I call a cop
Oh, get outta here with that boom-boom-boom before I call a cop

I turned around and got right out, a-runnin’ for my life
And than I took it home with me to give it to my wife
But this is what she hollered at me as I walked in the door
Oh, get outta here with that boom-boom-boom, and don’t come back no more
Oh, get outta here with that boom-boom-boom, and don’t come back no more

I wandered all around the town until I chanced to meet
A hobo who was looking for a hand-out on the street
He said he’d take most any old thing, he was a desperate man
But when I showed him the boom-boom-boom, he turned around and ran
Oh, when I showed him the boom-boom-boom, he turned around and ran

I wandered on for many years, a victim of my fate
Until one day I came upon St. Peter at the gate
And when I tried to take it inside, he told me where to go
Get outta here with that boom-boom-boom and take it down below
Oh, get outta here with that boom-boom-boom and take it down below

The moral of this story is if you’re out on the beach
And you should see a great big box and it’s within your reach
Don’t ever stop and open it up, that’s my advice to you
‘Cause you’ll never get rid of the boom-boom-boom, no matter what you do
Oh, you’ll never get rid of the boom-boom-boom, no matter what you do

(boom-boom-boom = 3 strikes on the drum)

[livius]

I think the "African American" shtick is starting to get kind of tired, too. Here's the excellent observations of a British writer that someone posted today (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2067390/posts?page=4)

It is that core of experience – of growing up American – which Obama lacks. His problem is not so much that he is an African-American in the modern political sense of being a black American. It is that he is an African-American in the literal sense of being half African and only half American, who spent much of his boyhood abroad and who borrowed a consciously constructed black American identity from the south side of Chicago.

I thought that was a great way of putting it.

[Stoat]

Its his job to convince Americans he is ready to be President.

What a stark contrast with McCain, who doesn't have to make any comparable effort to convince people of his readiness.

It's the same old story....if you have to make a huge, conscious and extraordinary effort to convince others that you're something, then in truth you're nothing at all. 

[carcraft]

Shh! Don’t tell Berry and the DNC boys Bush and Channy aren’t on the Republican ticket.

[SatinDoll]

Anybody else notice that at Springfield, Illinois, when stumping with Joe Biden for the first time, Obama had to have teleprompters? Ee-gads! The poor fellow can’t even make a simple introduction of his VP without having it written out for him by someone and rolled on the teleprompter.

[nathanbedford]

Yes, the similarity of approach in these two articles is remarkable. Therefore, I offer my reply to the British piece:

This page contains a surprising amount of insights about the reality of this election considering that it was authored by a Brit but the author, whether deliberately or because of this lack of true insight into the American character, misses the ultimate truth about Barak Obama.

First what the author does catch: the author sees that the Southside Chicago persona is an artificial graft onto an inauthentic personality or at least onto an authentically American experience. But he misses the key to Obama's personality when he attributes this to an accident of geography where the culture of America's heartland never rubbed off onto Barak Obama.

The truth, however, is not nearly so pretty. The author is quite correct that Obama contrived his new personality but not to paper over a broader cosmopolitan experience with an American experience rather to disguise a rabidly anti-American worldview with an African American patina.

It is quite clear that Obama has opportunistically allied himself with forces that could help him and then shed them when they were no longer expedient. That is why, for example, he became a member of the Trinity Church and then left the church.

But Obama's real and inherited core is that of a radical leftist, even a Marxist, who knows from his Saul Alinsky training and experience that the radicalism must be disguised and hidden if he is to prosper politically. So, just as she put on and took off the persona offered by the Trinity Church, so he has put on the persona of the reformer who is above race. As his campaign stumbles and he is brought to Bay and so goes over to the attack with the appointment of Joe Biden, that reformer persona has now also been shed. The question is whether he will get to the finish line before the American people can see through the theatrics.

It is not surprising that a leftward leaning writer for a leftward leaning foreign newspaper would fail to see or, more likely, not want to see how these cards were shuffled.

[Stoat]

It is that core of experience – of growing up American – which Obama lacks. His problem is not so much that he is an African-American in the modern political sense of being a black American. It is that he is an African-American in the literal sense of being half African and only half American, who spent much of his boyhood abroad and who borrowed a consciously constructed black American identity from the south side of Chicago.

I thought that was a great way of putting it.
 

I read that Telegraph article as well, and I'm glad that I did.  As is so often the case, the people making comments afterwards at the Telegraph page were sometimes even more insightful than the author, and they brought up many great points.  Although I agree with the author to a point, I also feel that a great deal of the distrust of Obama comes from the fact that his perspective and frame of reference is more that of a EuroSocialist than even a traditional Democrat.  If he had constructed his identity more along the lines of traditional Americans and had even got halfway there I think that it  would be far less of a problem.  The thing is, he's not even really 'trying' to be an American as much as he's trying to be a EuroSocialist, and in this increasingly dangerous world where anyone with an internet connection can see the failure of EuroSocialism, such a stance makes people feel terribly uneasy.

 

It is that core of experience – of growing up American – which Obama lacks. His problem is not so much that he is an African-American in the modern political sense of being a black American. It is that he is an African-American in the literal sense of being half African and only half American, who spent much of his boyhood abroad and who borrowed a consciously constructed black American identity from the south side of Chicago.

I thought that was a great way of putting it.
 

[bruinbirdman]

When it comes right down to it, the selection of bin Biden is an absolute admission by Democrat leadership that B. Hussein L'Obotoma is not the man for the job.

yitbos

[DemforBush]

I think the Democratic pollster on Hannity tonight (can’t remember the guy’s name) nailed it: Obama’s going to pull out all the stops to try to sell the idea he’s really a centrist/moderate with mainstream ideas and policies for America.

I also believe the convention is Obama’s last chance to swing the momentum back his way. Barring a debate meltdown by McCain or a general meltdown in the McCain camp, the campaign schedule favors the GOP the rest of the way. McCain will have his own VP pick and convention to make some noise, and he may actually end up being in better financial shape in the final days of the campaign than Obama.

[Coldwater Creek]

In a way, I feel sorry for Obama. He's been duped by Soros, Moore, Oprah, etc. into believing he's something other what he really is,

[PureSolace]

MY favorite quote in that article:

By selecting Joe Biden as his running mate, they opted for a grownup who could plug big holes in Obama's game.

I wonder if that was intentional... ;-)

[iopscusa]

Eggsackly, Obama has to go to enormous lengths to hide what his actual ideology is, pure Marxist hate of individual responsibility....just as they always do the Marxist utilize Racism to cover up what they really want which is the destruction of the middle class and capitalism in order to consolidate power in the hands of the few. The code words are Social Justice, Human Rights, World Peace and International Courts. I actually think BO’s ideology is closer to pure Communism than Euro Social democrat.

[Mrs. B.S. Roberts]

“It’s the same old story....if you have to make a huge, conscious and extraordinary effort to convince others that you’re something, then in truth you’re nothing at all.”

very well said!!

[Ann Archy]

Michele Obama HAS had a dress makeover and probably has been coached for WEEKS on how not to diss America til AFTER you are President.

[Ann Archy]

Plus, Obama has come from TRASHY parents....loose mother, it seems, and fathers who had SEVERAL wives.

[Arrowhead1952]

Biden, for all his flaws, brings some balance to that battle. As the designated attack dog, he will take the fight to McCain in ways that are unbecoming and uncomfortable for Obama.

Plugs already said BO is not ready for POTUS and that this is not a place for "on the job training", but BO will let him be the attack dog. Way to go BO, let someone do your hard work, while you skate.

[Arrowhead1952]

could plug big holes in Obama's

I wonder if that was intentional... ;-)

LOL. I was thinking about that too.

[sergeantdave]

“He’s got to talk with more specifics about the economy and connect with average Americans who are hurting...”

Let’s see -

1) Bash BushHiltler.

2) Bash troops.

3) Bash America.

4) Bash voters for being stupid and not seeing nobama as the savior.

Sounds like a plan.