Thoughts On The Dems
(don and I have been having a talk here about Obama/Biden et al and I thought to make life easier I’d post my latest reply here and broaden the discussion.)
I must confess that I haven’t watched any of the convention, and I won’t watch the Rep one either, as I find incessant pep rallies to be about as exciting as dental surgery. That being said, the reviews of Michelle’s speech indicate that she did exactly what she needed to do, i.e. show she’s a nice person who has sweet kids and loves both her husband and her country. I would imagine that for the next few weeks at least she will do her utmost not to be any type of a distraction and will appear mainly to smile and kiss babies so that Obama can focus on his message and his opponent and not have to answer any questions about something she has said.
Hillary is no dummy. As much as the media was trying to whoop up the idea of her fighting tooth and nail at the convention so they would have some fun stories to run there is no way in hell she was going to do so, as her sights are now on 2012. By making a strong speech in support of Obama it’s a win-win for her. If he loses the election, the Dems will say “we should have chose Hillary.” If he wins her help will have been key and so there will be some plum owed to her. If he wins and doesn’t have a terribly successful term than she is the obvious choice for 2012.
As I said before I really don’t see Biden as a positive, and it occurred to me last night that Biden clearly was not his first choice. Obviously, there’s no way he would have chosen Hillary as his running mate. No way. The divisive, brawling horror show that would entail, trying to rein in both Hillary and Bill, would frankly ruin an Obama presidency. No, I think his first choice, the person who would have firmly solidified his ‘Change’ mantra and kept the “new” image projection alive would have been Edwards. While I may disagree with their policies I can’t help but think that an Obama from the North and Edwards from the South would have been unbeatable combination. Unfortunately for the Democrats Edwards was more interested in other types of combinations, and that’s why you’re starting to see some vitriol directed at the Saintly Elizabeth as well now, for allowing the public charade to go on as long as it did since she knew about the canoodling at least since 2006. I can’t help but think the Edwards implosion was a huge blow to the Dems, and forced him to reluctantly turn to a guy in Biden who’s only 6 years younger than the ‘dinosaur’ McCain and fully 25 years older then Obama is and thus blunts part of his appeal.
Politics | tree hugging sister | 
August 27, 2008 7:27 am
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Once again, I agree.
I had wondered if Obama wanted to originally select John Edwards – that appeared to most likely been the direction that would have made more sense, but after his infidelity became public I guess Obama had to settle for someone else. It’s looking more like a business partnership concerning Biden and Obama. That is going to be an interesting union if Obama wins the Oval Office.
As for Hillary I never thought for a minute that she would do anything other than stand @ the podium, smile, say a few sweet Obama words, smile and walk away. I await Bill Clinton’s speech tonight. I wonder if the old man still has it.
Actually, one plus for Obama in choosing Biden is that he won’t have to worry about Biden trying to take away his job in four years, it seems to me.
I don’t know about Hillary in 2012. If Obama wins this year I don’t see the party dumping him in 2012 unless something extraordinarily bad happens in his first term. Dumping an incumbent president is really a desperate move. Even Jimmy Carter managed to get himself nominated again.
And not to be too cynical here, but a President Obama is also likely to benefit from a whole new perspective in the major media when it comes to the economy and foreign policy and more. Optimism instead of pessimism will rule the day and the hyper-criticism of today will fade off to a more realistic outlook about events in the world. Maybe that’s a bit too cynical. Maybe not.
Well, the flip side of the media adoration, Dave, and honestly this is something that concerns me somewhat, is the disappointed lover complex. I wish folks would stop having such impossibly high expectations of an Obama presidency; you’re setting the stage for a lot of bitter recriminations when he may not live up to them. Give the guy a break and don’t put such an insane amount of pressure on the man. The job is insanely tough enough without people expecting you to be the ‘best ever.’ If he’s elected and he turns out to be an ok/average President (and that would be wonderful in my book because that means that no great crisis has developed in which Obama would either shine magnificently or fail spectacularly) are we going to hear bitter denunciations from folks?
They already have him set up as the apotheosis of all things W. It’s more likely that, having invested so much in the outcome, the media are unlikely to ever admit that the Obammer is anything less than brilliant. He could be and do the exact same job as W and Matthews’ leg would still be thrilling. In fact, he could (and probably would) do an inferior job and still be considered better by those first drafters of history.
…you’re setting the stage for a lot of bitter recriminations when he may not live up to them.
That’s my major concern as well. Watching the nutroots throwing tantrums because the 2008 Dhimmicratic Congress failed to get us out of Iraq AND didn’t impeach Dubya convinced me of that.
Obama’s support is much broader than the nutroots, and more people seem to be conditioned to expect immediate solutions for major problems (less charitably, the average attention span has plummeted over the past decade or so).
As for Edwards……your analysis makes sense, Bingster. I wondered why Edwards was the fair haired boy after The One™, after he had such a miserable primary. His possible ascension to demi-god status explains that. especially considering how the Dhimmicrats presidential campaign is focusing on how Obams appears, not his capabilities.
One thing about Edwards, he is all about putting on a false face. There’s a reason why he’s called “Silky Pony”.
Well, anyone who thinks that all is fine and dandy in donkville today may want to rethink things before making any bets.
You can cover up only so much with a thin veneer.
If Obama is fortunate to become President, I shiver at the idea of people expecting him to walk into a phone booth and solve every problem in America. At the least I think we should look for him to improve every backward condition in America.
Maybe.
Are you kidding don? Ol’ jugears thinks he is a superhero and his party is already treating him like a Roman god.
I’d feel sorry for these fools and their blind worship of an empty suit but they deserve to have their pipedreams crushed and their egos deflated.