WaPo For Obama

Two Washington Post columnist come out for Obama, one directly and one by implication.

Michael Kinsley is clear:

My candidate, at least at the moment, is Obama.

David Broder obliges us to read between the lines:

Peter Hart, the Democratic pollster whose firm has interviewed thousands of voters this year, says the attributes most of them desire in a president for 2008 can be summed up in three words: transparency, authenticity and unity.

I needed help from him in understanding the first word. But when he said it meant honesty, openness, forthrightness in expressing views and clarity about the sources of the candidate's support, I said that sounded right.

The other two traits were easily understandable. Authenticity means comfort in one's own skin, a minimum of pretense or artificiality, and especially consistency and predictability on matters of principle.

The hankering for unity is also palpable and reflects the conspicuous absence of agreement -- and excess of partisanship -- in the contemporary political scene. I have been saying for months that voters care less whether the next president will be a Democrat or a Republican than that the person moving into the Oval Office be someone who can pull the country together to face its challenges.

C'mon - no one thinks Hillary can unite the country.  On the other hand, Barack Hussein Il Jong Obama is running as a uniter, not a divider - I am excerpting this from the opening paragraph of the "Issues" page at his website:

Senator Obama has been able to develop innovative approaches to challenge the status quo and get results. Americans are tired of divisive ideological politics, which is why Senator Obama has reached out to Republicans to find areas of common ground. He has tried to break partisan logjams and take on seemingly intractable problems. During his tenure in Washington and in the Illinois State Senate, Barack Obama has accumulated a record of bipartisan success.

By way of contrast, here is what is offered at Hillary's site:

No one has a deeper understanding of the perfidy of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy than Senator Clinton.  As First Lady and as New York Senator she has battled the evildoers and can be relied upon to fight, fight, fight as President.  On inauguration day her first official act will be to send Dick Cheney to Gitmo on a fact-finding tour, a tour that will last either until the end of her term or the end of the War on Republicans, a war that can only end in uncompromising total victory for us, i.e, unreconstructed libs.

That may not be quite accurate, but when I look at the "About Hillary" page or the "Issues" page there is nothing hinting at a penchant for bipartisanship.  She has, however, fought battles and criticized the Administration, and bully for her.  Fight, fight, fight.

That said, I think Broder is wrong here:

Where each party used to have an ideological mixture, each is now more clearly defined in opposition to the other. The result is a Republican Party that is far more universally (and stridently) conservative; and a Democratic Party whose center of gravity has moved equally far to the left.

"Equally far"?  I think the Republican Party has embraced its base more fully than have the Dems.  For instance, back in the 1980's a candidate like the first George Bush was able to succeed even though his commitment to the pro-life agenda or to the benefits of lower taxes appeared to be more spoken than heartfelt.  Today, however, with the baffling exception of Rudy Giuliani, Republicans are expected to toe the party line on a number of hot-button issues such as taxes, immigration, abortion rights, and gun control.  The result is a WYSIWYG party where the candidates (with the annoying exception of Mitt Romney) are not straining to disguise their real views.

In that sense the Dems have been keeping their distance from their base for years.  For example, the Barbara Streisand Democrats - the Bi-coastal liberals who write the big checks - would love to see a party that was four-square against capital punishment, for gay marriage, for stricter gun control, for "amnesty" for illegal immigrants, and for greater abortion rights.

Yet Democratic candidates know these positions would make them unelectable.  So Bill Clinton famously flies back to Arkansas prior to the New Hampshire primary in 1992 in order to oversee the execution of Rickey Ray Rector and establish his toughness on crime.  Or John Kerry dresses up like a hunter (later, like the hunted) to demonstrate his fervor for guns.

As a consequence the Dems have routinely offered candidates (Al Gore, John Kerry) to whom the "phony" label is easily affixed.  And why not? - the disconnect between what is aspirational to the party base and what is acceptable to the Great Unwashed virtually obliges them to be phony.

My impression (fervent hope?) is that the Dem base continues to be out in left field somewhere beyond the ken of most Dem politicians, most of whom are not insane.  However, the party is enjoying a sense of faux-unity in opposition to the war which masks their deeper divisions.  And it may be the war that Broder is thinking of when he asserts that the Dem party has moved "equally" to the left.

Comments

[Perfidy Protocol]

Perfidy and conspiracies. The Clinton's came to the White house with Carville. They chose lucifer. America paid with insanity. When this happens to a country, going insane, the traditional answer is a war. We have the terror war. We had 9/11. These were just payment for what the Clintons did in the White House to Americans. The real answer is to destroy America and the dems will happily pay.

The perfidy is the thinking that America has paid. Clinton wants Americans to believe they have. Bush and the war were put in office by dems who want to pay and knew they went over the line with Clinton. No one is thinking Americans have paid. Perfidy is the thinking that dems can pay.

The real answer is the destruction of America. Dems help. The real estate was bailed out. The debt was a bail out. The oil was a bail out. The currency was a bail out. America is already at other countries mercy and the goal, after what was done, is complete destruction and that is what they'll get. Maybe another dem will help?

Perfidy is thinking America will be different.

[Neo]

I can see Hiliary using this SfGate technique on the White House web site.
Brings a whole new meaning to "smoke and mirrors". Maybe this is part of Edward's "Two Americas".

[Rick Ballard]

The Dems are facing a bit of a conundrum. Their entire "strategy" depends on on a witches brew of envy, fear and greed and none of their focus areas are cooperating. As the previous piece noted, Edward's is reduced to obvious lies in order to sustain even a faint hint of his Two Americas garbage. The "housing bubble" bursting hasn't had the effect on construction that the doom merchants continue to pray for and the pathetic AP watercarriers are reduced to the pure idiocy of headlines such as this: Despite Economy, Malls and Stores Jammed. "Global Warming" is headed toward deserved "Global Mockery" and the long planned withdrawal in victory from Iraq has begun.

If the oily Saudi princes start cranking the spigots open in March we might even see some cheer at the pumps next summer.

Meanwhile, the WaPo keeps looking at those "insider" polls showing that Miz Clinton remains as detested as ever (and why not?) while Hussein Il Jong's chances of taking the general remain pegged between slim and none - with a strong lean towards none.

Things just aren't going to hell fast enough to cheer up the Dems.

What a shame.

[Neo]

Speaking of the long planned withdrawal in victory from Iraq, what happened to the Sanchez thing this morning ? The AP was all over this the other day. Now .. there is silence.

[hit and run]

Rick:
and the pathetic AP watercarriers are reduced to the pure idiocy of headlines such as this: Despite Economy, Malls and Stores Jammed.

Yes, let's go to rewrite!

Harry Reid Says Shopping Surge Has Failed, Not Accomplishing Anything

NEW YORK - The nation's retailers had a robust start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at retail outlets across the country.

According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent.

I mean, the Harry Reid bit was my own idiocy.

[hit and run]

Oh, gosh.

Jmax's season (and career) have been ended. Prematurely, in my opinion. Notre Dame defeated the Tar Heels 3-2 today.

I was having a very fine, pleasant and enjoyable evening until now.

Just one final note, based on the summary of the game:

...Carolina pulled back within a goal at 69:18 as Nikki Washington headed a ball into the back of the net over Notre Dame goalkeeper Lauren Karas. It was Washington's seventh goal of the season and the assist was Jessica Maxwell's as she served a free kick into the box after a Notre Dame foul.

You really do have to see Jmax's free kicks to appreciate their grandeur. I am thankful I got to see her play. That my kids got to see her play.

I really wish I had been there in support.

[Bill in AZ]

(OT)
McClellan:

So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights...

Remember the Chris Matthews, MSM, libtards (repeating myself) frothing at the mouth over McClellans book indicting Rove, Cheney, Bush? As usual they omitted a sentence that contained some irrelevant context...

"The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. There was one problem. It was not true. I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the President himself." (as published verbatim on Public Affairs Books website )

conservativevoice
(found via NewsBusters)

[Bill in AZ]

er... previous post... no mention of Plame, Wilson...

[Michael Kennedy]

The Democrats have become the party of the public employee unions, the trial lawyers and the teachers unions. The old industrial unions are a shadow of their former self. The Republicans have become the party of small business owners as the rich have drifted to the left on social issues. Which base contributes more to the national wealth ?

[clarice]

Won't the AP ever learn? Shopping is the national pasttime and nothing, but nothing, stands in our way. If sales were slow until this week, it's because we're smart shoppers who manage to stay steps ahead of retailers and strides ahead of the ass clowns at AP.

[clarice]

Noemie Emery does it again:
As they took control of Congress at the start of 2007, the Democrats vowed this would be a year of historic importance, and it seems they were prescient: Seldom before in the annals of governance have so many politicians fought so long and so hard to completely screw up a winning strategy being waged on their country's behalf. Some cruelly define this as treacherous conduct, but this is imprecise and unkind. They tried, it is true, to do serious damage, but were compromised in the event by their chronic incompetence, as well as by being too above-board and open to try to do things on the sly. A stab in the back as a concept was wholly beyond their capacities. This was not a stab in the back that works via guile and subterfuge. It was 41 different stabs in the front, that always fell far short of serious damage, unless you count the damage they did to their own reputations (the approval ratings for Congress are now in the twenties). It was the Stab in the Front, the Surge-against-the-Surge, the Pickett's Charge of the Great War on Terror. It was a year to remember, that will live in the annals of fecklessness. It was historical. It was hysterical. It was the Stab that Failed.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/405lrbpc.asp?pg=2>the stabs in the front

[tryggth]

You know what is funny? The big rap against Obama is lack of experience. And we have had 8 years of a demonstration of experience... (let me find the URL of Bush's report of "my summer vacation in Israel..." - may have to look in the Wayback machine...

[Rick Ballard]

Hussein Il Jong was governor of Texas for six years?

Who knew?

[Ann]

Thanks Clarice, that was fun to read. Especially:

"Verdict first, trial afterwards," said the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, unaware of her future as a role model for America's congressional Democrats."

Reminds me of cold bloodied MURTHA!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

[Ann]

Thanks Clarice, that was fun to read. Especially:

"Verdict first, trial afterwards," said the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, unaware of her future as a role model for America's congressional Democrats."

Reminds me of cold bloodied MURTHA!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

[Ann]

Sorry, How did that double post?

I guess I was just hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

[clarice]

Thnx ,Ann, It was a great holiday trip and I've one more full day to enjoy it.

[Topsecretk9]

HEH

-- Linda Boyd / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Impeachment: If not now, when? --

Oh I don't know, how about April? Just in time for the election, a fantastic talking point for the Dems to campaign on? I think it's a tremendous stratgeegery that the voters will see as a wise use of the existence failure of the Democrats, don't you?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/340904_focusimpeachment25.html

[Ann]

Tops,

A year from now is a long time, I am
optimistic,too.!

I even found hip music to buy for teenagers:
3 Doors Down

John Howard's defeat in Australia was depressing, but I still believe America will wise up to Hillary and the Defeat America First Crowd.

God Bless and Hoping Anyways.

[Cecil Turner]

Speaking of the long planned withdrawal in victory from Iraq, what happened to the Sanchez thing this morning ?

Well, I see it's playing at Reuters, but there isn't a lot of US coverage. Possibly because they expect someone to point out the obvious: if you change commanders and things suddenly start going well, perhaps the outgoing commander isn't the best person to go to for advice.

I'd also note the Times version seems a bit more circumspect:

Advisers to Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama say that the candidates have watched security conditions improve after the troop escalation in Iraq and concluded that it would be folly not to acknowledge those gains.

[clarice]

Last I heard from her highness she was talking about the willing suspension of disbelief. I never pay attention to Obama so I can't recall his last word on the subject.

[clarice]

Rick, darling,there's too much money in this global warming hoax of the new century for it to vanish no matter how bad the scientific underpinning for it is. In every generation some such madness takes grip. (Buy SCAM'S NEW agw stocks now before the rational people understand we are in the grip of another irratioal moment in history.)
Spitzer with his unerring ear for good moves is now demanding carbon offsets for NY energy producers.
SCAM is offering odds on Sptizer's removal from office--or resignation--before his term ends. Move now, while you can.

[Topsecretk9]

John Howard's defeat in Australia was depressing, but I still believe America will wise up to Hillary and the Defeat America First Crowd.

Why Ann? Leftist should be proud, I think Islmofacist bewill scared of http://www.gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/
"> this!

but thank gawd, Rudd is not a cowboy! HEH.

(Based on this video, can't we legitimately call the new Ozzy PM -- McCHIMPY-Rudd or some monkey variant ripped off from the Dems?)

[Jane]

Rudd calls global warming the most important issue facing Oz. Perhaps Al Gore could move to Sydney and help.

[kim]

Jane, Hell is freezing over at climateaudit.org. Watch particularly for comments from Lucia and a public policy type named Susann. Often the science and math is mind boggling, but there are a wealth of literate scientists over there.
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[kim]

Fred is the only one on the side of the angels on this issue. He's sound on Plame, too. Do I detect a propensity to respond to reality rather than to the political exigencies created by the fantasies that the MSM have pressed(good one) on us the last few years?
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[kim]

I've read that global warming was the 4th most important issue in Rudd's victory, overshadowed by industrial/labor relations. Rudd will take the tiny Aussie contingent out of Iraq, but supports NATO efforts in Afghanistan.

H/t Mr. Pete at climateaudit.org
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[kim]

That is not to say, Jane, that Rudd doesn't consider AGW the most important issue; political analysts called it the 4th most important in its effect on the election.

Rudd, and a whole lot of others, are in for a shocking awakening re global warming. The science is astoundingly flimsy.
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[kim]

Oops, CLANG, foul. Hat tip to 'Pete', not 'Mr. Pete'.
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[kim]

All the world is divided into two classes; those who don't know which way temperature is going, and those who don't know they don't know which way temperature is going.
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[kim]

Alex, at climateaudit.org, proposes a video game about climate change on the model of Paradox. It'll be big if in fact we are entering a cooling phase.
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[kim]

Ah, they blame the drought down under on AGW, and Howard's government, like ours, didn't sign Kyoto.

I heard a lecture once by a Japanese diplomat who sneered at us for sending delegates to an international conference who weren't backed up by the government. Had I had a chance, I didn't, I'd have explained to him that we had sense enough to elect representatives who could see that Kyoto was monstrous hogwash.
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[Semanticleo]

Broder is wrong, Maguire? Broader reading of the advocate for Homogenized Politics will reveal legions of the insider's myopica chronica.

Maybe that's why you only see this error. Shared malady creates bond. He probably believes the Federal figures on inflation too.

[Semanticleo]

Broder is wrong, Maguire? Broader reading of the advocate for Homogenized Politics will reveal legions of the insider's myopica chronica.

Maybe that's why you only see this error. Shared malady creates bond. He probably believes the Federal figures on inflation too.

[Semanticleo]

Typepad Rules!

[boris]

And cleo drools

[kim]

I propose 'JustOneMillenium' as a name for Steve McIntyre's newbie blog.
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[kim]

Look to the PDO(Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and Scafetta and West for the sensitivity of climate to solar and other forcings.
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[kim]

Allah is about to weigh in on the Carbon Liberation Wars. Just think what unencumbered carbon could do for the half of humanity who still labor physically for their living, many of whom are Muslim.
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