MarkMiller

Title
Obama's rhetoric soars, but what does his record suggest?

Link
Obama's rhetoric soars, but what does his record suggest? - Opinion - USATODAY.com
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Excerpt

Any presidential candidate who has never been president is, in former president Bill Clinton's dig at Sen. Barack Obama, a "roll of the dice." When voters consider a non-incumbent, they're working with frustratingly incomplete information — just as they did, for instance, when they picked Clinton for president in 1992 or George W. Bush in 2000.

That seems particularly true of Obama, who vaulted back into strong contention for the Democratic nomination with his decisive victory Saturday in South Carolina's primary. Obama has been a national figure for little more than a year, and subject to high-intensity vetting for less time than that. By contrast, there's little voters don't know about Obama's chief rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Most of what voters do know about Obama involves style more than substance. He's a charismatic speaker who promises to change the nation's divisive and often dysfunctional politics. His youth and energy have drawn comparisons to John F. Kennedy, whose daughter, Caroline, endorsed him on Sunday and whose brother Ted is expected to do so today. Obama is the first African-American candidate with a real shot at the presidency, an inspirational possibility in a nation with a legacy of racial discrimination.

But the presidency is obviously about more than inspiration. A week from tomorrow, voters in 22 more states have a major say in deciding whether Obama will be the Democratic nominee. USA TODAY doesn't endorse candidates, but this page often points out where we agree or disagree with them and raises questions we think voters should ask. In Obama's case, these include: As the candidate of "change," what changes does he want? Could he deliver them? Would he be the capable leader the nation needs to preside over wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a turbulent economy at home and a looming budgetary tsunami?

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Comment:

He is an inspiring man. Is it enough....and is he really that different from Hilary Clinton?

ThetaBurst

He's exceptionally different, and especially so if John McCain is the Republican nominee.

Consider Frank Rich's NYT op/ed, yesterday:

MarkMiller

How does being a prisoner of war make for a good campaign commercial. It risks asking the question..... well....you were imprisoned, why would you want to continue a war? After all, he was released at the war's end in 1973.

I think that Frank Rich is right though......no matter what one candidate says.......the Republican's will counter with something...but it will be worse than this.

ThetaBurst

It yanks the emotional heartstring of those willing to buy into it.

Easy sell.

Hillary and Obama pose phenomenally different challenges to any Republican candidate, who would be armed with truckload after truckload with shit to throw at Billary. But, what does the Republican candidate have on Obama? He's the "hope" candidate. How does one stick a dagger into hope?

We're watching history.

MarkMiller

Yes....one way or another we are watching history. But either candidate will be attacked by the Republicans. They are desperate and will use desperate tactics. Do you think that if Obama is the nominee he will free from that?

Rollerball

Taking only this question into account:
Is inspiring enough? No.
Is he really that different from Clinton? Yes, he's inspiring.

Personally I don't give Clinton any more experience points than Obama.
She was never president either, (Hubby Bill Don't Count), and that seems to be the issue this article is pointing at Obama, that we don't know what we're gonna get. I don't see how any of these points do not apply to Clinton as well.

Last election we had Kerry, who couldn't inspire an ice cube to melt in Death Valley. Up against the worse president ever you'd think that wouldn't matter. I wanted Kerry to win, but it was an "Anyone But Bush" vote. Never did I feel inspired by anything he said.

It's damn nice to see this country get excited about someone, it's been too too long. I was beginning to think it would never happen again.

Plus I think it would do us a lot of good in the eyes of the world to have Obama in office. Remove all detail of the past 24 years and you have:

first Bush was vice president
then Bush was president
then Clinton was president
then Bush's son was president

then Clinton's wife was president?

Anyone under the age of 25 would think we have a frickin monarchy here.

MarkMiller

People under 25 have been thinking that through out this countries history.

Rollerball

damn. I knew I shouldn't have added that under 25 part, it wasn't my point.

MarkMiller

Don't worry....I did get your point.

Heretic

What does Hilary's record [all seven years of it] suggest? She's sold out to the extreme right wing so many times [helping to give Jr. his war in Iraq, siding against the public and for the credit card companies as well as the insurance and pharmaceutical corporations and coal and oil industries] that more and more people are coming to distrust her.

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