2008 Primaries Thread

someone needs to meld photos of JFK and Reagan.

I mean, there's a bunch of liberals out there as bored and depressed by the Democratic Party's devotion to the bullshit memory of JFK as it is to its obeisance to the Clintons.

Yeah, I am. I wasn't even born until well over a decade after JFK was killed. And what bigger political dynasty do the Dems have than the Kennedys? The Clintons are two people of the same age. There are how many Kennedys and have been big players at the national level in the party for how long, now?

really anyone seriously saying obama's campaign is too '60s' i would begin to doubt if they're even a liberal

xp so because obama is endorsed by the kennedys he's a political dynasty candidate instead of the candidate with the same last name as the guy who was president for all of the 90s? thats a pretty neat trick

im not jfk ball-licker either but whining about comparisons to him as some kinda regressive thing is this close to weird coded right wing limousine liberal stuff

'obama's just so... berkley'

I think it's fairly universally agreed that Obama is an amazing public speaker. Maybe you're a cadence snob?

http://www.jewishinseattle.org/JF/images/Safire.jpg

'i hate that san francisco sound'

i wonder if richardson's gonna come out with an endorsement:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/29/richardsons_choice.html

Maybe I am a cadence snob! I never cared for his speeches. If you don't want America divided rich against poor than try and level the economic playing field more, give people health care, that's the problem, it's not a deficit of inspiring rhetoric.

xpost to myself - it said by the end of the week it would come, if he does decide to go through with one.

i guess you have a right to be suspicious of obama's stated plan to end the economic divide by giving speeches

oh wait

Politics is at least 50% rhetoric though...

f Richardson is to endorse either Clinton or Obama -- "I might, I might not, how's that for an answer?" -- he said he'll do so by the end of the week.

xpost Richardson still wants an appointment in the next adminstration, probably. If he does it, he's gonna hold his nose and guess on a front-runner, but it seems like a dumb thing to do.

If Richardson is to endorse either Clinton or Obama -- "I might, I might not, how's that for an answer?" -- he said he'll do so by the end of the week.

-- Mark Clemente, Tuesday, January 29, 2008 5:30 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

"maybe. maybe not. maybe fuck yourself."

"it's not a deficit of inspiring rhetoric"

well, they do not lack for flowery words in Washington, but in terms of engaging people in their function as citizens and advocates, there's a sharp contrast to clinton there.

clinton = "fixing this shit is my job because i'm the only one who knows how"
obama = "come on, people! let's fix this shit together!"

richardson owes a few big debts to the clintons, surely

Look, the limousine liberal thing I guess I'd only associate with Huffington Post, but I do think.. I dunno I guess I've had my POV permanently changed by spending time at an Ivy League school where all the rhetoric was super liberal, meanwhile the graduate students made shit money and were treated like garbage while most all the undergrads were rich and they didn't even have need-blind financial aid until about 2004. Inspiration is great but I really needed health insurance, and right now I have benefits and all but immediate family of mine are intensely worried about not having money for retirement, not being able to get a less physically tough job because they'd be (probably) uninsurable, not being able to save because the price of gas is so high and their current job is a long drive away, stuff like that.

Rhetoric is probably less effictive on college campuses than in actual elected positions in the federal government, though. (Rhetoric is probably less effective on college campuses than anywhere ever.)

the weird thing is i think hillary is campaigning the most like the kerry of 08 - if you watch old debates, bush is doing the idealist thing, the america-can-be-great thing, while kerry was positioning himself as this brainy fix-it guy who would come in and do all the hard work and get america working again

which is all stuff that obama is equally committed to...

i agree. but the condescending 'this is broken, you need me to fix it' attitude is more kerry & clinton than obama

'i have so many opportunities for this country'

And I'm getting even more cynical now but I do not expect most citizens will be engaged and advocates. They will vote on the issues but after the election? Most everyone is too busy trying to make enough money to get by, save for a house, retirement, college education, maybe working two jobs (a surprising number of my coworkers do), worried about the economy going into the shitbin, affording health care, child care, etc.

but lol i guess barack talks like jfk this means hes the establishment candidate amirite

I've got the brains, you've got the looks.. let's make lots of money

xp with an argument for the candidate of lowered expectations

daria, you seem to maintain that hillary is the only candidate with workable policy positions on the table but obama only has moonbeams and pretty words! come on! i don't understand why you're spinning obama's speechmaking as a liability

because of the wang

remy i think you're looking for Lame Meme Reemerging

"If I do endorse, it's going to be a gut feeling. It's not going to be about statistics, about past ties," Richardson said. "I've been on the campaign trail with both of them. I feel that I know them. I feel I know the issues. I feel I know what makes them both tick."

I honestly don't think it's a liability for him, no! I just personally find it not my cup of tea at all. But I don't like a lot of music that is exceedingly popular either, it's a matter of taste is all.

it's cute when you use outmoded words like 'meme' in a bid to sound superior

just a link to a thread, doggie

I don't like a lot of music that is exceedingly popular either

so obama is top 40 and hillary is indie rock?

Caption this photo?

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/01/29/us/29caucus-337.jpg

hillary is beth ditto

Haha my day will be devoted to reading about how Americans are almost entirely uninformed about politics.

"I'm a real estate developer outside Tuscon, Chuck."

hillary = unitas, obama = namath

Oh, come on. All I'm trying to say is that it really isn't reflective of the majority view if I don't like Obama's speeches.

"then i was like, do you KNOW where this finger has been??"

so just to change it up, if mccain gets it in the GE - how come nobody makes a deal out of him cheating on his 1st wife?

not that i give a fuck but i presume a lot of republicans do

Here is a quote from the article I just finished (which, I should emphasize, is an academic journal): "At long last, and despite some flickering dissent, there now seems to be near-consensus that by anything approaching elite standards most citizens think and know jaw-droppingly little about politics."

You can probably see the problems with that one.

Sebelius didn't wait - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080129/ap_on_el_pr/obama_sebelius