2008 Primaries Thread 2: THE QUICKENING

WTF guys? "Oh shit, they have an angle of attack. We'd better just give up before the GE starts so we don't feel too disappointed again."

Meanwhile, is Ron Paul back?

haha I misread this as "is Ron Paul black?"

aw thats the democratic party i know & love!

I think it's time for John Edwards' closeup

the Elder has spoken:

BILL KRISTOL: Look, she needs to take Obama down, but the way to take him down is not to have a debate on his tactics. That’s the huge mistake here. “Shame on you, you’re running a campaign inconsistent with your message, you’re a little misleading in some leaflet you’re distributing, some flyer on health care” — that’s ludicrous at this point.

He’s riding a wave of euphoria. She needs to puncture it. The way you puncture euphoria is reality or, to be a little more blunt, fear. And I recommend to Senator Clinton the politics of fea

"the politics of fear"

the politics of dancing

He thought The Power of Nightmares was meant as a compliment to his dad.

i picture bill kristol helping his kid with his science fair project in the same way: "listen, joey, i just don't *fear* these sea monkeys enough..."

Well they are creepy, those anthropomorphized bastards.

BTW, I think it's best that this comes out now, especially if this is all the documentary ammunition the GOP will have with this line of attack. It's an ugly smear campaign that's easy to make but hard to erase. Obama needs -- and apparently will have -- a full season to respond. He should begin doing so early; right now. And he is.

And I recommend to Senator Clinton the politics of fear . . . She needs to say not, “Ooh, this campaign tactic’s a little out of line.” She needs to say, “Let’s wait a second here. Is this man ready to run against the Republicans for president of the United States in a time of war? And is he ready to be president? He wants to negotiate on January 21st with Ahmadinejad. Here’s what Ahmadinejad has said about blowing up Israel. He’s never run a serious race. He’s not ready for the job.”

She needs to take on his qualifications to be president and his qualifications to beat the Republican nominee, not complain about little campaign tactics.

"(assuming it was a move at all, were staffers just circulating the photo among themselves, not to the press?)"

uh yeah the clinton campaign privately going LOL LOOK AT THIS DARKIE SOMALIA ROFL is actually more offensive to me than circulating it with the rovian intent

yea i agree with you on that. though apparently the staffers were making a point about biased media coverage in favor of obama (e.g. saying "if there was a compromising photo of hillary it would have made the press ages ago, why is this not being published, etc?) though it's a gross situation no matter what.

i wasn't interested in defending hilz' staffers in any way, i think it makes them look incredibly ugly any way you look at it.

Kristol dumber than a bag of hammers

The real point of all of this is to put O on the defensive so he has to parry and thus put himself on H's level. Same reason she wanted more debates. If O is smart, he'll let her speak for herself and keep staying above it all. Don't throw rocks at the throne.

i wonder if hillary coming out w/ this makes it better for obama in the long run than if shadowy right wingers are dropping it??? they do hate hillary and the right wing largely finds her to be a liar so i imagine in many ways they will be torn wrt its dissemination

im just being hopeful

The decade of fear is coming to an end.

Yeah, I think the key is to respond gracefully and look unscathed.

I sometimes fantasize that Hillary's just there to insulate Obama from ge attacks, and it's all a put-on, but reality seems crueler than that.

haha crueler to her primarily

Just because Rove and Bush have gotten away with eight years of distortion doesn't mean that others will be able to in their wake. That's what Hillary C.'s campaign doesn't understand.

i think the lunatic attacks that obama seems to inspire kinda works in his favor and the fact that he's calm through all of it just makes his attackers look crazed and desperate

im hoping for 1000 macaca moments in this campaign

^
this

Anyway -- tanned, rested, ready...ROMNEY! Uh.

Also, a little story on GOP converts to Obama.

yeah obama can take the high road like nobody's business - the problem is that his opponents (especially in the g.e.) are bullies, and bullies will poke you again and again and not let you go. he's going to have to choose a moment or two in which he retaliates and is seen to retliate effectively

it makes me sad that politics is basically reduced to fake pugilism

lol at republicans hating on dems for carrying their fight on longer than the GOP and then after one measly nyt article suddenly theres 5 republicans running all over again

I'm not worried about a very significant percentage of the electorate actually thinking "Obama is a secret Muslim terrorist." I'm more worried about the people who will feel "uncertain" about him, that he's an "unknown quantity," etc.

hurting i think the genius of axelrod's marketing around obama's 'story' and biography is the way they've managed to insulate him from that charge

they're selling him as a person and leader, not as a legislator, which is the main problem with hillary and mccain's attacks on him

I'm not sure if I agree with the "stay-above-it" strategy, tho. That's what Kerry did with the Swift Boaters. It's a tough call, I admit.

yeah who can forget how the vibrant, charismatic john kerry campaign was sabotaged by that

lol

I'm not telling him to do that at all times in the general election. I'm telling him to do that against hillary when he's ahead and can probably win the nom simply by avoiding mistakes.

Also to be fair the Swift Boat shit was a lot more serious and harder to respond to than a photo of Obama in a lolturban. Which of course does make me wonder what kind of serious, well-organized smear the GOP will come up with this time and does worry me a bit.

All the GOP can do is make his blackness indivisible from his executive "inexperience." And it's working! Callers to talk radios and, hell, my grandmother do this shit.

Plouffe has a fine response:
On the very day that Senator Clinton is giving a speech about restoring respect for America in the world, her campaign has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we’ve seen from either party in this election. This is part of a disturbing pattern that led her county chairs to resign in Iowa, her campaign chairman to resign in New Hampshire, and it’s exactly the kind of divisive politics that turns away Americans of all parties and diminishes respect for America in the world,"

All the GOP can do is make his blackness indivisible from his executive "inexperience." And it's working! Callers to talk radios and, hell, my grandmother do this shit.

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, February 25, 2008 1:04 PM (59 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

what do you mean by this?

Yeah, which is why he needs an older, white, 'experienced' veep.

Wes Clark Wes Clark Wes Clark

The whole idea that "oh no Obama needs to hit back now [i.e., in some snarky way]" runs counter to the idea that the guy has won with double-digit leads in a bunch of states. His campaign knows that anger, outrage, distortion, and fear are not necessary parts of competition, and he (like Huckabee on his best days) is flipping the script, successfully so far.

what do you mean by this?

This weekend my grandmother, a Republican says, "Yes, I've been learning about this Obama. His middle name is HUSSEIN and his mother is African. This man would be horrible if he was elected -- the worst president in history."

we live in the fucking stone ages, with our ipods and our reflective clothing

Wes Clark Wes Clark Wes Clark

-- remy bean, Monday, February 25, 2008 12:08 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

nononono
first of all hes in the tank for hrc but more importantly his whole candidacy was exactly what was wrong w/ the democratic approach in the last election, thinking we needed a campaign that was like a VFW meeting

Grandma listens to late night radio, which broadcasts some spooky Oliver Stone-worthy conspiracy tripe. The personalities exploit racial and ethni fears as a matter of course.

(xxxpost)

Is there any Democrat she would vote for, A,LS?

maybe this guy?

http://www.blackfive.net/photos/uncategorized/johnkerrysalutes.jpg

woops

http://www.blackfive.net/photos/uncategorized/johnkerrysalutes.jpg