CAPITOL LETTER
Eleanor Clift
Showing His Mettle
Obama needs to show superdelegates his willingness to throw a punch.
Can Barack Obama throw a punch? If there is an upside to the shots Obama has taken from his former pastor, it's the opportunity created for him to show his mettle. The superdelegates who hold the balance of power appreciate the nobility of his high-minded rhetoric, but they're also taking his measure as a future commander in chief (and as a ticket-topper for the party). For them, and for the voters, it was a relief to see the always cool Obama reach his threshold and get angry, finally, at a man who once meant so much to him.
The personal piece has been elusive for him. As good as his campaign is, it has not been easy for Illinois's junior senator to dig a little deeper into his psyche and share himself with voters. Maybe he figures he's already done that with the coming-of-age memoir he published at age 33. But if he's to survive the assault on his character from Reverend Wright and assorted others—including, of course, Hillary Clinton—he needs to be more forthcoming. It's not that voters think he's a secret radical; they're just not sure he has what it takes to run the country. If he can't stand up to a minister who has run off the rails, how would he stand up to Vladimir Putin?
Presidential elections do not turn on the issues—a sad reality Democrats have yet to fully absorb. There's a reason Hillary connected with voters when she got teary in New Hampshire and why her message is gaining traction now, while she's fighting so hard. People want to see passion, toughness, and determination in a president. Drew Westen, a clinical psychologist and author of "The Political Brain," a study of how emotions affect the way we vote, says Obama's press conference denouncing Wright was "the first time we've seen him really throw a punch." The opposition has thrown a lot at him: the "3 a.m." ad questioning his fitness to be commander in chief; the ad in Pennsylvania showing an image of Osama bin Laden, meant to reinforce fears about Obama's leadership; and the relentless, effective attacks about his calling economically distressed voters "bitter." But despite all that "he was never willing to throw a knockout punch back," says Westen. "And it wouldn't have been hard for him, with Hillary making up out of whole cloth a story of sniper fire that didn't happen."
Voters respect his restraint, but they also worry about it, says Westen. That's why Obama's demeanor in his press conference, a mix of anger and sadness, was as important as his words. The superdelegates are looking for reassurance that he can respond in a decisive way to end the Wright controversy and get back to his message. They're not really uncommitted—they're mostly for Obama—but they're wary of signing on to a campaign that might yet come apart. "He had the greatest fastball anybody had seen, and now it's 'Hey man, can you throw a change-up?' He needs another pitch in his repertoire," says James Carville, a top pitchman for the Clintons. The race is tightening. Obama holds a narrow lead in North Carolina, and Indiana is too close to call. Hillary's people cite her strength with white voters without a college education. Her 10-point lead over Obama in this demographic has swelled to 40 points in the latest Pew Research survey. "The onus is on her," says Carville. "She's got to do better than tie. If she wins Indiana and North Carolina, she's the nominee. She's got to shock the system, and she may be shocking it."
Reminded that Obama continues to narrow the lead that Hillary once enjoyed among superdelegates, Carville quips, "A superdelegate commitment and four bucks will get you a cup of coffee at the Ritz-Carlton." Perhaps he had in mind Joe Andrew, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, appointed by Bill Clinton, who endorsed Hillary on the day she announced for president, and Thursday switched his endorsement to Obama, saying he thinks it's time for the party to come together. Carville takes the view that the longer Obama is out there under scrutiny, the more the voters see his vulnerabilities. "Everything that's happened to him is not because of her. She hasn't laid much of a glove on him other than just being there," Carville says.
Obama didn't have much choice in deciding to take on Wright. It was a fight he did all he could to avoid, acting only when it threatened to destroy his candidacy. "The Republicans will eat him alive" is what the Clinton campaign is telling the superdelegates. Hillary is the tougher of the two, the candidate you want on your side in a knife fight, a gender reversal that prompts Carville to indulge in some ribald humor: "If she gave him one of her cojones, they'd both have two."
© 2008
Loading Menu
Member Comments
Posted By: Illinois Voter @ 05/08/2008 2:00:05 PM
Comment: On April 22, 2007, the Tribune noted that City Hall records show
Michelle Obama began work as a $60,000-a-year mayoral assistant to
Richard Daley in September of 1991.
At City Hall, Michelle formed close friendships with Valerie Jarrett,
and many other top Daley aides, including former Corporation Counsel
Susan Sher and David Mosena, who was the mayor's chief of staff when
Michelle first joined his administration.
â??All have long since left the city payroll,â?? the Tribune wrote,
â??but are
loyal to the mayor and now the Obamas.â??
On June 13, 2006, Michelleâ??s employer, the University of Chicago
announced that, "Valerie Jarrett has been appointed as the new Chair of
the University of Chicago Medical Center Board and also Chair of a newly
created Executive Committee of that board. She has also been named
Vice-Chair of the University's Board of Trustees."
According to the announcement, Jarrett "served for eight years in City
of Chicago government posts, first as Deputy Corporation Counsel for
Finance and Development, then as Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Richard
Daley in 1991," and, "as Commissioner of the Department of Planning and
Development from 1992 through 1995."
Jarrett served on Obamaâ??s US Senate campaign finance committee and
serves on Obamaâ??s presidential campaign finance committee along with
Alex Giannoulias and Mayor Daleyâ??s brother Bill.
The political mafia of Illinois now plans to move the Chicago brand of
corruption to Washington in a U-Haul hooked up to their second choice
candidate. Americans will never allow it to happen. They will either
vote for McCain or not at all.
If Obama becomes the nominee, the Republicans will unleash a non-stop
expose of Obama in the mainstream media that will make the swift boat
attacks against John Kerry seem trivial. Only this time, they won't have
to make lies because the truth will be on their side.
The tracking of the subplots that developed as a result of the Board
Games investigation, has revealed a spider-web of corruption that spread
from the Chicago Loop to O'Hare Airport to the Illinois Tollway, all the
way to bid-rigging in Iraq, with Iraqi-born billionaire, Nadhmi Auchi,
owner of General Mediterranean Holdings, a Luxemburg-based conglomerate
with investments all over the world in everything from defense
contractors to pharmaceuticals, at the center of many schemes.
Posted By: Illinois Voter @ 05/08/2008 1:57:57 PM
Comment: Barack Obama - Subplots of Operation Board Games - Part I
/ by Evelyn Pringle
/ Previously:/
Barack Obama - Operation Board Games For Slumlords
<http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0804/S00064.htm>
Barack Obama - The Wizard of Oz
<http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0803/S00452.htm>
The investigation dubbed â??Operation Board Games,â?? into the influence
peddling within the cesspool of corruption that encompasses Illinois
politicians from both major parties, has developed into multiple
subplots, many of which feature Barack Obama.
This two-part article is the last article in a 3-part series. The first
two, Barack Obama - The Wizard of Oz
<http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0803/S00452.htm> and Barack Obama -
Operation Board Games For Slumlords
<http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_evelyn_p_080404_barack_obama___opera.htm>,
cover Obamaâ??s rise to fame in the political mafia of Illinois,
bankrolled by the now infamous Syrian-born influence peddler, Antoin
â??Tonyâ?? Rezko.
They also give the details of Obamaâ??s involvement in a slumlord business
largely operating out of the Chicago-based Davis, Miner & Barnhill law
firm, which hired Obama in 1993, with his boss, Allison Davis, reaping
in the profits with Rezkoâ??s development company, Rezmar.
The â??Board Games For Slumlordâ?? article gives in-depth details of the
federal investigation along with the names of people who are listed as
â??Co-Schemersâ?? and â??Individualsâ?? in the indictments issued thus far.
Therefore for the most part, this article will refer to all the scams
collectively as what prosecutors refer to as â??pay-to-playâ?? schemes...
Campaign finance laws in Illinois have aided and abetted influence
peddling schemes for years because they allow donors to give as much as
they like to candidates running for state office, so the skyâ??s the
limit....
A trial exhibit produced by an FBI agent, identifies major contributors
who donated $1.43 million to Blagojevich between 2001 and 2004. The
Chicago Sun-Times compared the exhibit to government campaign records on
Obama and found he received more than $220,000 from many of the same
donors between 2001 and 2004.
John Roger, the head of Ariel Capital, an investment firm that ended up
with major money from the pension funds, is on the FBIâ??s summary of
Blagojevichâ??s top contributors. He also gave Obama $25,000.
Rogers is a member of the finance committee for Obamaâ??s presidential
campaign. Rogers also served on the campaign finance committee for
Obamaâ??s US Senate run with Tony and Rita Rezko, Allison Davis, and Myron
â??Mikeâ?? Cherry....
Posted By: paul962 @ 05/08/2008 3:12:40 AM
Comment: Yep,
Hillary has found the pep in her step just in time to step right on back home. Whichever home that is. Illinois, Scranton, Lake Wynonnia, New Haven, New York, Little Rock, The Dominican Republic or where ever else she & Bill own a little bit o land.