BETWEEN THE LINES
Jonathan Alter
Decision Tuesday: Indiana
Taking a Punch
Obama shows resilience in nearly clinching the nomination.
Barack Obama not only nearly clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, he also answered a big question about the fall campaign. The glass jaw that Hillary Clinton and John McCain thought they saw turned out to be an illusion. In the jingle of the old Timex watch ads, he took a licking and kept on ticking.
Oh, what a difference a week makes. April 28 was only last week, but it feels like six months ago. That was the day Obama got hit by a one-two punch. First, his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, dominated the airwaves with his offensive rant. The same day brought news that Hillary had decided to join McCain in calling for a summer gas tax holiday, sure to be popular with voters angry about high costs at the pump.
For the first time since February, Clinton seemed to have a real shot at the nomination. Still reeling from his big loss in Pennsylvania, Obama was battered by charges that he was elitist and disconnected from a big chunk of the Democratic Party. From bad bowling to "bitter" to arugula eater to disciple of an America-hater, he seemed to be floundering.
May 6 looked ominous. With African-Americans making up only 9 percent of Indiana Democratic voters, Obama was in deep trouble there, behind in the polls and slipping. North Carolina was also headed in the wrong direction, with some surveys showing only a five-point Obama lead. In most earlier primaries, including those he won, Obama slipped further on the last weekend. Even his closest aides thought Indiana and North Carolina would be no different.
Last week not a soul in politics would have predicted that Obama would win North Carolina by 14 points and virtually tie in Indiana. But through a combination of luck and smarts, the campaign ended on the theme that Obama ran on: old politics vs. new politics.
By conventional standards Clinton was in the groove, focusing on bread-and-butter issues and pummeling Obama for being out of touch with angry motorists. Many pundits reported that "the working girl" was "on fire" and on the move.
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Member Comments
Posted By: GTX13 @ 05/10/2008 9:02:21 AM
Comment: Barrack Hussein Obama has already addressed the domestic policy; the unemployment will disappear, he will create the millions of "green jobs" and so for ! Everybody will be happy !Now is time to move on and stay focused on the foreign affairs ! His priority will be the strong relationships with our traditional friends as Iran, Syria, Libya, Hamas and why not with...Al-qaeda ! And the special envoy for talks between Israel and Hamas will be appointed just Jimmy Carter ! He loves this job !!!....
Posted By: Napachild @ 05/09/2008 11:21:34 PM
Comment: Great column, Jonathan! I can't believe every time there's a positive column about Barak Obama the number of racist hate mongers that come out of the woodwork to comment . It makes me sick!! Them with their thin veneer of respectability!! Keep wondering what they'll do when Barack wins not only the nomination but the Presidency as well. Maybe when they see their lives improve because of his leadership, they'll put away their sheets. One can only hope.
Posted By: HolyRoller @ 05/09/2008 7:47:56 PM
Comment: More of Obama's foreign policy at work. He's never met a terrorist he didn't like.....Caught again....
Friday, May 9, 2008
One-degree of separation: Obama fires Middle East adviser over talks with Hamas
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has fired Robert Malley, one of his Middle East policy advisers after Malley "disclosed" May 9, 2008, that "he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group Hamas - prompting the likely Democratic nominee to sever all links with him," Tom Baldwin reported in The Times............
Malley added that he and Obama went to law school together, but he said he has not played any role in the campaign other than as a very informal advisor. But, he added, "once it hits the Times of London it becomes too much of a distraction, especially since the McCain campaign seems to want to make this an issue."
NOBAMA!!!