Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Is it just me ....

or did Obama sound a little frightened tonight? I must confess that I have not listened to him much over the past few months, but I decided to watch his entire speech tonight. What I took away from it is a guy who thinks he's going to win the nomination, and is at the same time frightened by the thought of being the nominee.

Who will he plagiarize from once he's out there on his own?

He was promising everything tonight ... everyone in America will get a new car, a laptop and a puppy. Okay, maybe that's not exactly what he promised, but pretty darned close!

9 comments:

KELSO'S NUTS said...

BAC:

I understand that I'm way too OUT THERE to merit a response from anyone even on this radical site.

But, to coin a Jerry Brown phrase -- "My name's Kelso; And I'm going to speak!"

I looked everything over on greenpapers.com and demconwatch.com and I come away with the following conclusion. This contest still slightly favors Clinton. The pledged delegates give Obama a small lead. The superdelegates give it back to Clinton by inches. The polling in OH and TX, especially given that Obama has only won ONE big state, his own, would tend to favor Clinton. The overwhelming press bias for Obama pushes it back to even or slightly for Obama. That the FL and MI delegates can only help Clinton not hurt her puts the thing back on even. That's where we are in the race.

I give Obama a lot of credit for making a good games-player's decision and deciding to go for it this year because if he waited and Clinton won, he was finished and if he waited until '12, he'd face the Democratic All-Star team: Feingold, Wyden, Corzine, M Warner, Kaine, Dayton, Sibelius, Napolitano, Breseden, Whitehouse, perhaps Dean or the colossus that dwarfs them all, GORE.

And we haven't even mentioned that she's the superior candidate.

KELSO'S NUTS said...

And now, it's time to TAKE IT OUT THERE...

...and deal with -- yes -- SOCIAL CLASS. Unlike Barack Obama, I come from an immigrant family that was working class on one side and dirt-poor criminal class and lumpenproletariat on the other. My parents didn't "get there" financially until I was deep into my teens. But hard work and qualifications were the golden rules around my house.

I've knew a million Barack Obama in my childhood because I lived just across town from the United Nations School. And there are always various kids' games and inter-neighborhood rivalries and all that. Just one example ought to suffice. There was a kid just like Obama named Bangani Sebako. My god! I'd never seen an apartment like his before. Maids, butler, cook, fancy rugs, all this shit. I was a WHITE JEWISH street urchin from Chelsea and he was Black but, believe me, there was no mistaking how anything was.

I don't resent Obama for his privilege. When I saw Sebako's house, I was determined to LIVE LIKE THAT SOMEDAY. What I find so galling as someone who has achieved a lot in his life and ought to be the perfect Obama voter: White Man, 46, comfortable financially, Democrat, etc., is that somehow a myth that Obama is a breakthrough candidate socially is the height of silliness to me.

One thing my parents always stressed to me was no matter how well I did that I was never to forget where I came from. And I never have. I'll never be anything other than a left-wing Democrat.

And as someone who succeeded with way FEWER advantages in life than Barack Obama had, I am granting especially ALL LIBERAL WHITE DEMOCRATIC MEN the right to vote for and support Clinton without worrying about not seeming sensitive to the poor or some shit like that.

If you look at their biographies, really Clinton had a tougher climb than Obama did.

KELSO'S NUTS said...

ENJOY

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0214081obama1.html?link=rssfeed

Comrade Kevin said...

He looked tired and exhausted, more like.

Imagine if he had even cried!

Comrade Kevin said...

If you had listened to prior speeches, he was much more on top of his game than last night.

Even I could tell he was clearly exhausted. His throat was hoarse and he was not in command as he usually is.

billie said...

asking as a kucinich supporter- i guess i am wondering what hillary's supporters would do if obama did win. would you all support obama as the candidate? i am not enamored with either- i think that they are the candidates that have been chosen for us to choose from. as a new yorker who will not vote for clinton again- i didn't vote for her in her re-election bid for senate- i have nothing personally against mrs. clinton. the entourage and people who she would have as her team- is the reason i won't vote for her. i have had enough of the political machinations- which we are seeing now come out on both sides and from all candidates- and i just wish hillary felt she could have won on her own merit without having her campaign run interference. she is an intelligent lady and in other circumstances- i would have been glad to have her as president. these days- we need a 180 degree turn from this type of politics. hillary isn't it. she is status quo establishment with connections to corporate and across the aisle. the prayer breakfasts with republicans turned me off.

BAC said...

Then the prayer circle Obama had before speaking last night must have been fun for you, too! ha

Of course I will vote for whoever wins the Democratic nomination. However the only candidate I would proudly cast my vote for would be Hillary Clinton. If the nominee is Obama, it will not be an enthusiastic vote, as he has not won me over.

I disagree that Hillary is status quo. She is not George W. Bush and she is not Bill Clinton. I think that unfortunately the American people might not have an opportunity to see what a great leader she would be.

Obama, I fear, is not ready for prime time.


BAC

Anonymous said...

i guess i am wondering what hillary's supporters would do if obama did win. would you all support obama as the candidate?

Just to give you one data point, I would. I think nominating Obama instead of Clinton would be a terrible mistake and certainly a disappointment. But I'd far rather see him as President than a Republican.

KELSO'S NUTS said...

I am probably the most rabid anti-Obama blogger among progressive Democrats, but were I still living in the United States, I would vote for Obama over McCain. I think it's a closer call than most do, but I surely wouldn't hesitate to back Barack over Walnuts.

Because the rules make my vote count even less than it normally would (we AmericansAbroad get a disproportionatley low number of electors and face the tyranny of "taxation without representation"), I am not voting.

I think Obama has a way better voting record than McCain does on practically every issue. I also think that while his "hope" and "yes we can" messages are vapid, his heart is in the right place, while McCain is one mean bastard.

If Obama gets the nomination, I'd like to be able to advocate as strongly for his election as presdient as I have for Clinton for the nomination. I doubt he'll give me reason, but UNLIKE Obama, I AM A DEMOCRAT.