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Obama doesn't want to waste ANY time on nonsense. He wants to work! Can you believe that?
Even tho' Hillary got all choked up in the end saying how lucky she has been and is- I think Obama showed real strength, maturity, and vision. He seemed to me the clear leader.
He refused to be bated into a tit for tat on the negatives; however, he stood fast on is position regarding his healthcare plan and the implication that 15 million would go unserved.
In short, he handled his business!
1) The plagiarism issue is embarrassing for Billary. Obama let the audience speak for him with resounding boos.
2) The superdelegate issue. Obama was clear: democracy rules. Let the people decide. She gave a Clintonian answer, "Let it play out" or something. Bogus, CNN dropped the ball on this point and should've pushed it because it is far more important than her Xerox comment.
3) Barack outlined a Presidency that includes us as fighters at home and a president unafraid to meet face to face with foreigns leaders.
The mainstream media is saying Hillar ydid well at the end with her gracious comment. Well of course, for a brief moment the ice queen thawed. However, nothing much changed. Barack still leads in popular votes, states won and pledged delegates. He made no serious errors, she made no serious gains.
This is what Obama should say about the plagerism claim:
"I guess it depends on what the meaning of plagerism IS".
He can "borrow" that from me.
I wish Obama had been more forceful when he called John King a liar.
Here's what we know. Hillary does better when she gets "emotional". I bet she's not going negative but she'll get emotional. Maybe cry again.
1. There is NO WAY you can look at that debate and think that Obama is an empty suit. Just like the last debate, Obama showed just as much substance and just as much of a grasp of the issues as Clinton did. If she needed a "game-changer," she sure didn't get it. That "xerox" line absolutely bombed and we might see that get replayed over and over again for the next few days.
2. Obama did an excellent job of turning her "experience/solutions" argument against her; focusing on judgment.
3. Am I the only one here, or did Hillary's last statement look kind of like a concession speech? I can't stand how some of the pundits are trying to spin it as some "hillary found her inner-voice moment."
To me, it sort of looked like she finally realized, "hey, this guy is the real deal." Olberman on MSNBC said it looked like she was was saying, "no hard feeling, right? please keep me in mind when you pick your v.p. in about a month."
This was a good night for Obama.
However, her ending also gives her a sense of being nice to th public. I hate to say it, but the ability of a white woman to get emotional makes people pause.
"Oh my God, she's sorry.
Can't you Obama people just forgive her and let's move on?"
The math of the nomination is against her. She needs 65% of the delegates and over 1 million votes just to tie. I think she decided at the end to admit, "I can beat you. I just have to hope you beat yourself."
Her inner voice sounds a lot like John Edwards!
I really hope that "softer side," sympathy vote thing doesn't rear its ugly head again.
It happened in NH, but I don't think it will work for her this time. Plus, one moment of sincerity does not erase months of gutter politics - especially when there's a pro-hillary 527 (swift-boat type) organization that will be running ads in Ohio. Don't believe the hype.
The momentum for Obama is real. The public has had more time to get to know this guy - they like what they see.
By ending the "empty suit" argument, he alleviates any lingering fears for voters who are still on the fence.
Indeed, I think Hillary's last statement could be viewed as implicitly granting her "blessing." Of course, she didn't say it out loud. But her actions conveyed a sense that she understands . . . Obama is ready to lead.
I also think it is important that concerning the Cuba issue he showed a willingness to meet with world leaders the US does not necessarily support instead of adopting the arrogant jump-through-hoops-first-before-you-are-good-enough-to-speak-to-me approach HIlary advocated.
He really handled the debate well. A big deal is being made of her last statement but in my opinion it didn't make up for her slips (i.e. the xerox comment).
The softer side will endear her at the ground level. It may save her in Ohio. Obama supporters should honestly stay vigilant of Billary's attacks and highlight them but by-pass her. She can't beat him. He can beat himself. On to McCain.
The Republican Noise Machine is loading its weaponry. Barack, you are about to graduate. Unless you just say, fuck it.
Congratulations, you got your masters degree. No it's time to get the PhD. And the Republicans have already started shitting on Yes We Can and Hope.
It sounded like a concession speech to me! Hillary loves to get her jabs in with her snide remarks but it ends up costing her just like the "slumlord" remark did in South Carolina.
It's time for her to step aside. The game is over!
Go Obama! Yes We Can!
I'm not buying it. To me, it was more of the same 'tug at the heart strings' -- 'Don't ya'll see that I really wanted this?'
He has to take the "high road"... I would LOVE to be a fly on the wall for the real conversation about HRC.
Everything she accuses him of, she has done herself. The plagiarism charge is just laughable. She's on YouTube saying "YES WE CAN" to her stunned supporters.
Re: the superdelegates - She didn't answer the question. And CNN let her get away with it.
Sidenote: CNN is playing Stevie Wonder for real. I'm sure that is the Obama campaign rockin' it.
Bill Clinton 1992: "The hits that I took in this election are nothing compared to the hits the people of this state and this country have been taking for a long time."
Hillary Clinton Tonight: "You know, the hits I’ve taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country."
Edwards the December 13 debate:
"What's not at stake are any of us. All of us are going to be just fine no matter what happens in this election. But what's at stake is whether America is going to be fine."
Hillary Clinton Tonight:
"You know, whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people. And that's what this election should be about."
With that said, Obama won tonight, even though the pundits are trying to say different.
I'm not buying it. To me, it was more of the same 'tug at the heart strings' -- 'Don't ya'll see that I really wanted this?'"
ITA. In fact, she used her "It took a Clinton to clean up after the 1st Bush......." line at a rally right after the debate. That was nothing but her playing the sympathy card.
She conceded and played the crying game. Clintonian centrism at its worst. I do notice the difference in coverage. Fixed Noise hates the both but Hillary more. CNN is always trying to find a way to keep Hillary in the race (maybe for ratings). MSNBC is a mixture of both but more favoritism to Obama. C. Matthews loves him some Barack.
He never took the bait of her negative comments and thus never gave her an opening to point to his immaturity or inexperience.
And poor Hillary. Of course she would have loved to strike even harder. He just never made the classic political mistake of handing her a sword.
By the way, with all the talk of how sometimes you just have to go negative, it simply doesn't seem to have played out that way.
When the history of this campaign is written, it will be noted that the negativity her husband started with in the early primaries hurt her immediately and hurt her permanently.Indeeed, looking back it seems that the biggest mistake was that, after the race narrowed, Hillary took the low road and essentially ran her campaign as if she was opposing a Republican.
This looked bad and mean-spirited. And, alongside Obama's cool dignity, it looked scared.
It's over.
Hey media: It's ok to say it now . . . Obama is gonna win this thing.
Stop making excuses for Clinton. There's no need to feel sorry for her. Just admit that Obama has run the better campaign; had the better (more inclusive) message; won more states; has more delegates; more popular votes.
What else does he have to do before you give him due credit? I mean, damn . . . 11 straight victories by an AVERAGE of 33%!!! If the roles were reversed, Obama would have been long gone by now.
I saw Dan Abrahms last night and he dedicated two whole segments to brainstorming ways for her to make a comeback. You know, I didn't see people do this for Giuliani, John Edwards, etc. When it was over . . . IT WAS OVER! There was no swan song . . . no violins. They were gone.
The Clintons always talk about media bias - well (as recently mentioned by one political pundit), it's actually the media that's keeping her in this thing. They allow her to keep moving the goal posts. Now we'll have to listen to a week of her "finding her inner voice" again???
Hey media, I see what you're doing. Stop throwing her a life line. The math is real. It's not enough to just win in OH and TX . . . she needs to win by LANDSLIDES. Stop laying the groundwork for some cheap 51-49% victories and a phony "comeback."
I must agree. Obama is stepping into the role. For what it's worth, he looks the part, now.
Obama is growing from a candidate to the next Commander-in-Chief!
Are the CLintons realizing that their legacy may well be in tatters...Are they realizing that the only way to repair their legacy may come in the form of an Obama-Clinton ticket?
YES, Hillary would have to have a Saul-to-Paul on the Road-to-Damascus Conversion...but I do think that it's feasible...she would really have to start preaching the *O* Gospel..but once she's converted, she would be the scrappiest VP any Presidential Candidate would ever want.
She will get another shot on next Tuesday in the OH debate...i'll reserve judgment until that debate passes...they're probably testing the "sympathy" effect to see how it affects the polls...the only polls we should trust are the VOTES, let's not sleep on TX and OH...LET's END THIS ON MARCH 4TH.
I saw Dan Abrahms last night and he dedicated two whole segments to brainstorming ways for her to make a comeback. You know, I didn't see people do this for Giuliani, John Edwards, etc. When it was over . . . IT WAS OVER! There was no swan song . . . no violins. They were gone.
So true what you said here.
Totally different animal, but the Dem race made me think of the "Apprentice" a few seasons ago. To my knowledge, Randall Pinkett was the only "Apprentice" winner asked to share his prize - at the exact moment that he won! (He was also the only "Apprentice" winner with FIVE DEGREES.)
The rules of the game suddenly changed just for him. When he refused, he was called "selfish" and "unfair". If the shoe were on the other foot, I don't believe that The Donald would have asked Pinkett's white female opponent to share her prize.
Anyway, totally unrelated - but the parallels are amazing.
The puzzler of the night, to me, is why Clinton refused to answer a simple question that she clearly has an answer to: And that is: Is Barack Obama ready to be commander in chief? Clearly -- the answer, for Clinton, is “yes.” It’s her best argument against him. But twice she avoided it and instead recapitulated her own resume.
At this point, she has nothing to lose by making that argument. The fact that she did not suggests to me that she is thinking, already, about life as a Senator from New York supporting Barack Obama and did not want to give John McCain the soundbite that could doom Obama’s candidacy. I don’t think she’s conceded the nomination in her mind, but I do think she had two temporal audiences in mind when she answered: Democrats now and the nation in the fall.
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/02/first_take_advantage_obama.php
LOL! You hit the bulls-eye with your "Apprentice" parallel!
I saw Dan Abrahms last night and he dedicated two whole segments to brainstorming ways for her to make a comeback. You know, I didn't see people do this for Giuliani, John Edwards, etc. When it was over . . . IT WAS OVER! There was no swan song . . . no violins. They were gone.
At first, I thought we were the only ones noticing this, but at least, FINALLY, it was vocalized by someone on Morning Joe today.
How they are bending over backwards and letting Hillary Clinton 'set the terms'. I forget who was the person to finally admit it...I thought it was all in my mind - that folks were just letting her change the bar...first, it was Wisconsin...then it was Texas and Ohio, and then, when they realized the rules in Texas, then suddenly, it became Ohio and Pennsylvania - with Texas forgotten.
It's hilarious, how they're trying to explain away Texas, only after touting it a week and a half ago, at where she had a FIREWALL. They are unbelievable in the way that they bend over backwards for her.
at POLITICALINACTION.COM, the owner wrote:
I think that the battle, widely being reported on in the campaign, of half of Hillary's camp going nuclear and half saying preserve your legacy to fight again either as senate majority leader or as the nominee in four years if Obama loses was clearly won by the latter group.
I think this might tie into what folks have been writing about hearing a pseudo-concession speech, and what Ambinder (Clinton-ista) said.
He didn't give her any wiggle room to play the White Woman Victim card, which is a good thing. He didn't take her bait when she tried to lure him into taking potshots, which is also a good thing.
Why am I not surprised that the most 'genuine' moment for her was as phony as a $3 bill, and copied from others, just like those fake-ass tears in New Hampshire.
She attacked, he looked Presidential. All I wanted from tonight.
PS- Did you read that DailyKos diary about how much she's spent on consultants? Penn has basically robbed her blind.
Obama once visited '60s 'Terrorists'
Can this be the beginning of the end or am I overreacting?
I'd have more faith if this were another Rezko story...
Of, if they were Black Panthers.
I hope you're right.
Change their names to Leroy and Monique, make them Black Panthers...what's the story then?
Oh yeah, there would be NO story, because their Black asses WOULD STILL BE IN JAIL.
Don't even get me started.
Do that mess, unapologetic, gainfully employed, not hurting for housing, food, legitimacy or friendship....
I know..why bring race into it..
cause dammit, you and I know that if they'd been BLACK, they'd be scrubbing floors somewhere, AFTER serious jailtime.
That was my favorite. This is done with.
But -- but -- there's a small part of me that's wondering if she was gifted that line by John Edwards? A way of hinting that Edwards has decided to endorse her.
Just a thought.
All in all, Barack handled his business. What's more, the strategy of getting him into the debate ring seems to have backfired. Barack is finding his debate stride, and appears that he's unable to be stopped.
I'm even thinking that the guy from Univision (Jorge Ramos) came away a bit impressed by Barack.
Hillary Clinton borrows a few lines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H60y8mHMpmU
First, the President of the United States will not "report" to Donald Trump. The President of the United States has only two bosses:
1. The American People
2. The Almighty G_d Himself
Secondly, Trump was trying to hire Randall and Rebecca as co-equals. Make no mistake about it: With an Obama-Clinton Ticket, Barack Obama would be THE H.N.I.C., Commander-in-Chief, Leader of the Free World...Hillary would have to become a true *O* disciple...I think that she can do it...I know that *O* has the transformative power to bring them into the fold...
And if she were to become treacherous, back-biting as a VP, we should remember that the President can "Fire" the VP at will...If I were *O*, I would value the Clintons advise and counsel...even though I know that he can accomplish this mission without them.
The Clintons need a path to redemption...In spite of all their fear tactics, Bill Clinton has raised billions of $$$ to fight HIV in Africa...I am a Christian. I'll forgive them...once Barack is the nominee.
...time 2 get ready 4 work.
Analysis of Obama's performance vs. polls [Part 1 of 3: Black voters
SECURITY RELAXED AT OBAMA SPEECH IN DALLAS!!!
http://thoughtmerchant.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/security-relaxed-at-obama-speech-in-dallas/
Thought Merchant
www.thoughtmerchant.wordpress.com
Politics and Commentary for the thinking person of color-
Better to sell an idea than to buy a lie!
I thought Obama did what he needed to do, which was hold serve. Clinton was stronger than she has been in previous debates but I don't believe she did well enough to shift the momentum in her favour.
I appreciated the discussion Obama and Clinton had about their health care plans. It was thorough enough for people to make up their minds about which plan they can get behind. I think Obama scored points with regard to immigration, with Clinton handling the Cuba/Castro question nicely.
I couldn't help but notice how they both talked around the question about whether America should be a biligual country.
Much is being made of her last statement, which some are interpreting as a concession of defeat. I'm not sure what she had in mind when she said, in so many words, it's whatever, but her spokesman's spin --that she sewed up the nomination-- is ridiculous.
I think Obama will win Texas by a narrow margin.
Thanks for that post, and once again, I have to say generally, thank goodness for the Afrosphere. Not just for JJP, but for so many other places getting the story out.
Remember Bill Clinton's words to Bob Dole about his campaign "you do whatever it takes."
I did point out that, overall, it is unrelated (as far as the details that you pointed out among other things).
I thought of Randall/Rebecca and the Apprentice finale in the context of "Working While Black" if you will - the bar being raised higher, the rules being changed once a qualified (and often overqualified) black candidate fulfills or exceeds expectations.
If the roles were reversed - or if John Edwards were in Barack Obama's current position, I think Hillary Clinton would have felt much more pressure to drop out sooner than later - and not drag it out to the end.
As a matter of fact, I had to re-evaluate my early morning thoughts...After Trump declared that Randall was the winner, he offered him a "King-Queenmaker" role of Rebecca and Randall said (i'm paraphrasing) "The name of the show is 'The Apprentice,' NOT the Apprenti (plural)," to which Donald Trump shrugged his shoulders and the audience booed.
Essentially, Trump destroyed all of the goodwill--"Oh Randall is such a nice guy"--aura that Randall had accumulated over the months of that contest. Trump made Randall look like an ungracious, unsportsmanlike buffoon in a matter of nanonseconds on live televsion.
That's exactly what Hillary wanted(wants) to happen before March 4th. Obama made it impossible for her to do it...with the one exception where he said, "I must admit these have been some good speeches." ...as a supporter, I loved the line.
So the Randall-Rebecca analogy now has more resonance in that sense. Please pardon my reaction though. When you started talking about Randall/Rebecca, I felt like it was a critique of an Obama-Clinton Ticket. I just wanted to be "crystal" clear that I.M.H.O., such a ticket would not be a ticket of co-equals...but a ticket with ONE HNIC.
Thank You Kindly,
Webb
Hillary Clinton knows this won't happen without a united Democratic Party. Uniting at the end is much like shaking hands and going out for pizza after a softball game. Hillary graciously took the first steps last night. I commend her, and I am hopeful it'll continue. (At this precise moment, the best thing she could do for her image and for the Democratic Party is fire Mark Penn, who is peddling a lot of these negative stories about Obama).
I agree with your analysis of CNN and other media organizations. I have been seriously irritated by the their presentation of the race throughout the process and if you think it has been bad so far, just wait.
Now that Obama has been deemed the Democratic frontrunner, he will no doubt will be turned inside out by and on behalf of the Republicans and a slew of folks who don't want him to succeed.
Barack is on his game!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23301273
Greg Jones
National Director
http://www.Blacks4Barack.org
Say It Loud....BARACK & I'M PROUD !!!