Just Part of the Freak Show
That is what I am, according to Harris and Vandehei:
Both men (Kerry and Gore) lost control of their public images to the right-wing freak show — that network of operatives and commentators working mostly outside of the mainstream media — and ultimately lost their elections as many voters came to see them as elitist, out-of-touch, phony, and even unpatriotic.
Obama is a much less familiar figure than Kerry or Gore, with a life story that is far more exotic, who is coming out of a political milieu in Chicago politics that is far more liberal.
The freak show has already signaled its early lines of attack on Obama. Polls show a significant percentage of Americans believe — falsely — that he is a Muslim. Voter interviews reveal widespread unease with minor and seemingly irrelevant questions like why he does not favor American flag pins on his lapel. Nor have we heard the last about Wright and his fulminations.
Here will be the real kitchen sink: every damaging comment or association from Obama’s past, mixed together with innuendo and downright fiction, to portray him as an an exotic character of uncertain values and weak patriotism.
I didn’t realise that we freaks out here had convinced a lot of Americans to hold the view that Obama is Moslem…couldn’t possibly be the mere name - Barack Hussein Obama - having anything to do with this misconception, now could it? Lots of people have all sorts of misconceptions about things without some nefarious freak show convincing people to believe…but according to Harris and Vandehei, we freaks have done this.
And I also didn’t realise that we freaks had done all that to Gore and Kerry. If we were out there convincing people that Kerry and Gore were both phony, out of touch elites, then we were must being redundant. I tend to think that anyone listening to either man for more than five minutes figures this out without any help from the freak show.
What this is about - and what is the point of the linked article - is that Obama is vulnerable to GOP attacks, especially from we freaks who are likely to get so far down and dirty that we’ll point out that Obama’s pastor is an anti-American, anti-Semitic kook…well, guess that has already been done, but you get the picture; there’s nothing we won’t do to derail Obama. Its a freak thing, and you wouldn’t understand. But as to the general thrust of the article - less the nonsense about a freak show derailing Gore and Kerry - is correct: Obama is the weaker of the two candidates for the fall. Only by a little bit, as Hillary isn’t exactly an FDR out there, but he is the man who is less tested, has more kooky personal associations and is far more liberal than Hillary (which is not an easy thing to do). The Clinton people are playing this up as if Obama will turn near certain victory into near certain defeat, but I think we past the point of “near certain” anything a couple months ago - while the Democrats do have the wind at their backs in 2008, my contention is that the November outcome is up in the air, with a slight edge to the Democrats. But in a narrow sense, they are correct that Democrats should be asking themselves some serious questions about Obama.
That won’t happen - black Americans are justifiably proud to have a black American a step or two away from being President; upper class white liberals will not be able to bring themselves to oppose Obama; these two groups - who make up the bulk of Obama’s supporters - will not rethink their support of Obama. Certainly not enough of them prior to settling on the nomination. Hillary’s only hope of getting the nomination is to convince the superdelegates that she’s right about Obama (and she is)…but gaining the nomination that way might also ensure Democratic defeat in the fall.
It all makes for a very interesting and colorful political drama - heck, its like watching a freak show; such is not out here in the blogosphere, but within the Democratic party, where gender and race politics have been the name of the game for 30 years, and now Democrats are at a loss with what to do with the first woman and the first black man to have a real shot at the White House. Anything is possible - from HillBama in a loving embrace leading a united party to victory in November, to a walk out by part of the Democratic delegates to the convention and a split party going down to massive defeat in November. Time will tell - but this freak is just going to enjoy watching it all happen.
UPDATE: Listening to Obama today one would get the impression that people are mad at him for claiming that some are bitter - but, Senator, that is not it, and you’re being rather mendacious in making that claim. You know full well that the outrage is over your claim that people cling to religion, etc due to their bitterness. In other words, if we weren’t bitter, we wouldn’t hold to our faith. Sorry, Senator, that was a stupid, elitist statement to make - and I believe you will go on paying a quite justified political price for making it.
50 comments April 14th, 2008
