From Carolyn Glick:
I generally try to stay as far away as I possibly can from people who say they can make oceans recede. Our paths didn't cross. In fact, I managed to be out of the country on Wednesday.
...Obama acts like a European leader in his treatment of Israel. On the one hand, he professes this profound respect for Israel and the Jews, and goes on and on about how our security is important to him. On the other hand, he espouses policies that undermine Israeli security and threaten its survival, and demands that the Jewish state become the only state that turns its other cheek towards our enemies as they try to kill us. This is the same sort of message that we hear from all Europeans leaders. And it is tiresome and insulting.
Beyond that, Obama is in a unique situation because of the adulation he enjoys from the U.S. and Western media. The media is willing to ignore all of the substantive contradictions inherent in his policy pronouncements and to base their support for him on a quasi-religious faith. I don't remember this ever happening before in an American election -- at least not to the same extent. It is an interesting sociological phenomenon that is worthy of academic research. On a political level, it makes debate very difficult since Obama is treated more as a symbol than a politician. And it is hard to debate a symbol.
How long before this bubble pops? Robert Bidinotto thinks it may have already started.
"On the other hand, he espouses policies that undermine Israeli security and threaten its survival, and demands that the Jewish state become the only state that turns its other cheek towards our enemies as they try to kill us."
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I disagree with this statement, he pretty much thinks the U.S. should do likewise. France, Germany and the U.K., he wants to save from terrorism. Go figure.
I haven't quite worked out if I'd like to see Obama win the election because I think he'd make a good president (not 100% convinced on that one actually, too much like El Tone), OR, because of the Caniption Fit his winning would give you and a good chunk of the Blogosphere...
If I'm brutally honest, it's probably the later.
It's going to be an interesting 3 months...
By the way, after your post on fund raising and how Obama's money bubble might have burst, did you see that June was his second best month ever? Raising twice what McCain did?
What does the data say on election performance versus funding?
because of the Caniption [sic] Fit his winning would give you and a good chunk of the Blogosphere...
It would be a minor thing compared to the meltdown on the left when McCain wins. I don't want to have to foot the therapy bill.
By the way, after your post on fund raising and how Obama's money bubble might have burst, did you see that June was his second best month ever? Raising twice what McCain did?
Yes. But a lot of the money seems to have come in on the last day of the month. It looks pretty fishy in other ways as well.
What does the data say on election performance versus funding?
Not much. He outraised Hillary!, but barely garnered the nomination. He's been outspending McCain by a wide margin, but is barely ahead, or even in the polls.
Historically, I don't think that the correlation is high.
Also, historically, Democrats are far ahead of Republicans in the polls at this point. The race is essentially a dead heat. So Obama has a long way to fall in the fall.
The media is willing to ignore all of the substantive contradictions inherent in his policy pronouncements and to base their support for him on a quasi-religious faith. I don't remember this ever happening before in an American election -- at least not to the same extent.
uh, JFK and Camelot? Then again, many of us weren't alive or too young to remember.
The Camelot business started after JFK was dead. And in those long ago days, journalists at least pretended to be objective and non-partisan.
Hmmmmm.
Frankly anybody who views JFK's performance with any sort of objective standards would conclude he was a total clown and had no business as President.
Same for RFK.
Yes. But a lot of the money seems to have come in on the last day of the month.
Really? Most of the news I read on that had people forecasting a bumper month from the early stages. Did it come in or was it actually counted then?
Having said that, watching you dance around to find muck is awfully amusing.
Will the "left" take it badly?
Probably. But I still would find 4 years of reading you whinge more interesting.
You know, I would have said you were indulging in wishful thinking, Rand.
But...I have noticed a certain coolness has crept into what some of the MSM are saying about the Obamessiah, and others (those really in the tank, like Joe Klein) have acquired a certain note of defensive hysteria. It's weird, a bit hard to understand.
My best guess is that the core problem is that the MSM feel the Osaviour has forgotten who made him what he is today. The media feel he should be way more humble and grateful to them than he is, since it was they who have floated his boat. Without the media, who can doubt he would still be an unknown newbie Senator from Illinois? (For that matter, had the media not intervened rather roughly in the Republican primary, he might still be a member of the Illinois Legislature.)
In the end, I don't think it matters. The media will never fail to oppose the Republican candidate, even if he were FDR himself brought back to life through evil magic. The R next to the name is enough. And even if they merely become somewhat more even-handed, the Democrats have such massive structural advantages that only something really strange could tilt the election away from them.
However, if the media chill begins now and persists through President Obama's first year in office, which will be a resounding disaster, then he could be a one-termer and cement another 8-12 years of Republican ascendancy, depending on to what extent the GOP learns anything in the wilderness. I suppose it could also reduce his coattails in the fall, but honestly I don't foresee much in the way of coattails anyway. With Obama it's all about Obama; it's more a personal cult than representing a party.