Obama failed this week as well as Clinton

10 May 2008

James Forsyth says that Hillary’s disappointment in Tuesday’s primaries is matched by the decline in Obama’s image, as the sheen of the wunderkind fades and doubts multiply

The effective end of the Democratic primary process will allow Obama to get some sleep — he is visibly exhausted right now — and his campaign can turn its attention to the general election. Obama’s speech on Tuesday showed that he will put a heavy emphasis on his patriotism: Obama’s voice rarely breaks when he is speaking but it did when he delivered the line, ‘I know the promise of America because I have lived it.’ Considering John McCain’s heroic record of service, Obama will need to push his own brand of inspirational patriotism.

This primary process has gone on for so long that it is easy to forget just how remarkable Obama’s rise has been: a man who addressed the last Democratic convention as an unknown state senator from Illinois will do so as his party’s nominee this year. There has never been a rise this dramatic in the history of the Republic. He is a politician of great skill and the best orator for many years. But the drawn-out primary process has knocked some of the sheen from him and motivated the conservative base to keep him out of office.

The Clinton–Obama fight has focused on personality, as there are so few policy differences between them. In the general election, the policy divide between the two candidates will be huge on everything from Iraq to healthcare. Obama argues that this split will enable him to win over the Clinton voters he needs to beat McCain; in both Indiana and North Carolina less than half of them said that they would vote for Obama in the fall. But policy alone will not be enough. Obama will need to persuade these voters at the very least that they can trust him and preferably that they would like to have a beer with him too. So the most important battle of the general election will be to define Obama.

For all McCain’s and Obama’s talk about running respectful campaigns, it will get personal very fast. We will soon know if the primary process has toughened Obama up for the coming fight or just exposed his weaknesses for all to see.

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Augustus

May 8th, 2008 11:27am Report this comment

A very clear appraisal if I may say so, James.

If it hasn't toughened him up, McCain sure will. And not only beerwise!

Ganpat Ram

May 8th, 2008 6:22pm Report this comment

God help McCain if he makes the stupid and fatal mistake of fighting Obama "respectfully".

That was exactly what poor Hillary did - failing to hammer home the starkly obvious fact that a man like Obama who sits in a church for 20 years listening to his chosen pastor and the pastor of his family spewing fascist and racist hate propaganda, has shown zero leadership and judgement and is rankly unfit for a role in public life in any decent country.

Clinton failed to explain this to the voters and paid the price. Obama got away with political murder.

Now it seems McCain is repeating the folly.

As for Clinton, the best thing by far that she can do for herself now is to quit her campaign NOW. Every day that she fights Obama the media focuses on comparisons between herself and Obama, not the comparison Obama mortally fears - the one between his malodorous Wright-tainted self and the super hero McCain. Hillary should finally strike the cruellest blow of all against Obama - quit the race and leave him to be massacred by McCain (which McCaim can accomplish if he doesn't pull his punches fatally).

Hillary should go home, relax and watch the wonderful, delighful spectacle of Obama being slaughtered by McCain.

She should gently tell her followers the simple truth: that McCain is a mighty hero the whole of the USA can proudly vote for, though she will not herself as she has some disagreements with his Iraq and economic policies so far.

She should gracefully decline to camapaign actively for Obama saying she would not wish to compromise the image of such a wonderfully popular man.

She should begin preparing for her real fight: with Al Gore for the 2012 Democratic nomination !

K.Vijayakumar

May 9th, 2008 8:44am Report this comment

Obama seems to have well withstood the adversities he faced in the last couple of months. He has shown great grit and poise in facing the onslaughts on him. These qualities coupled with his sharp intellect, keen political instincts and oratorical skills should make him a hit with not only the American electorate but also, if elected , with the world at large.

Verity

May 9th, 2008 10:17pm Report this comment

I believe I was the first to say, around five months ago, that Obama is Blairesque. Admittedly he is far more intelligent than Blair (but they're equally crafty) and his personal presentation is far more elegant and worldly (Blair always looked like a smarty-pants schoolboy looking for a pat on the back) but they share the same fake, empty "vision" and attachment to empty slogans ("Change you can believe in!" - huh?), high self-regard, opportunism and a vacuous, inexplicable sense of entitlement.

Vijay, you are wrong. I believe the world, especially the Anglophone world, will find his empty posturing distasteful. And they will make mincemeat of him in the Middle East.

I find the prospect of someone that inexperienced being the most powerful individual in the world quite alarming.