Obama '08?

Fox, Where do you get the idea it's a PR problem? From all the latest stats on Obama's speech on Wright, most say it's good. The only PR problem is the one created by the right; by continually bringing up negative blogs without balance. You listen to FOX too often, and absorb their message to heart. You're the one with a PR problem; not the majority of Americans.

I get about three hoax emails each week, and all are anti-Dem. I have never seen one that is anti-Rep. I think you know this to be true. Lying and cheating seems to be the MO of the Reps.

Yes, public relations problems are rarely created and/or sustained by one's dedicated supporters/admirers/devotees. That's sort of the way it works.

And ofcoarse when polls are taken, they're all Obama supporters.


From Pollsters.com:

March 21, 2008
POLL: CBS Obama's Speech

CBS News
(story, results)

"Most voters following the events regarding Senator Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright think Obama's speech was a success. Most agree with his thoughts on race, and think he did a good job explaining his relationship with Rev. Wright. However, the percentage who thinks he would unite the country has dropped since late February."

70% of say these events have made no difference in whether or not they would vote for Obama; 14% said it makes them more likely to vote for Obama, 14% say less likely.

"For this poll, CBS News re-interviewed voters who were first surveyed between March 15th and 18th, 2008, in the midst of the Wright controversy and mostly before Obama's speech on race, to gauge their reactions to Tuesday’s speech and the continuing controversy over Wright's comments."

-- Eric Dienstfrey

March 21, 2008 in Poll Update

"And are you telling me that you and other leftists or anti-Bush/Republican/conservative folks would not jump at the chance to point out the slightest slip of the tongue or screw up committed by Bush/a Republican/a conservative? Are you in fact suggesting that you have never done so? Did you consider it to be a smear when you did it?"

Nah, that's different. Everyone knows that conservatives/Republicans or members of this administration are evil per se. Conservatives, Republicans, et. al (anyone who is right of Gus Hall), are all evangelical Christians who hate all other religions, are secretly members of the KKK, and are only the tools of a world-wide conspiracy of a few wealthy plutocrats. People like us should be ashamed of our selves, our nation and the values expressed in the Constitution. We are traitors to the nation, and as such deserve all the innuendo and trash talk the Left so patriotically favors us with.

Everyone knows that the folks on the Left are pure in heart, and are the only chance the world has to survive. No one on the Left can be prejudiced, nor engage in disloyalty. They are all patriots, who rightly condemn American soldiers for fighting to make the world a safer place for oil millionaires The Left is open minded about all things so long as the failings can be heaped on the doorstep of those they disagree with.

And this is related to this discussion how? Are you suggesting that Jeremiah Wright is an unbiased, gentle, nonracist, benevolent pastor who champions the virtues and blessings of America? Are you suggesting that photo of Obama was photoshopped? (That would have certainly been demonstrated by now if it had.) Are you suggesting that the Right made up the matter of the flag lapel pins? (He has been asked about that on the record.)

Are you suggesting that John McCain would not be undergoing similar scrutiny and criticism if he HAD cited Hagee or Falwell or some other controversial religious figure as his spiritual advisor and mentor, if he HAD contributed heavily to their churches and been a regular attendee for 20 years, and if he HAD put them on his campaign staff? Would you find it credible if he then said that he had never heard them say of the statements re gays, Catholics et al that are considered to be highly offensive by most people?

I just saw Ash's post that came in ahead of mine. What he said.

What's amazing to me is how out-of-touch with mainstream American society so many on the Right Wing seem to be.

For example, the drug use issue? That's a non-starter. You may recall that the two presidents most recently elected both admitted to drug use in their youth, and the opposing sides were not able to make any significant hay out of it either time. What evidence is there that it will this time?

McCain cannot effectively attack them on this issue, either; not without inviting discussion of his wife's drug addiction, which he wants to stay as far away from as possible.

One would think that you would see poll numbers dropping significantly if there were a real public relations problem for Obama. They have not done so.

Hagee's endorsement of McCain is far worse then Obama's relationship with Wright. Far worse. B/c McCain courted Hagee knowing that he was a bigot and a spewer of hateful rhetoric towards not only blacks and muslims but also Catholics. It can be understood that Obama had a personal relationship with the pastor in question; McCain on the other hand is willing to solicit the support of people who say hateful things in order to win votes. There's a difference, and I for one believe that seeking out and courting the votes of hateful people is indicative of extremely poor judgment.

Nevertheless, I do not believe that it will matter for McCain. At all. Because comments made by those OTHER then the candidate themselves NEVER have the deletorious effects their opponents would like them to. It's just too far removed from the person in question. After all, Wright is not running for President, and Obama does not hold the same views as Wright does, as he's made perfectly clear.

Ash, I feel quite comfortable saying that when it comes to the topic of Reverend Wright, you don't know what the hell you are talking about. I can say this b/c you haven't watched any of his full sermons, or read anything that he's written; only seen a few clips and denounced him as a hateful bigot. I have no doubt that he has said things that you find uncomfortable, or wrong, and that even he probably now wishes he had not said. I have done this in my life, and you have as well. For you to turn him into a caricature of a person, based on your quite limited information and prejudicial opinion, is a mockery of the reality of the situation: that he is a man, with failings, just like you or I or anyone else.

Cycloptichorn

amen, Cyclo.

And you would be very very wrong in just about every assessment you just made Cyclop.

Yes Cicerone, I clearly remember your call for balanced reporting and reservation of judgment when some legislator from the Carolina's said something that you personally objected to. The presumption of innocence didn't matter to you then, but now it does... you're progressing, I think. You wanted that old boy tarred, feathered and ridden out of town on a rail, and he was only a State legislator whose gaff almost unwittingly offended many people.

Obama is doubtless an attractive young man with charisma, and an ability to give rousing speeches. He has legions of followers, just as Rap recording artists do. That doesn't make him a statesman, nor does it automatically inoculate him against racial bigotry. His recent speech doesn't exonerate him , nor does it put to rest the valid questions about his prejudices. His speech doesn't make questions of his political judgment go away. Neither does that speech justify, in any manner, racial bigotry and anti-American sentiments held by his pastor. Why did it take 20 years for Obama to disavow himself from a man whose prejudices and inflammatory rhetoric are well-known?

bullshit.

pretty much covers every post you've ever made here.

I would add that a recent Pew Poll has confirmed many of the trends that we've seen these last several years: Republicanism as a whole is currently on the wane in America.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/773/fewer-voters-identify-as-republicans

Currently the poll shows Republicans with 27% party ID, Democrats with 36% and "Independents" with 37%; out of those Independents, 15% lean Democratic, 10% lean Republican, and 12% have no leaning either way.

The 2006 elections were a warning to Bush and the Republican party that they had been rejected by the electorate. It was the most one-sided election in American electoral history; not a SINGLE Dem seat flipped Republican, not one, and around 30 Republican seats flipped Dem. This, to the best of my knowledge, was unprecedented at the time. Current polling shows that much the same thing is going to happen this cycle. Various Dem Senatorial and House challengers are leading their opponents by significant amounts and the money-raising gap is favoring the Democrats by the percentages that it used to favor the Republicans.

Those Republicans here who can't understand this, don't yet seem to realize that the playing field for this Fall isn't anywhere close to level. After 8 years of Bush screwing things up, the Democrats have a gigantic advantage. McCain is not the candidate who will overcome this advantage of the Democrats.

So when people talk about the public at large, keep in mind that this 'public' is not as Conservative or as Republican as it used to be; and therefore we should take Conservatives and Republicans who claim to understand the minds of the public at large with a serious grain of salt.

Cycloptichorn

Its not a matter of failings, cyclops, it is a matter of beliefs. Would you say the KKK has failings, or is it a matter of something a bit more serious?

Like when he accused the government of lying about HIV and inventing the HIV virus to commit genocide against people of color, was that a "failing?" Just one example of many, cyclops.

You're simply incorrect, and have no persuasive argument to back your position up whatsoever.

Cycloptichorn

Keep on smok'n Cyclops.

Yes, that's a failing. I for one don't find that to be as hard to believe as others do, personally; the Tuskegee incidents show that there is a history of such things happening here in the US. But I don't think it makes one a hateful person to say it.

As Obama said in his speech - did you listen to or read it? You should - Rev. Wright's problem isn't that he's a bad man, it's that he cannot see that America has changed considerably from the days when he personally faced racism and segregation. I don't agree with many of the things that he's said, but I don't buy into the stereotypes and memes of the right-wing, who would judge someone based upon a highlight reel of their less desirable comments.

Cycloptichorn

So by offering your judgement we can assume you've read his book? Hypocrisy isn't pretty.