Democrats versus Republicans

[sailaway21]

A couple of different deconstructions of what Mr. Obama meant.

The Corner on National Review Online

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campa...ers?pid=309337

I find Ms. van den Huevel's claim that the people feel government is not listening a bit of a stretch. It is my impression that most people just want government to leave them alone. They also are less interested in what government is going to do that's new than how government is going to get off it's ass and start doing what it is already mandated to do, but is not. Spending like there is no tomorrow is not most people's idea of a trust engendering action.

[wind_magic]

Sway that was a good post you had a few back, pretty well sums it up I think.

[Sailormon6]

I think the repeated gaffes being made by Senator Obama and Michelle are the consequence of their inexperience in big time politics. He's like an amateur golfer, who has a good swing and all the basic skills to compete with the pros, but when the pressure is on, he shanks the ball into the tall grass.

He has been credited with being a great public speaker, but I haven't seen any solid proof of it yet. When he comes on stage, the audience goes wild, in the expectation that they are about to hear soaring rhetoric, but he doesn't live up to the promise. His delivery is slow and halting, he speaks in a monotone, and he's rigid as a stick. The audience reaction doesn't build to a crescendo during his speech, and reach a climax at the close. The climax happens when he first steps on stage, and it begins to sputter afterward. All his best rhetoric is borrowed from someone else. He doesn't have the resonant voice, or the pacing, or the dynamism, or the exalted rhetoric of Martin Luther King, and he lacks the personal charm of Bill Clinton, that enabled him to connect with every member of the audience. He doesn't have either the optimism or likeability of Ronald Reagan, or even the folksiness of George Bush. From what I've seen so far, his speaking ability most closely resembles that of John Kerry. Am I missing something?

[erps]

Am I missing something?

Change, change, change. I think there are a lot of mad democrats. Obama is tapping into that energy. Throw in a little white guilt and not much of a record to pick apart and he's a formidable foe.

I hope he keeps having those private conversations that leak out and expose what's really on his mind.

[sck5]

sway said

"Mr. Obama's condescension and elitism"

Sway, I bet you will vote for McCain. It will be tough for a guy with $100 million in the bank (that he didnt earn himself) and who owns eight (yes eight) houses to call anybody else "elitist". He has spent several decades in Washington DC and thinks Obama is out of touch? Try again. For a summary of only some of McCains ethical problems, check this out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us...=1&oref=slogin

Sway also said

"Spending like there is no tomorrow is not most people's idea of a trust engendering action."

If you believe this then you should definitely vote for the Dems. The history of the last 20 years is that Republicans spend like drunken sailors, borrowing the money they dont have from Communists in China and Arab oil sheikdoms, none of whom have our best interests at heart. Clinton, on the other hand, actually returned our finances to a surplus. I wouldnt want him to date my sister but unlike the Republicans he seems to be able to behave sensibly in economic terms. I know the Repubs have chanted "tax and spend Dems" for years but the facts dont bear that out. It is the Repubs who deliver mindboggling debts to our children and the Dems who have tried to get us out of the hole. See here:

[sck5]

The chart wouldnt paste! Here is a link

www.uuforum.org/deficit.htm

[sailaway21]

I think he is inspiring in a general way in that his message tends to be one of optimism about the ability to achieve great things. He differs from Reagan in that respect though in that his punch line is that the people's government can achieve great things where Reagan avowed that the American people themselves were only capable of such.

He's rather less clear on the details of his vision for the country and does leave the impression that he's the rhetorical leader and the minor details of execution will be left to his minions. Most seem to liken him to JFK but I'm ascribing that to the same "somewhere in time" euphoria that seemed to sustain Bill Clinton. So far, my impressions are that he's delivered some of the finest high school commencement addresses I've ever heard. (g) Long on his audience's uniqueness and potential, short on details, connection to historical reality, and actual implementation.

[sck5]

Sailormon said

"Am I missing something?"

Yes. All the hottest women are Dems.

[PBzeer]

The chart you need to look at, is the net worth of members of Congress. Then see who's the party of the rich.

[sailaway21]

sck5's secret passion for Barbara Mikulski should remain just that.