GOP Nominee
Former Candidates
Sen. Obama’s Senior Advisor Jenny Backus:
“On that other Obama convention speech, in 2004, that introduced him to the nation: ‘No one more than Barack Obama understands how important it is to deliver a convention speech well,’ Backus said. ‘He [Sen. Obama] wouldn’t be where he is if he didn’t know how to deliver convention speeches.‘”
July 19th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Am I the ONLY person on earth who doesn’t find Obama eloquent? Has no one ever read Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language”? I’d much rather listen to real thoughts poorly delivered than mumbo-jumbo spoken with gravitas. And Obama’s gravitas is grating anyway. He sounds like Tik-Tok (for all you Oz fans out there…).
July 19th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
you can say that again… it would be sad to be a democrat. they have picked some terrible presidential candidates of late..
July 19th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
great ad on Obama –he’s not a flip flop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shYr0uCpXWA
July 19th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
obama is all fluff, at best he will be a one term flop, he simply is not very skilled at governing, and when the change agent becomes the establishment, when the novelty of the first african american prez wears off, he will be easy pickings, especially against someone like petraeus.
July 19th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
When I saw Obama’s 2004 convention speech, I said he would be the nominee of the party if not President some day.
Given that he was still a state senator at that time, people thought I was crazy. Time has proven me right. Hopefully not fully right.
July 19th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Well that’s a confession all right
July 19th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Pardon the language, but according to McCain campaign sources, “we’re fucked” on the Iraq issue:
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/07/almalikis_announcement_a_big_d.php
July 19th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
“a prominent Republican strategist who occasionally provides advice to the McCain campaign” = Karl Rove or Mike Murphy
July 19th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
#3 Sampo,
Although the flip flop label worked well in 2004 and is working great now, I think that we need a new term for Obama instead of “flip flop.” Maybe a “loafer” or a “sneaker.”
July 19th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
The McCain campaign’s response to al-Maliki:
“His domestic politics require him to be for us getting out,” said a senior McCain campaign official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “The military says ‘conditions based’ and Maliki said ‘conditions based’ yesterday in the joint statement with Bush. Regardless, voters care about [the] military, not about Iraqi leaders.”
“Let’s be clear, the only reason that the conversation about reducing troop levels in Iraq is happening is because John McCain challenged the failed Rumsfield-strategy in Iraq and argued for the surge strategy that is responsible for the successes we’ve achieved and which Barack Obama opposed. Unlike Barack Obama, John McCain has never ignored the facts on the ground in Iraq, he’s never avoided the warzone before proposing new strategy, and he’s never voted against funding our troops in the field. If John McCain was following Barack Obama’s lead on foreign policy, the United States would have already withdrawn from Iraq in a humiliating defeat at the hands of al Qaeda.” —Tucker Bounds, spokesman John McCain 2008.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I like the McCain response. I’m not entirely sure Maliki’s wanting us to get out ASAP necessarily means “we’re fucked” as an unnamed McCain campaign source so elqoquently stated. Even Obama has tested the waters to hedge his rigid adherence to his arbitarary 16-month plan. And anyway, it’s not surprising that Al-Maliki wants his power in Iraq less tied to an American presence.
As long as violence doesn’t uptick in Iraq, I still think Mccain has the upper hand on the issue. Like he says, he wss right and Obama was wrong. Obama has to be careful if he tries to say “The Iraqis agree with me” - because McCain can just point out that they wouldn’t be agreeing with him if he and his cohorts had ther way a year ago.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
question any body think we will know at least 1vp by 2 saturdays from today?
July 19th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I think McCain will choose before the Olympics..
July 19th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I AM SO MAD at al-Maliki right now. What he just did, playing politics with this is despicable, shameful, disgraceful and downright stinky. I think that the Bush administration should depose him immediately. We need to remain in Iraq and McCain needs to be resolute and stick to this pledge. We cannot let some puppet Iraqi politician dictate to us our strategy. We need permanent bases in both Iraq and Iran and I would like to see us commit to a military presence there of a minimum of 35 years. I AM SO MAD I CAN’T EVEN TYPE.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
so mike that means obama should announce his soon since i would guess mccain wants obama to announce first?
July 19th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
McCain should preempt obama with his Veep announcement to steal his thunder and step on his bounce.
July 19th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
even if obama does not name his vp before olympics?
July 19th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Greg for the 100th time Obama is going first.
He is going to mess with J/Mac by naming someone 3/4 days BEFORE the Olympics.
Thereby daring McCain to go right before the Opening Ceremony or waiting till the Olympcis starts (or after it’s over).
IE not before about August 3/4 so relax!
Personally I don’t think it matters if they get announced during the Olympics. It’s not like people aren’t going to pay attention!
July 19th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
[...] H/T to Sampo by Aron Goldman @ 5:35 pm. Filed under Barack Obama, Campaign Advertisements, Issues [Trackback URL] [link] [Print This Post ] Trackback URL for this post: http://race42008.com/2008/07/19/let-freedom-ring-ad-both-ways-barack/trackback/ [...]
July 19th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Seth, I whole heartedly agree with you that Obama is far from eloquent. If you take his teleprompter away on prepared speeches, he is usually a stumbler and bumbler of the English language. I get sick of hearing how eloquent this guy is when half the time he says ‘uh’ several times per sentence as he attempts to think of what in the heck he might say next.
July 20th, 2008 at 12:05 am
“Personally I don’t think it matters if they get announced during the Olympics. It’s not like people aren’t going to pay attention!”
I, for one, will be paying attention. I don’t know too many people who are big-time into the Olympics. I usually don’t watch much of them. I watch the OPening Ceremonies… that’s pretty much it. I mean, I wouldn’t announce the VP in the first few days of the Olympics, but McCain can announce around the 17th/18th or so when the Olympics are still going on.
Is McCain going to the Olympics? I know Bush is going. And so is Mitt Romney.
July 20th, 2008 at 6:02 am
And Lincoln wouldn’t have been president without his Cooper’s Union address. So what?
July 20th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
do that many people really still watch the olympics? I can’t imagine them gaining enough attention to cause the presidential election process to halt. If anything they are a passing interest to most Americans. Announce vp when the time is right; the olympics have nothing to do with that.
July 20th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
McCain isn’t going to the Olympics (and neither is Romney if he is VP). But the games do command a lot of national interest and more than enough that its not worth trying to compete with.
July 20th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Yes that many people still watch the Olympics! Sheeeesh. Everybody should go. Just don’t eat those street bread/pork rolls. Hint - it ain’t meat.