from the new west blog: presidential election

Obama Said Boise Rally Was Defining Moment

Turned out there were Democrats in Idaho...

By Jill Kuraitis, 7-14-08

In a Saturday radio interview, Obama Chief of Staff Jim Messina told guest host Larry LaRocco that Sen. Barack Obama said to him, “Jim, you should’ve seen Boise. Right there, I knew that something is happening out there.”

Messina told the story on Boise radio’s 580 KIDO “AM Idaho Saturday.” U.S. Senate candidate LaRocco co-hosted the show, working as a journalist and announcer, in the 28th job in his “Working for the Senate” campaign.

LaRocco asked Messina, a 1988 Boise High School graduate, how Obama reacted to the huge crowd in Boise State University’s Taco Bell Arena, when Obama said, “And they told me there were no Democrats in Idaho” to a roof-rattling roar.

Here’s part of the radio interview with Messina:

LaRocco: Did he (Obama) talk to you about that, how he felt about it when he came to Idaho? And, was he just sort of blown away by that?

Messina: … I said to him (Obama), “When did you know that you might take this primary? When did you know … you might pull the upset?” He said one of the defining moments was in Boise. Where for so long Democrats at the presidential level have ignored so called red states―we don’t use the red state name in this campaign because we believe we can compete everywhere.

He said, “Jim you should’ve seen Boise.” It was just unlike anything he’d seen up to that point.

He said, “Right there, I knew that something is happening out there.”

Whaddya know, Boise - it really WAS our moment.

[End of article]

The buzz seems to be wearing off for many as Obama reveals himself to be a man of politics rather than a man of conviction. See: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/07/12/2008-07-12_will_the_real_obama_please_stand.html

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Will the real Obama please stand?
Saturday, July 12th 2008, 9:53 PM

The headline in The Washington Post was intriguing: "Obama's Ideology Proving Difficult to Pinpoint." The article turned out to be a charitable discussion of whether the Democratic nominee is moving away from leftist positions he took during the primaries and toward the political center for the general election.

Of course he is. Enough to produce, as someone put it, whiplash. So let's give the topic a headline that directly addresses the doubts: Just who is Barack Obama?

Is he the inspirational juggernaut of the early primaries, the man who promised "change we can believe in" and a new era in American politics? Or is he one more politician whose actions often contradict his words?

Put another way, what does he believe in?

Damned if I know...

And when he denies with a straight face that he's changing anything, Obama gives new meaning to chutzpah.

The changes have been so dramatic that many liberal activists are expressing buyers' remorse. Some are demanding their contributions back and vow not to support Obama until he adopts his old positions.

For me, a centrist Democrat and a hawk on security, most of his new positions are better than those he abandoned. But they're not believable. They create doubts about whether he has core beliefs.

Someone who can shift positions so quickly on so many important issues that will face the next President comes off as a man who doesn't have fixed convictions. Pragmatism has to be guided by principles. A man who believes in everything believes in nothing, and that's a formula for chaos in the White House...

As William Galston of the Brookings Institution told The Post: "Successful campaigns tell stories that provide the framework of meaning and significance for particular policy proposals."

In other words, policies are expressions of the narrative and must be consistent with it. They are the meat on the bones.

That's where Obama has failed. In his rush to appeal to moderate voters, Obama has demolished his narrative. Political expediency is ordinary, and by embracing it, he has proven himself an eloquent but ordinary politician.

That's who Barack Obama is.
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In my opinion, Obama should demonstrate presidential behavior and run against the required qualities of the office while forgetting McCain. Constantly attacking McCain outright or in response to questions addressed to Obama about how problems should be handled makes Obama look weak and just another politician. His lead has evaporated as he discards his narrative.

GO OBAMA -- 08

Craig,

Attacking or refuting information from the opponent is and has always been how the election process functions. I am not saying it is correct, but can you point out any election where this process does not occur? As you like to point out, he is a politician at the end of the day so what makes him exempt from creating a defense or an argument?
As far an demonstrating presidential behavior - what exactly does that entail? Do you believe the current Commander in Chief exudes "presidential behavior"? I guess I would like to know what it takes to impress you...and the currently confused American voters?
I will vote Obama because I believe he is motivated and truly does have the American middle class in mind. I don't care what god he prays to, who his close friends are, what he eats for breakfast or whom he sleeps with - I really don't! What I do care about is backing someone who wants to change the direction of this country - someone who will speak to our "enemies" instead of telling the whole world we rule this roost - someone who would like to see working class America actually gain in quality of life, not just provide the fuel for the wealthiest American's jets to the Bahamas.
I don't care if he needs to change strategy from time to time - I know at the end of the day he won't say he'll speak to the Iranians and then turn around and send troops and bombs to do the talking for him - it will be nice to see someone at least trying to shift this America back to the great country it really can be.
Why do you think Idaho responded how it did when he rallied here? Because we are tired of working for the top 1% of American's successes while we endure such hard times - we want a positive voice heard overseas and mostly we just want a leader to do just that...lead...not mislead as our current administration loves to do!

Rhiana, I don't think a campaign theme of "I'm not Bush" holds much cache for me. I gave Obama a serious look when he said he was discarding the politics of the past, he was going to be different, he was going to change the political discourse and dynamics. He promised hope. The more he reveals a lack of real convictions and meaningful center, as he twists and turns, the more his lead evaporates. Obama can campaign any way he chooses. I just offer my opinion as to how he would succeed.

As the article I quoted points out, all we see is a very ordinary politician that panders for every vote while possessing a rare gift for oratory.

Obama is a powerful applicant or America’s president I think he will be select.
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