Now that the bloom has come off the Obama rose somewhat, Bill Kristol says:
With no particular dog in the Democratic fight, many conservatives have tended to think it would be good for the country if Obama were to win the Democratic nomination, freeing us from the dreary prospect of the return of the House of Clinton. Now I wonder. Might the country be better off with the cynicism of the Clintons than the conceit of Obama?
That's how I've been thinking all along, to the point where I almost took a Democratic ballot in the Texas primary and voted Obama, just to stop Clinton. But Kristol's queasy-making question is very much at the front of my mind. What's the conservative case for a Clinton presidency as less harmful to the country's interests than an Obama one?
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We focus on Wright's rants, which Obama did not hear at the time, but how many folks have bothered to read the text of the sermon that he said had the greatest influence on him, "Audacity to Hope?"
Find it here if you're interested in the whole picture: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/03/for-the-record.html
And I have yet to have anyone answer the question I have asked on other blogs...Where is there any example of Obama himself ever engaging in such rhetoric? What policies has he...not someone else...advocated that reflect what Wright said? What behavior has he engaged in that would give a person just cause to believe he shares Wright's level of rage?
People often stay in churches, even when they have deep disagreements with the pastor on some issues. They stay because they appreciate the ministries of the church and the friendships they have found there. They stay because they agree with some things the church or pastor does, even as they disagree with others.
That is called commitment.
According to Rasmussen today, Obama has already taken a major hit from the Wright fracas:
- Two thirds of the public have followed the Wright brouhaha, and Americans view Jeremiah Wright unfavorably by a margin of 58 to 8.
- 73% of voters say that Wright's comments are "racially divisive."
- 56% of American voters are now "less likely" to vote for Barack Obama because of Wright.
- Pluralities of voters (46-33% among whites and 42-40% among all voters) think Obama needs to resign from Wright's church. But by a 68-16% margin, African Americans believe he should not resign from the church.
- Only 47% of American voters now have a favorable opinion of Barack Obama, down from 57% in mid-February, and down from 52% just last week.
- In head to head matchups, McCain now beats Obama by the same margin that he beats Clinton (48-42%).
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/people2/just_8_have_favorable_opinion_of_pastor_jeremiah_wright
For several weeks now, I've heard smart folks on the GOP side say that an Obama nomination increases the likelihood of a McCain victory in November. These polling results lend a lot of credence to that view.
Conservative case for Clinton: Devil you know, plus, as Astorian says, things were not so bad during the Clinton years. Welfare reform? Brilliant, much needed, the sky didn't fall the way the libs said it would, and -- no Republican could have pulled it off. Bob Rubin? One of the best Treasury secretaries ever. Breyer and Ginsburg? Not quite as liberal as Souter, and a whole lot smarter and more able. (Of course, there were the obvious low points. Plus: Robert Reich? hate-filled and way to the left. Madeleine Albright? mediocre to the bone.)
Obama has made me nervous for some time because I woke up one day and realized I had no idea what he really thinks -- there's just that inspiring rhetoric. If what he really thinks is what his wife and his preacher think, then the centrist rhetoric is a pack of lies. I realize this is an "if," but the fact that it's plausible (though clearly not yet proven) makes me nervous.
Said another way, from the truly conservative perspective of comparing worse-case scenarios, which leaves the republic in worse shape after 4 years: Clinton as bad as she might be, or Obama as bad as he might be? On that criterion, I'd take Clinton any day.
Derek, A campaign is not a country. Obama's campaign edge evaporated as soon as the media started questioning the pass they had been giving him. How much transparency do you think we'll get from a man who can't be bothered to answer more than 8 questions?
ScurvyOaks, my feeling is either Obama has been conning his congregation, and he doesn't really believe what they believe, he's not a "fellow-traveler" with them, or he is conning his supporters right now. I don't want to believe this, actually.
I hope to hear him come out and say, "the U.S. government didn't create the AIDS virus in order to commit genocide against African-Americans -- it's paranoid nonsense." That would go along way towards distancing himself from the people in his parish, starting with Jeremiah Wright, who revel in this nonsense.
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