In a speech this afternoon in central Iowa, Barack Obama seems to have widened his criticism of the politics of the past to encompass not only Hillary Clinton but John Kerry and Nobel Laureate Al Gore.
Making an argument for his electability, Obama said, "I don't want to go into the next election starting off with half the country already not wanting to vote for Democrats -- we've done that in 2004, 2000," according to a person at the event (rush transcript).
Glenn Thrush in Des Moines
Comments (32)
Obama is committing political suicide.
His arrogance and sense of entitlement are not just innacurate, his remarks are insulting and stupid.
What an ass!
Good for him! He's absolutely right, enough with the partisan division.
Brilliant. That's right up there with using the assassination to attack Hillary (a noun, verb, and a 5 year old speech), and getting himself burned in effigy in Pakistan for talking about invading Pakistan, saying he wants to take US troops from Iraq TO "the right battlefield in Pakistan and Afganistan."
In the assassination and the Pakistan cases, instead of backing off and clarifying -- when challenged he ESCALATED the offense. I wonder if he will do the same thing here.
1. alienate base
2. attract right-wingers who hate democrats
3. profit !!
"insanity": trying what didn't work last time and hoping for a different outcome.
Face it: the "50% + 1 vote" strategy didn't work last time.
Before one paints Obama as a DINO, remember that right wingers don't want an expanded government role in health care, the certainly don't want a raise in the pay roll tax cap and they don't want to get us out of Iraq.
This just confirms everything I have observed about Obama. He is rapidly becoming the Mitt Romney for the Democratic side. He obviously is finding a way to commit political suicide with the majority of the Democratic Party. Doesn't he realize that he has to get Democrats to vote for him before he can take on a Republican in the November election.
He is slowly but surely making John Edwards and Hillary Clinton more attractive to the mainstream Democratic base who are not as far to the left as he seems to think.
Lazy, lazy, lazy reporting. First, your "source" is an unnamed "person at the event". Second, you provide no context in which Obama's remarks were made. And third, you provide no evidence that Obama said that Kerry and Gore "alientated half the country".
This post is as irresponsible as anything coming out of Katie Couric's mouth, with the whole "some say" style of *cough* "journalism".
Can't you do better than this? Say, provide a transcript or a video?
Perhaps your point was just to fabricate something you could use as an attack against Obama.
Okay. But not everyone will fall for it, you know.
The person above is correct; the title of this article is framed incorrectly. All Obama said is how partisan the past Presidential elections were, no where does he say that Kerry and Gore "alienated half the nation". Hopefully most of us will see through this veil of falsehoods and realize the real message here.
OBAMA big big goof
Thirteenth Commandment
Never say stupid things about your comrades even if it is true.
This can be a killer.
stupid bad guy obama cal gore-kerry a devisive candidate
I agree with Rebecca and Greenstuff. Barack Obama is all about bridging the partisan divide of the past and working to bring our country together in a bipartisan fashion for the greater public good. Most Americans -- including most Democratic primary voters -- are sick of partisan politics.
Barack is the true uniter in this race, which explains why he's catapulted into a big lead in Iowa, and has pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton and John Edwards in both New Hampshire and South Carolina. Barack is going to win this nomination, and he's going to make a terrific President!
"I don't want to go into the next election starting off with half the country already not wanting to vote for Democrats -- we've done that in 2004, 2000,"
He appears to lay the blame for partisanship at the door of Democrats. That would be pretty twisted given the behavior of the current Republican Administration and past Congress. At a minimum he infers that it's up to the Democrats to address the issue of partisanship. Also wrong.
(by the way, I don't get what 'wrong' with partisanship. Politics is a method by which we resolve differences. Resolving the differences is not a prerequisite to practicing politics)
I think Obama's just sucking up to the Beltway Insiders & Talking Heads with his rhetoric (see his talk about 'fixing' Social Security, just as silly)
Good for him if it works, but I don't think it will....
I love the disconnect between the ridiculously inflammatory title of this blog post and what was actually said. Obama didn't say anything insulting to either Gore or Kerry, but you make it seem like he did in a pathetic bid for more clicks.
Obama has been reading his own releases.
I seem to remember him with a Bible in hand, touting his faith.
Well, why won't he address these facts, comment on them from a moral perspective, ask what Jesus would do:
- 1.2 million dead Iraqi civilians
- 1.1 million injured Iraqi civilians
- 5.0 million orphaned Iraqi children (that's right five million
http://tinyurl.com/2teqly
Think there's moral issue there. But he'd rather dis Democrats who ran against monsters, one of whom won outright, the other in all probability.
The short sweet candidacy of Obama... never got out of Connecticut.
This is ridiculous. To stretch what he was saying about the 2000 and 2004 elections into attacks on Gore and Kerry is as much a stretch as saying Will Smith was calling Hitler a good person. There are legitimate issues with the way Obama is framing some things, but don't start dreaming up grievances. The formal written commitments of his campaign are still very progressive.
This must be Karl Rove talking points.
Obama, like Clinton, is a GOP wannabe. If Iowa picks him, we're sunk. The non-GOP turnout will be nonexistent in November.
I can't get over Kucinich picking Obama as his second choice. Geez, the guy is an idiot after all.
well said 'urban legend. : ). That being said, HIL 08!
Obama doesn't seem to realize that 'partisan' politics is precisely how the American system works.
Obama also doesn't seem to understand that the Republicans DON'T want bipartisanship. They can't get elected that way. They excite their electoral base by showing they're different from and emotionally opposed to anything and everything the Democrats stand for.
Obama doesn't seem to care to label himself as a Democrat in Iowa because there is crossovervoting. He's behaving an awful lot like his senate mentor Joe Lieberman. Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary and promptly re-registered as an Independent and ran again in the general election with funding from Republicans. Way to go Joe and Barack.
We are trying to elect the best Democrat to be president. Obama is looking more and more Independent and less and less Democratic. It's no wonder he doesn't get that the disrespect for Gore and Kerry (whatever their flaws) can't be helpful to his campaign or the Democratic party.
Edwards is my pick.
With Obama's unfavorables at 51%, he ought to worry about his own alienating style among Democratic voters. He's a Republican Stalking Horse candidate, a "Joe Lieberman" Democrat. No progressive should support him. And, apparently few do; he's the choice of Lou Dobbs 'independents' and Republicans in the Iowa Caucus.
You guys are overracting and reading too much into that sentence, besides we need some pragmatism.
He's absolutely right about his description of the political environment in 2000 and 2004. The country was divided 50-50. Half the country hated our democratic nominee. Yes, is true that Gore won the popular vote but not by a large margin (2 million) and definitely not to say that he was "very" popular with Republicans or Independents...far from it.
Kerry was just a horrible choice for Democrats. Even John Stewart made fun of Kerry comparing him to Mitt Romney when he launched his presidential bid saying, "...good luck with that."
The beauty with Obama (as well as McCain in 2000) is that he's able to bring Independents and moderate Republicans over to our side which is what we need to win an election and have a true popular mandate. So you can kick and scream all you want about what he is saying, but you ultimately need to be smart and look at the bigger picture which is the general election -- that's all that matters. Who's best to win and beat the Republican candidate...no doubt Obama can.
Democrats + Independents + Moderate Republicans = White House
Cheers,
O.V. Wong
Yea, pretty lame posting. This is a misleading posting and hardly warrants anyone's attention. Obama's not saying anything new or controversial. Cool your jets, everyone.
This is a Rush Limbaugh level spin. Apparently there are also democrats who are falling for this level of twisted logic.
Sad that we are going there.
Obama's church draws attention for race based philosophy
While some election commentators are looking carefully at the level of devotion Sen. Barack Obama has to Islamit is the strong African-centered and race-based philosophy of the senator's United Church of Christ that has some bloggers crying foul. Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago is where Obama was baptized as a Christian two decades ago even borrowing the title for one of his books"The Audacity of Hope" from a sermon by his senior pastor the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. The first paragraph of the "About Us" section of the church's website mentions the word "black" or "Africa" five times: We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian. ... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep lasting and permanent. We are an African people and remain "true to our native land" the mother continent the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery the days of segregation and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community. Focus on the African continent continues in two of the 10-point vision of the church:
1. A congregation committed to ADORATION.
2. A congregation preaching SALVATION.
3. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
4. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
5. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
6. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
7. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
8. A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
9. A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
10. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.
Commented Florida blogger "Ric" in discussing vision No. 4: "Commitment to Africa? I thought Christians were to have a commitment to God alone?" The blogger continued: "First off just by this 10-point layout describing Barack Obama's church we see that on some issues they are not clear. Even though it sounds good to the reader it still leaves one guessing and not knowing where they truly stand as a congregation. "Second the church seems to place Africa and African people before God and says nothing about other races in their community or a commitment to help the people in their community. "Third the church seems to promote communism by the term they use called 'economic parity.' Is this what Barack Obama truly believes?" On another page on the websitePastor Wright explains his theology saying it is "based upon the systematized liberation theology that started in 1969 with the publication of Dr. James Cone's book'Black Power and Black Theology.' "Black theology is one of the many theologies in the Americas that became popular during the liberation theology movement. They include Hispanic theologyNative American theologyAsian theology and Womanist theology." Wright rebuts those who might call his philosophy racist saying"To have a church whose theological perspective starts from the vantage point of black liberation theology being its center is not to say that African or African-American people are superior to any one else. "African-centered thought unlike Euro centrism does not assume superiority and look at everyone else as being inferior." The church's official mission statement says it has been "called by God to be a congregation that is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that does not apologize for its African roots!" Another page in the 36-page bulletin announced the "Black and Christian New Member Class." All those wanting to become full-fledged members of Trinity " must complete your new member class!" warned the announcement which included a schedule of class times. There was no mention of what class a prospective member might take if he or she were not black. Obama recently talked about his faith with the ConcordN.H.Monitor. "I've always said that my faith informs my values and in that sense it helps shape my world view and I don't think anyone should be required to leave their religious sensibilities at the door" Obama told the paper last week. "But we have to translate those concerns into a universal language that can be subject to argument and doesn't turn into a contest of any one of us thinking that God is somehow on our side." The candidate told the Monitor he doesn't buy everything his pastor proclaims saying: "There are some things I agree with my pastor about some things I disagree with him about. I come from a complex racial background with a lot of different strains in me: whiteblackI grew up in Hawaii. I tend to have a strong streak of universalism not just in my religious beliefs but in my ethical and moral beliefs."
Barack Obama: Exposed!
Go to that site and read...Abama is fraud and he is saying one thing to you,and an other to himself and others!!!!
He cant be a President of USA! it will Islamization of US!
He is a Muslim!!!Hiding under being a Christian ....
http://www.humanevents.com/offers/offer.php?id=bho101
KERRY AND OBAMA HEY WHAT DO YOU KNOW NOT ONE BUT TWO ASSHOLES!
FUNNY HOW ONE PARTY IS FIGHTING AGAINST EACH OTHER. HE, HE. LOL
MIRIAM THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST VERY INTERESTING.. I WILL NOT VOTE FOR HIM.
WHAT A JERK, NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD VOTE FOR HIM!
There is an awful lot of false information on this comment list. Obama is not a Muslim, he is a Christian. That is a rumor meant to distort who Obama, not that there would be anything wrong with electing a muslim (remember, my friends, this is America--we have freedom of religion and separation of Church and State.
The comments made by Obama have nothing to do with Kerry or Gore. In fact, Kerry just endorsed Obama and it is rumored that Gore is waiting in the wings.
Vote Obama!
Dave, thank you so much for your comments. I've heard this ridiculous canard over and over again about Obama being a Muslim (which is not true), and yet very few people ever ask "What would be wrong with that?" if he was. Think about it people: how would it sound to say "Obama is a Jew pretending to be a Christian"? We are more sensitive to anti-semitism, and we should be, but Muslims, Hindu, Buddhists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholics, Evangelicals, and more all have the right in this country to serve their country and practice their faith. Right now because there are violent extremists out there who are Muslims, this country is painting Islam in a very unfair light. Al-Quaida is a radical sect that is the equivalent of the KKK or the nationalist neo-Nazi movement for Christians. If you truly believe in the American ideals of freedom of religion, then embrace this idea, or move somewhere where there is an official state-sponsored religion you believe in. There are plenty of countries out there for you. I'm voting Obama not because he is a practicing Christian but because I agree with his policies and think he can lead us out of the horrible quagmire we're in. But no matter who you are voting for, remember that in America, freedom of religion is a sacred value that we hold in common--don't give it up or compromise it over partisan politics.