What is Obama waiting for?

[cleveramerican]

if he hopes to wrestle the nomination from HRC, he's got to get serious and go for it. Drop the safe,above politics bullshit and take her down a few notches with her own record. He's got to do it now, with careful aim, and the well known facts.

The moment he STARTS actually leading, all the questions about leadership experience will evaporate. If he continues to go halfway there ,he will lose gracefully.

He did well this week but he has to keep going further and more bluntly than he has yet.


The gloves have got to come off or its all over. If he goes right at her, he has a slim chance, If he doesn't he's all done.

[gateley]

1. I've been surprised at Obama's apparent lack of action as well. He has SO much

support, he can afford not to be as cautious as he's been of late. I wonder if it's his advisors that are responsible, or if he feels so much is at stake he wants to be certain he's making the right move.

Either way, I think he'll do just fine. If it gets down to the Top Three duking it out I'm sure he'll gain even more support.

[jillan]

2. I kinda feel sorry for him. The whole world is waiting for him to take out his boxing gloves.

And when he does, he will be under a magnifying glass.

That has got to be a tough position to be in.

[DURHAM D]

3. Pray tell -

what are you talking about?

What does he have that won't bite his ass as well? He has no gloves to take off.

I guess you want him to act like a Republican and start spittin' lies. If he does that he can say goodbye to his political future.

Good grief...

[jenmito]

5. Maybe he should start harping on the fact that she didn't even READ the pre-war intel.

instead of just saying she voted for the war and he was against it, and remind people of how she said presidents shouldn't say what they really think, pointing out that's just more of the same.

[DURHAM D]

8. You are kidding - right.

His pre-war stance does not matter - at this point it is completely irrelevant (except to his DU supporters). By the way - he is the candidate who has repeatedly said he does not want to look backward. I haven't heard him say "with one exception".

Why do you think Hillary's numbers are so high? 80-90% of the entire country bought the war as well. Now at least 70% of that group has shifted their personal positions and their shift mirrors Hillary's position. When Obama pushes his "I was against the war early and I was right" thingie he is in effect calling the rest of the country a bunch of idiots. That should get him a lot of votes - not.

BTW - it was Edwards who was on the Intelligence Committee (thus had access to additional information) and didn't read it at all before writing the IWR.

[jenmito]

9. Not at all...

Really? His speaking out against the Iraq invasion, predicting EXACTLY what has come to pass, has earned the respect and endorsements of the likes of Zbigniew Brzezinski and Susan Rice. He doesn't want to take time to look back at the soon-to-be-past-administrations when he has so much work to do going forward. Talking about his past JUDGEMENT is not the same thing, but you must know that.

Yeah, so much of the country was for the war which is why Hillary voted for it IMO without even taking time to read all the intel. She must've done it for political reasons so she could look strong on foreign policy. Well, it went just as Obama predicted and now that it's unpopular, Hillary's against it.

BTW-Hillary admitted to not reading the intel. she had access to before voting for it.

[DURHAM D]

12. It is others who would need to make a case about his =

excellent past "JUDGMENT" - not him. I think his 5th anniversary speaking blitz was a big mistake - just made him look like an arrogant hotshot. Also, like he has just one arrow in his quiver.

So, he has given the "I am smarter than you" speech several times quite recently - it did not help him at all, reminded people that he is rather "green" and in fact it emphasized his very limited "JUDGMENT" bag of goodies.

[jenmito]

23. He's been in govt. over 20 years...he's hardly "green"...

It's not arrogant to point out facts. Everyone has to point out the differences between candidates. Hillary's ALWAYS saying she's sooo ready to start "on day one," bragging about HER supposed "experience" of being married to a president and being attacked makes her the best choice. Yet she won't promise to meet with our enemies, she says she won't tell us what she really thinks, she voted FOR the LAST war without reading the intel. available to her, saying she wouldn't have done it if she knew Bush would misuse the authority, then voted to give him authority for the NEXT war. Obama would stop the cycle of Bush/Clinton same ol' stuff. He's ready NOW and he'd be much better for this country than Hillary or Edwards for that matter.

[cleveramerican]

11. its a measure of the candidate

how well he draws the distinctions.
Its the only way anybody has ever won.
Its the way voters draw those same distinctions.
Its not up to me, its up to him.

It may seem cold but if he can't get over this he deserves to lose.

[cleveramerican]

16. Does being a gracious loser

help you more or less than being a WINNER?

[geek tragedy]

4. Three months of campaigning left.

Moreover, campaigns in Iowa are won on the ground.

[Catchawave]

6. He's running a campaign like he's running for V.P.

Much like Edwards did in 2004. Not a bad thing, OB is young enough, with a great future in politics.

[Progressive Friend]

26. Yes, I think he is definitely running for Vice President

[sandnsea]

7. I don't think they get it

I don't think they believe how bad it is. I don't think they really understand how badly the entire government has been rigged by the neocons, how bad the media and polling is, how deep the DLC and Clintons are involved in it. If they don't understand, then they don't know what to fight or even how important it is to fight. Until he gets it, at some visceral gut level, he isn't going to fight like he needs to in order to win. Sad for all of us.

[jillan]

10. All I can do is pray that someone takes her down.

Sorry - I try not to be negative about other candidates. But, I do not want her to win.

So far, I have to give Edwards kudos in this area. And he has the added help of Elizabeth.

Altho, I will say that my guy gave her a good punch at the last debate.
(along with all the great things during the Clinton administration, there were alot of bad times too)


And this is why we need to keep Gravel in those debates. He will say what needs to be said. God bless him.
The other Dems can take it from there.

[Colobo]

13. I have confidence in his judgement and in his team.

[cleveramerican]

14. So far his team hasn't shown us much.

So far its been all him.
I think his team so far has been noticeably absent, or overly cautious or both.
He campaigns like for the GE, thinking it makes him look "above" petty politics.
Its the oldest mistake in the book.
Meanwhile back at the ranch HRC is just holding on and wishing the election was tomorrow.
Its looking like she has the winning hand, unless he changes tactics.

[madrchsod]

15. why should he attack hillary ?

he needs to explain his vision to america not get into a pissing contest. anyway hillary has already won the primary...all this is just playing out the game

[Laurab]

24. When did she win it?

I must have missed something....

[madrchsod]

25. i know

i woke up one morning and presto! she`s won!

[Laurab]

27. Well, damn - I'm glad I missed THAT one! n/t

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. he's got until 2 weeks before Iowa to make his move

don't sweat him, he'll be fine.

[HughMoran]

18. I agree - he really has to stop acting "me too" and show some fire

He showed the fire in his convention speech but hasn't seemed to have that same fire so far during the primary (IMO).

[Cameron27]

19. I think the strategy was to let Edwards

go negative on Clinton and Obama would both benefit and remain unscarred from any backlash. I don't see that tactic working, although I hate to see him go as neg. as Edwards.

[Colobo]

20. I refuse to believe Obama and his people are dumb

They are smart and they must know what they are doing. I can't believe they will lose this thing passively.

[Cameron27]

21. I didn't mean to imply that.

I think Obama decided going negative wasn't something he was comfortable with, but having Edwards doing the attacking wasn't going to hurt him at all & might actually help.

[FlaxieB]

22. He is doing just fine. Don't buy into the national poll hype..

It's the grass roots work that will get him the nomination. Americans are not stupid. Everyone knows that polling is bias and skewed to achieve a desired result (in this case, Hillary Clinton). As Ted Koppel said on "Meet The Press" Sunday morning, "National polls don't mean a thing, it's the grass roots effort that counts, just think back to Howard Dean 3 months before the Democratic primary". Barack Obama, just continue to stay on message, engage the american people and the nomination will be yours.

Hillary is doing a great job of attacking herself by evading and not answering questions when pressed. The media has given her a free pass up to this point because they want her to win. If you think about it, since the last debate in New Hampshire when she was evasive and unprepared, the media never followed up, they just let her slide and tried to put a positive spin on her performance. The american people under this and are not pleased. Nobody wants to be made a fool of. I think that the media is more intrigued by the fact that she will become the first female Prez (with Bill back in the WH) as opposed to supporting someone who will truly support this country and work the issues. Her nomination will be compared to the British Queen and her reign. That, for america's sake with all our problems, is not necessary but it makes for great media fodder for years to come. Plus, since she already has this impression as being the one to beat, she's acting like she's already in the general election, In the end,this strategy will backfire.:dem:

[2rth2pwr]

28. Obama and his team have put him in a trick box.

By stating so strongly that he would run a "new and different" campaign he can't go on the offensive without looking like a fraud. On the other hand if you are not willing to get "down and dirty" and do what it takes to win, you should not be running for President. This country is facing danger and new crisis's will always pop up, we need leaders who are strong.

On the other hand, I am starting to believe he may not be in it to win.

[Colobo]

30. He is in to win, and the country needs his leadership to get out

of the mess we are in. We need his vision.

[Clintonista2]

29. I've said it before, I'll say it again- He's fishing for a spot in Hillary's cabinet. nt.