Hillary under pressure v Obama under pressure

[cali]

One of the things that impressess me most about Obama and worries me most about Hillary, is how they each reacts under pressure. In the days leading up to Wisconsin, Hillary, under the pressure of having lost 10 straight contests, went on TV and literally shrieked at Obama, accusing of him of Rovian tactics. She shook her finger at the cameras and said "shame on you Barack Obama". And that was the day after her failed "joke" in the debate, and her being booed.

Hillary does not hold up well under pressure or attacks. She immediately goes into a reactive mode.

Obama, under pressure about Wright and Hillary's "kitchen sink" campaign, remains unflappable. He makes a superb speech, lacking his common rhetorical flourishes, but sound in content. He continues on his way undeterred.

Obama holds up under pressure. He exudes calm and stays unflappable. He tends toward the reflective rather than the merely reactive.

You may not think, that's important, but it is. It is a very bad thing for a candidate to look desperate, something Hillary has looked with increasing frequency in the face of defeat or bad news. It would not serve her well against McCain in the general election, and it certainly wouldn't serve US well is she became president. Obama's much cooler and more reflective reaction to pressure will.

[anonymous171]

1. No drama Obama.

[dkf]

5. I like that.

[Hippo_Tron]

2. All I know is I can't wait to see how Grampa McCain acts under pressure

[backscatter712]

4. Light the fuse!!!

[anonymous171]

6. I think we all know what would happen.

:nuke:

[backscatter712]

3. This past seven years, we've seen what happens when the president doesn't react well to pressure...

Literally thousands dead in Iraq and in Afghanistan, because Bush refuses to see reality and continues stubbornly on a course of action that can only result in more bloodshed; and a thousand dead and hundreds of thousands displaced due to Hurricane Katrina, because Bush couldn't (or wouldn't) get his shit together and get the people caught in the storm the help they need.

We need a president that is cool under pressure. Obama is that man.

[bhikkhu]

7. The one huge stress point was "The Race Speech"

As he stood up on the stage everything seemed to be slipping away under an avalanche of Wright sound-bytes, the HRC camp was declaring him finished, and the MSM was piling on doubt and derision, and comparing his run to Gary Hart's.

Yet he stood up and coolly delivered the best speech I have ever seen or heard, with presidential poise. If that is Obama under extreme stress, we can all relax.

[DrFunkenstein]

8. Remember How The Press Marvelled At The "Discipline" of The Clinton Campaign For a Year?

At the first sign of trouble, the whole thing fell to pieces and just got worse and worse with every little molehill turned into a mountain.

Meanwhile, everyone said Obama was all flash and would wither when things got tough. Boy, were they wrong!

[cali]

9. exactly. she's fine; cool and collected as long as everything's

rolling her way, but doesn't stand up well under fire- pun intended. And one of the reasons I chose to support Obama is that I saw both his ability to fight smart and his unflappablitity.

[eallen]

10. For most offices, it doesn't matter much. For the president, it's important.

[Mike03]

11. Yes. And I agree it's important.

Excellent observations and analysis.

I still would be fascinated to know how much of this chaos is the product of Clinton blindly depending upon consultants who give terrible advice, vs. her own instincts. It's so hard to believe that if she had trusted herself she would have ended up like this. But maybe this implosion is, in fact, the result of Hillary Clinton herself. One day maybe we will know what happened.

EDIT: Rec, for sure.

[anonymous171]

16. I agree.

I think NH was a good example of this. She dropped the pretense and the guises put forward by her consultants and won. However, instead of learning from this, she simply went back to being the cold and phony Hillary Clinton that had lost Iowa. I actually kind of liked her after NH, I saw her passion and commitment. That's not what I see now.

[Mike03]

18. Exactly. That is precisely the event I was thinking of.

If I ever run for office (which I won't), I would never under any circumstances ever hire a political consultant. I would just trust my instincts, talk from my heart and let the chips fall where they may: in other words, do what Obama is doing.

[helderheid]

12. Ready to chill from day one

[galaxy21]

13. Has Obama ever even lost his temper?

[helderheid]

17. I've not seen it.

[FrenchieCat]

14. Your analysis is spot on......

Reactive is a dangerous way to be as President, period.

A Reflective President is what we need.

[DemGa]

15. C'mon, guys,I just answered, like, eight questions." ---Nt

[mudesi]

19. I don't agree at all

She isn't reacting to anything. Every single thing she and her campaign does is calculated for political purposes. The fake crying, the flyers, the Xerox joke, it was all planned in advance.

The problem for them is that they don't realize the old way of Rovian tactics don't work on Obama. It just keeps bouncing right off of him and they don't really know what else to do.

[1776Forever]

20. I've said it before - Hawaiians say "Ain't no big thing" - They don't sweat the small stuff!

[Raine]

21. Yes, Obama is the coolest of the three

under pressure. Obama's completely unflappable, the only one I truly trust for that "3:00 am phone call". :thumbsup:

[cooolandrew]

22. Regardless who the candidates are the last anyone needs is further reaction before forethought

With a more careful forethought we may not of seen a shock and awe scenario.