Playing with Obama
I predict if Sen. Obama gets the Democratic nomination Brian Fraley will be garnering a lot a traffic to his weblog. Today, he and Owen Robinson had some fun with the Obama plagiarism charge. WALLAH! didn’t get the joke.
A few days ago Fraley pulled the wool over a few people’s eyes and illustrated Obama’s problem in a general election. He asked readers to explain a quote that sounded like it came out of the Illinois Senator’s mouth:
We deserve an America that allows each of us to be what we can be, with no limits to our dreams or our ability to dream. Together, we can achieve a greater sense of America, unrestrained by the policies of the past. Together, we will see our collective opportunities, our collective aspirations, fulfilled. While some hope to keep us down with more of the same, our call for change is resonating across this great land. We will not be so casually cast aside. Together, we can. Yes we can.
Only it came from Fraley’s fingertips.
This plays into the notion of Obama as an “empty suit.” Supporters can’t name any accomplishments of his. Last night, Fox News had Frank Luntz run a live focus group of undecided voters. A few of them said they craved details from Obama. And one of Fraley’s commenters admitted voting for him might be a bad decision but he’ll “feel better” about it. It’s the Oprah-fication of Presidential politics. It takes Bill Clinton’s “I feel your pain” up another notch. At least Bill was a policy wonk.
Obama can be wonky. I saw bits of it in his first one-on-one debate with Sen. Clinton. He got into details about his socialized health care plan. Last year, Andrew Sullivan sat through an Obama policy speech. It “bored the pants off” him. That tells me Obama’s weakness is rhetorical. Somehow he has to find a way to release details of his liberal policy proposals in a captivating way while still appearing to be “postpartisan.”
He could do it. I don’t underestimate him. He’s taken advantage of all that fate has laid before him. Obama is capable of turning that in the becoming a historic President.
So, to recap, Fraley’s a liar and Obama’s only light on policy if you don’t actually do any research about his policies.
His “supporters can’t name any accomplishments”? I’ve been naming them left and right. The empty suit in this race, the one with objectively no record of accomplishment, is John McCain.