FWIW - I’m undecided and indepedependent. I could vote for McCain, or Clinton but at the moment, wouldn’t give Obama my vote.
My impression is he is all talk and very little walk. So many of his quotes/speeches just remind me of every candidate in the past who has great soundbites but little meat.
I’m struggling with understanding how he will actually get anything done.
From the acknowledged limited reading I’ve done, I don’t get the impression he works with the powerbase within his own Party. Eg, I don’t see him on any committees, driving anything substantial (he’s “co-sponsored”, “worked with”, “supported”)
Reading through his web-site, he’s all full of ideas, I just don’t know how he’ll take these ideas and make them happen.
Can you obama fans give me any examples of him actually driving something and getting consensus in his own party rather than just being on the sidelines and voting?
“There was always a sense that Hillary was in the Senate to further Hillary’s goals,” recalls another former Daschle staffer, noting how rarely Clinton pitched in on team efforts. One reason for this: She didn’t need the press attention that draws novice senators to thorny-but-necessary tasks.
Obama would take the opposite tack as a freshman. When Democrats began agitating for lobbying reform in 2006, it was Obama who agreed to be their lead negotiator with Republicans. In a chamber as sensitive to the flow of cash as the Senate, stepping between lobbyists and your colleagues is a bit like cutting off your frat brothers when they’ve had too much to drink: Everyone concedes it must be done, but nobody is lining up to do it. But Obama co-authored several of the provisions, like restrictions on lobbyist-funded meals, that eventually became law. “Could you go to Hillary? Sure,” said a Senate aide when I asked why Clinton wasn’t enlisted. “But we would probably think that, if she wants to get involved in something, she’s going to get involved in something [herself].”
It’s hard to answer this question without more information. What kind of things do you want Obama to “get done” that you’re concerned he won’t be able to?
If you’re just worried about his general executive competency, there’s a lot of information out there, so it shouldn’t be too hard to make up your own mind.
As for specific policies, if you’re really undecided between Clinton and McCain, you must be very close to the center of the political spectrum, so it’s probable that neither candidate is going to appeal to you very much. Still, if you find yourself leaning one way or the other, Clinton and Obama are pretty close together on almost all policy issues. And the gap between both of them and McCain is huge.
Take a look at the campaign he’s running during the primaries. The motivational speeches fuel a fire that’s mobilizing the electorate. Now, Ron Paul had the same grassroots support, money etc that Obama does; without pointing out policy differences, you can see where Obama has translated that into delegates where Paul had not.
Behind Obama’s election is a very well-designed, well-run campaign. Sure, he has managed to deflect some of the nastiest things that the Clintons have thrown at him, usually with quick thinking on his feet. But what’s really worked for him has been getting people to work, organizing voters and really making a successful push.
Not only that, look at his history with McCain in the Senate. There was a heavily-publicized incident a couple years back where McCain had made some harsh comments directed Obama’s way; Obama responded with “a soft voice,” saying nice things about McCain, and quickly McCain changed his tune, and this ended up being part of McCain giving way on the issue.
That’s a couple of things right there, but I think what you’ll find is he’s demonstrated how to use his ability to speak and say the right things and translate that into real, effective results.
You know who he reminds me of in that respect? UT Longhorn football coach Mack Brown, who showed up in Austin saying all the right things; columnist Kirk Bohls said afterwards, “It’s almost a shame he has to coach a game,” which summarized how taken we were by Brown’s ability to talk. Well, what happened was that Brown used that ability to talk to bring in some of the best recruits in the country and some of the best -coaches- in the country. And two years ago, we won a national championship based on the program he built from tatters.
Obama’s shown he’s got the same knack for turning his words into others’ deeds. So yeah, he’ll get things done.
I’m not sure why you would question whether Obama can “get things done.” He’d be a Democrat with a Democrat controlled congress. His policy stances are similar to Hillary on many, many issues.
On top of that, a big reason for his popularity is that he promises to try and work with moderates on the right on a lot of issues. That may not please everyone on the left, but it does appeal to the middle of the electorate, who are also represented in congress.
Experience for presidents is overrated anyway. Bush had two terms as a governor, which would seem like ideal experience but we all know how that turned out.
So what has Hillary “gotten done,” exactly, to inspire your confidence in her but not Obama? She’s done less than he has during her time in the senate, by all of the metrics that you listed, save for committee participation, where they are tied (both Obama and Clinton are on four committees).
You think I measure each candidate on same criteria? The fact is each candiate has pros/cons and I don’t agree with all of their positions. I have to internally assign a weight to each of these and decide which ones I can live with. With Obama, I know so little about him, I internally am weighing this as a criteria for me to start entertaining him as up there with Clinton and McCain.
One thing that bugs me with all these candidates is they ALL voted for that stupid fence.
I like the fact that McCain rubs hard-lined conservatives the wrong way and if he had survived Rove’s bashing back in 2000, I most likely would have voted for him instead of Gore.
I like the fact that Hillary is a woman and will bring that perspective to our nation. I’m tired of men thumping their chests. I’m also glad she rubs the far left the wrong way.
I don’t know really anything of Obama other than he really doesn’t seem to rub anyone the wrong way and if it makes sense, it actually scares me b/c I internalized that to mean he doesn’t take sides and is willing to fight to get his way. This post is intended to get information to help clear this up.
My dream is to have a 3rd party where the right leaning liberals join up with the left leaning conservatives and put the fringe elements out to pasture.
My passions (in priority order)
Education
Investing in America instead of pissing billions overseas. Take care of the homefront.
Electric plug-in vehicles
Quit being the world’s policeman
Quit fucking around with criminals, go to a point system and when they get 100 points they get the death penalty
The Press shouldn’t be owned by corporations
Land rights
I’m struggling with understanding how he will actually get anything done.
Education
Investing in America instead of pissing billions overseas. Take care of the homefront.
Electric plug-in vehicles
Quit being the world’s policeman
Quit fucking around with criminals, go to a point system and when they get 100 points they get the death penalty
The Press shouldn’t be owned by corporations
Land rights
And… you think Hillary will achieve these? Seriously?
That thing where criminals score points on their way to the death penalty is totally awesome in a way that out-Ron-Pauls Ron Paul. That’s not even Ross Perot territory. Where’d you get that one, dude, because that one’s new to me? I’m guessing a comic book or a Stephen King short story.
I’m just goofing on tampaxdx. I should have put a smiley on my post. To his credit, he’s actually asking about things he’s heard rather that just swallowing them. Anyone who does that gets major points in my book, even if they do have a kooky perspective on the justice system. And here’s the smiley that goes with this post --> :)
