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This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 10:44 AM and filed under Articles, Elections/Voting, Politics. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.

4 Responses to “Barbara Ehrenreich: Unstoppable Obama”

1. Ian Alterman said:

   “Obama is different, really different, and that in itself represents ‘change.’” This is where Ehrenreich and I part company. I don’t see Obama as ANY different, or certainly MUCH different, than anyone else, including Hillary. His voting record in the Senate is the same, including voting to continue funding the war in Iraq, and support the Patriot Act. His positions on most major issues are the same, including Iraq, Iran, Israel, climate change, etc. And where the positions differ – health care, the economy, taxes – Hillary’s are better, and even most economists think so. He is just as beholden to special interests as she is, having accepted MORE money than her from certain industries, including the energy industry. He has skeletons in HIS closet (Rezko, Exelon et al) just as Hillary has – though Hillary’s are all well-known and have been publicly flogged ad nauseam.

   So what, exactly, makes him so “different?” The facts of his birth? And this makes a difference – how? – with respect to solving the problems that will confront the new president on January 21st?

   No, Barbara, Obama is NOT “really different” if he is different at all.

   Posted on 15-Feb-08 at 1:11 pm | Permalink
2. ben stagg said:

   I will tell you how he is different. Everyone (apart from me) calls him ‘Obama’, not ‘Barack’.
   On the other hand, everyone calls ‘Hillary’, ‘Hillary’.
   That might say more than you think.

   Posted on 16-Feb-08 at 3:34 am | Permalink
3. Mike Blaxill said:

   I agree that both of them policy-wise are very similar .. from a progressive/liberal prospective the Clintons are still carrying around the baggage of the 90’s – NAFTA, the Telecommunications Bill, welfare, the whole DLC corporate contingent (Mark Penn is truly odious) – they’ve already triangulated any support away a long time ago

   Obama, besides having an advisor who wants to partially privatize social security and saying semi-nice things about Reagan, hasn’t had the chance to let everyone down yet .. so everyone’s like, “OK, maybe he won’t suck as much as the Clintons”. There’s also the fact that the guy is an amazing speaker, which counts for a lot these days.

   Me? I miss Edwards, but I guess I’d rather see Obama win than another 4 years of the Clintons not giving a shit about the liberal base.

   Posted on 17-Feb-08 at 2:23 pm | Permalink
4. Ian Alterman said:

   Mike:

   I don’t get it. How can you say on the one hand that “I agree that both of them policy-wise are very similar” and on the other that “I guess I’d rather see Obama win than another 4 years of the Clintons not giving a shit about the liberal base.” Especially after noting that Obama has “an advisor who wants to partially privatize social security,” and that “maybe he won’t suck as much as the Clintons.”

   That’s an awful big “maybe,” and goes along with the “yet” in “Obama…hasn’t had the chance to let everyone down yet.” Indeed, have you considered that if Obama is unable to single-handedly change the political structure in DC by sheer force of will and charisma (duh) that the letdown is going to be HUGE – MUCH bigger than if Hillary has the same problems – given the expectation being created around him? After all, the larger the expectation, the gerater the disappointment when those expectations are unfulfilled (especially if they are hugely unfulfilled).

   Someone recently made a comment that sums up the situation for me (at least partially): if Obama was a women (black or white), he would have ZERO chance of becoming president given his current resume.

   It will be interesting to see how the Rezko trial plays out this March. It may very well take a great deal of wind out of Obama’s sails, and bring him back down to earth for those who believe him to be all but the second coming of Christ.

   Peace.

   Posted on 17-Feb-08 at 9:15 pm | Permalink