CapitolFax.com - Latest Comments in Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

State of Farce — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 02:29:40 -0000

The video is absolutely HILARIOUS! Love it. "I wanna be loved by you, only you, only you, only you...boo boo be doo" (Marilyn Monroe don't ya know)

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Angie again — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:43:50 -0000

And just to add, because Hillary Clinton has so obviously moved more towards the center should be a screaming, screeching loud indication that this girl is running in the near future.

You think there's any chance that these two will somehow end up on the same ticket, but with one as VP, since they can still run for the top spot later on? I'm really wondering, because Hillary is very very coy and is not aggressively attacking Obama. Might there be a chance at a team-up of some sort?

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Angie (to ArchPundit) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:38:48 -0000

Re: "You are leaving out the other part of Downs argumentÃ¢â‚¬â€œthe part about primaries and how someone has to hit the primary median voter. You have to dig into the spatial modeling of the argument to understand the full weight of it, but it essentially points out that someone in the issue space right at the center will almost never get elected."

Yeah, because there absolutely has to be a difference between the two candidates even if they are both tackling the same issue, as in we all care about education, so here's my plan, and it is very different from my opponent's plan. It is a mainstream issue that interests everyone, but you have to put forth a plan that is going to work, in theory at least, better than what your opponent has put forth.

That's why this Obama hype is silly, aside from the fact that he's a charismatic and well-educated guy who is just getting his feet wet politically. What's the big plan? Everyone is endorsing him, but what's the plan? And once the plan is put forth, why should we agree that he's the better candidate to implement it?

He might have a shot against John McCain, perhaps, but certainly not against Giuliani. Not after everyone watched Rudy in action as heroes died (the firefighters who do such an altruistic job it is just unbelievable).

Haven't read all of Downs, by the way (part of it was on a reading list from last quarter at school), but it is on my list to read in full, as I find it interesting.

If you study this stuff carefully, it helps you read through all of the baloney and spin in elections and helps make more sense out of things when you wonder why the heck so many pols flip-flop on positions so often. It works to keep them in power term after term after term, even as the voters seem to want a bit of a change from time to time.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Mr. Luxury Yacht — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:28:39 -0000

Rich, what I was trying to say was that Assyrians (as I understand it) are ethnically a bit closer to "not Arabs" than Syrians, though I'm told there are loads of shade of gray in this. I know there's no Assyria (at least not these days), silly goose.

And hey no fair scoring points with the wife at our expense!

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Harry Hopkins — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:33:28 -0000

What? Obama bought a house for less than the asking price? And then he didn't stop Tony Rezko from buying the lot next door.

This conspiracy must be uncovered! Sure, the press forgets to ask tough questions before the beginning of a war, but if a deviant of this magnatude is allowed to enter the White House the republic will not survive!

Oh, by the way. I wonder if CNN and the New York Times are looking for a local columnist to quote in future scandal stories. Should be good for subscriptions.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Punley Deiter Finn — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:44:38 -0000

Bill is on the case and on message. All is well.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Pat Collins — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:59:21 -0000

What questions do you want answered that he hasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t answered?

Why he voted for a bill to add 20K more H1-B visas when many hi tech firms in Illinois are laying off such people, and giving 10% of their workforce no raise.

H vs the Prince

But it isn't Hillary vs him. It's Bill. Electing her is his ultimate vindication. O-mania is fine, but now he's up against the master, and a highly motivated one at that.

I don't think losing to Rush and two cakewalks prepares you for that.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

ArchPundit — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:25:01 -0000

===IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m thinking of that Ã¢â‚¬Å“median voterÃ¢â‚¬Â theory put forth by Anthony Downs in An Economic Theory of Democracy now, where the positions end up looking more and more alike in an effort to appeal to the voters.

You are leaving out the other part of Downs argument--the part about primaries and how someone has to hit the primary median voter. You have to dig into the spatial modeling of the argument to understand the full weight of it, but it essentially points out that someone in the issue space right at the center will almost never get elected.

In terms of the general election, Giuliani fired the one guy who made the biggest difference in crime in NYC and that guy is now doing a great job in LA. That issue cuts both ways. He fired a remarkably successful police chief out of jealousy and installed cronies to replace him.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

ZC — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:07:56 -0000

In everyone boosting Rudy and Barack right now, I see a strange kind of symmetry.

Everyone just prepare themselves that, odds are good before it's done, we're gonna see the warhorses McCain and Hillary squaring off.

First you fall in love, then you fall in line ...

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Reddbyrd — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 07:54:17 -0000

No Non No Capt. Fax not just a Assyrian wife
A beautiful Assyrian Wife! :)

Rudy's biggest road block to the WH will be explaining how 9-11 made him a multimillionaire.
Work may or may not bbe legit, but most Americans will fin it unseemly. Then you can move on to the bimbo, the police banging away, NYC trash pile, etc etc.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Bill Baar — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 07:49:03 -0000

but 5 points if you can name a prominent national ...identity in the Middle East (i.e. indigenous people of an actual country, other than Israel and remember there is no Kurdistan yet) that IS not the same as Arab.

No idea why this question is here, but you always hear about some Armenians; then there are the Turkomens in Iraq; Sistani is Persian... Azeris.... most of what we know about the middle east was filtered by Aramco and it's Sunni Arab narrative taylored to make them sound like New Englandish Puritan Protestants. Same reason the Brits favored the Sunni's when they had the mandate in Iraq; the others were Jews or Catholic-like Shias etc.

Rudy lost hundreds under his command in combat including key players. We watched him handle that live on TV. It's why I could sit in a bar in West Texas a few years ago and hear glowing words from patrons about guy who's name they apoligized for mispronouncing.

Obama gets the same kind of good vibes from people now but we've yet to see him live on TV after people under his command have perished... and I'm sitting in an Air Port terminal in St Louis with barrowed cell phone listening to my wife cry wondering where my brother-in-law in midtown Mannhatten is, and wondering myself what happened to my Mom's flt that morning to Chicago.

That's why people have a bond with Giuliani.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Rich Miller — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 01:03:34 -0000

Full disclosure: Assyrian wife.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Rich Miller — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:58:55 -0000

Yacht, Assyrians don't have a country either. So the Kurds qualify if Assyrians do.

Man, if I had a nickel for every time an Assyrian told me, "We're not Arabs".... but I digress.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Angie — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:47:39 -0000

Rich wrote: "IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m not sure you should be touting that, since from the documentary I saw it ended quite badly, with the businessmen who put up the money claiming they were ripped off."

Oh? (raises eyebrows)

Well, you're the professional, investigative reporter, so you are probably waaaaay ahead of the news curve than the rest of us, but thanks for mentioning it. Will look into the issue at some point and hopefully learn something I didn't know.

I'll just stick to the "America's Mayor" bit when mentioning why I like the guy as a GOP candidate for the White House in 2008. lol

Gotta remember: Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative...la la la la la (those are lyrics from an old song, so I put it to music with the la-la bit).

I will say that if Obama edited the Harvard Law Review and taught at The University of Chicago, his bio isn't too shabby, serious political experience, or lack thereof, aside. Our state may be corrupt as all you-know-what, but we still boast a couple of the finest universities in the nation. Some solace at least.: )

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Michelle Flaherty — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:01:17 -0000

Who knewTribune edit board members were now doing live shots for the Daily Show. I guess desperate times ...

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Mr. Luxury Yacht — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 23:56:07 -0000

- Papa Legba - Tuesday, Dec 19, 06 @ 5:18 pm:

"BTW. Rezko is Syrian. Not an Arab. Just a wee bit of a difference."

Um. No, actually. If you'd said ASsyrian you'd be on firmer ground but 5 points if you can name a prominent national identity in the Middle East (i.e. indigenous people of an actual country, other than Israel and remember there is no Kurdistan yet) that IS not the same as Arab.

As for the whole BarackOmania. Clinton is Old News, The Past and the country is TIRED. There's a reason his is the "HopeFund PAC." If he stays on message and dips his positions in that, game over. If he swings at a pitch in the dirt...we could end up with a brokered convention.

As for Hillary - y'all are missin' the point about Whitewater, at least part of it. Yes, G-Rod nailed JBT by trashing her down to his level. Hillary can't do that, nor can any other candidate BUT it isn't the Rush's and the Hannity's to worry about but the Begala's and the rest of the name Clinton swells - yes including Emanuel. These are the folks used to sitting at the cool kids' table and they act like a bunch of catty sorority chicks. He's not OK because he's not One Of US will be the reason but Hill's people will start - already ARE, in NH - loading up for the death of a thousand cuts.

This is why he'll come back from Hawaii and announce he's forming an exploratory committee. Then he'll go around raising money, getting free media coverage but mainly focusing on shrewd votes and thereby reinforcing a few themes. He wants to dial it down now for awhile. He's cleared some of the field (Bayh - look for Vilsack to back off soon). Now he needs to lay back, (relatively) out of the news, so that reporters won't have reason to call their Clintonite friends for counter-quotes as often. Then over the summmer he makes The Announcement (realizing that the FEC doesn't have a distinction between an "exploratory" committee and a presidential campaign committee - that's a political distinction not a legal one).

Then when he comes out for real in the summer, his fundraiser-in-chief, Oprah, puts out the call to her zillion best buddies to max out PLUS tell all their friends to do likewise (and so on and so on). Look for her to put The Audacity of Hope on her book list for June - why would she not have already unless he'd already asked her to keep her powder dry?

But Hillary will use prominent Democratic surrogates, following a pre-designed Anti-Obama Message Calendar, to move the Why He's Not Who You Want meme of the week. Start tracking the appearances on the Sunday talkers of former Clinton White House people. Even pro-R bookers like the ones for Fox or Russert (check out his right v. left guest booking percentages) will put a Clintonite in play if they offer to bash Obama while they're on.

Hillary knows what Halperin calls The Freak Show. She knows it's a beast that needs to eat regularly. She knows if you don't give it something to eat it will turn on you - more often (no one, including Candidate Obama, gets a complete pass). She knows that if she has her friends feed the beast regularly then she doesn't have to - and only The Gang of 500 will be paying attention to the box scores. The rest will start singing along with the story line, the narrative arc they will build. The Just Another Chicago (i.e. corrupt) Politician, like Harold Ford (Memphis' version) who got the Big Speech.

If Obama sticks to his game plan - and if Gore doesn't jump in this fall - he can do it. Otherwise he's ground beef and Hillary (aka An Instant Hundred Mill More For The GOP) gets to drive our bus into the ditch.

And it's Iran. Persians blanche when referred to as Arabs. Well, some of them are more demostrative than that...

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Rich Miller — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:46:29 -0000

I saw a documentary about that Mexico City thing. I'm not sure you should be touting that, since from the documentary I saw it ended quite badly, with the businessmen who put up the money claiming they were ripped off.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Angie — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:42:38 -0000

Rich, first and foremost, Rudy was right there in the heart of absolute chaos during a very dark time in recent American history, and he showed us all how he is able to handle pressure in the worst possible situation (the aftermath of a horrendous terrorist attack). Millions of people of diverse religions, ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic classes looked up to him as a leader in a time of confusion and fear, which speaks volumes about his proven ability to lead us all.

No matter how much people try to behave in a particular manner in the public eye, when under stress, their true personalities come out as they rely on their most dominant personality functions under those trying conditions. We've seen how Rudy handled not only himself, but also how he had a soothing effect on the people of New York and even throughout all of America, as everyone watched.

Secondly, he was invited to come on down to Mexico to teach them about some of the crime-fighting techniques he utilized successfully in cleaning up New York. Again, proven skills and a huge vote of confidence in those same skills as our neighbor to the South invited him for his expertise.

It is just obvious that it is Rudy's turn to lead. He's done it so well in the recent past.

That's what we need in a post 9/11 world, at least in my humble little opinion.

Thanks for asking.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Rich Miller — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:28:34 -0000

Angie, I'm not criticizing your post, but how exactly is Rudy "experienced in the way in which he needs to be in a post 9/11 world?"

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Angie (to NW burbs) — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:13:39 -0000

Interesting piece that you put up a link to.

Re: "Bad bipartisans are so eager to establish credentials for moderation and reasonableness that they go out of their way to criticize their (supposed) ideological allies and praise their (supposed) opponents. They also compromise on principle, and when their opponents don't reciprocate, they compromise some more, until over time their positions become indistinguishable from those on the other side."

I'm thinking of that "median voter" theory put forth by Anthony Downs in An Economic Theory of Democracy now, where the positions end up looking more and more alike in an effort to appeal to the voters.

You won't hear any complaints from me about being principled rather than selling out, but the thing about Obama is that he is not experienced in the way in which he needs to be in a post 9/11 world.

Rudy Giuliani is. And Rudy will answer questions posed to him, and will handle them all with finesse.

But I agree that the press should be hard as nails on all parties and candidates. I'd argue that they ought to all be cross-examined by lawyers--except that most of them are lawyers. No wonder half of them won't even talk!

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

wunderkind — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:39:18 -0000

to lawntoy: no, but he took cash from rezko (antion and rita) on several occasions. "lucy, you got some splaining to do"

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

LawnToy — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:15:43 -0000

Anybody check to see if Illinois' favorite community bank was involved in "Tony the Neighbor's" little transaction.
We know they tried to post the lawn a bond, but who holds the note?

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Bill — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:31:14 -0000

Illinois will go for their favorite son, Senator and, soon to be President, Barack Obama. So will the rest of the country, no matter what Rahm says. The Senator obviously feels that the real estate deal has been addressed and is now a non-story. There was no quid pro quo and everything was quite legal. What more is there to say? The fact that he does not respond to continued questions on this subject is to his credit. I would like to see any research or documentation that our governor's administration is the "most investigated in history". This type of character assasination didn't work in the campaign for governor and it won't work against Barack.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

Bill Baar — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:09:00 -0000

What do Illinois Democrats do if it's a Clinton Obama slug fest? Considering Emanual used to be one of Clinton's White Boys. It's going to be a tough time for Illinois Democrats 'cause Clinton's got all the money.

Re: Obamarama – Whitewater edition

NW burbs — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:08:10 -0000

Angie,

Your complaints sound like they should be directed at the talking heads on the air, whether the conservative media or mainstream media, not Sen. Obama.

Just because they aren't discussing Obama's accomplishments as a member of the Senate's minority party doesn't mean they don't exist.

(H/T: Hilzoy -- need to scroll down for Hilz' own list of what he considers admirable Obama achievements.)

It's odd how so many of the things partisans are saying as complaints about Pres. Clinton could also be easily adapted to complain about Bush 43).