Is Obama our Teflon candidate?

[papau]

He has had 3 problems recently - but while everyone has had problems at various points in a campaign, Obama has come through these without a scratch - in my opinion.

The DU thread discussing how the Selma speech showed arrogance (Joshua references for those not into the Bible) by telling the civil rights warriors of the past that were there listening that they should step aside for the new MLK -named Obama - got few responses on DU.

The revelation/reminder that Obama said he did not know how he would have voted on IWR - on CNN in 04 so it may be coming to an ad in the fall? - because he did not have the intel the Senators had got again a modest DU response and actually got him some great main stream media since ABC saw fit to push that while it was true that he did say that, Obama was anti-war. Indeed large headline and long column - at least at ABC.

And today's revelation the the Apple 1984 spoof on Hillary - which Obama denied having any connection with - came from a media firm working for Obama - seems to be filed under bad employee is now fired and Obama is totally clean. This one if it holds will be proof of media teflon IMHO - not a bad thing to have as Reagan showed everyone.

[Vinca]

1. Maybe - and that would be a great thing when the Swift Boaters

gear up for their full court press. Obama seems to have the ability to look at a camera and convey the message, "Of course not, what are you . . . f***ing nuts?" without saying a word.

[papau]

11. True - and that is one heck of an ability! n/t

n/t

[Perky]

2. Understand I was not attacking Obama at all

I was commenting on his brilliance and his audacity and was curious if there was a battle brewing.

[papau]

9. I see no battle anywhere - very calm - and that is what was of interest to me! n/t

n/t

[BeyondGeography]

3. Yes, or maybe

a) His Selma speech wasn't arrogant at all.

b)His antiwar credentails really are impeccable because the one questionable quote was made in connection with an attempt to protect the asses of his Democratic elders, and

c) He really had nothing to do with the Apple spoof ad.

[H2O Man]

4. Right.

It is shallow to try to say his campaign was connected to the spoof ad. It doesn't take teflon to see that doesn't stick.

[papau]

6. No connection? = Perhaps no direction, but the media company employee that created the

ad worked for a media company under contract for Obama. It is the "We did not authorize or direct them to make the ad" that is being sold to the public/media - and it seems the sale is made very easily.

Indeed it may be true - but truth usually has little to do with how these things turn out.

[H2O Man]

8. Right.

No connection.

[papau]

10. OK - no "real" connection! I'm sold! n/t

n/t

[H2O Man]

12. It appears

that you are trying to "sell" something.

[Colobo]

13. Exactly... and it's not working

[papau]

15. Sigh - I am selling "teflon" - - you appear to want only sainthood to be sold - whatever gets your

vote is of no concern of mine - but I note the Teflon - and I'll wait a while before I agree on the sainthood.

[H2O Man]

19. Wrong.

Because I think that you have failed to connect the Obama campaign with one individual's actions would hardly seem to indicate that I am advocating "sainthood." Rather, it is another jump in logic that simply doesn't hold up.

I have no idea who I will vote for in the primary. At this point, I believe that each of the identified candidates has styrengths and weaknesses. I do not see any saints among them, if only because I know that saints are but dead sinners, who have had their lives revised and edited by others.

[papau]

20. LOL - and yes it is a jump in logic - but it's a jump made by the media about Dems all

the time.

It is not being made about Obama.

Perhaps this is but an example of a new media attitude toward all Dems - no jumps in logic permitted - I hope so.

I am also not decided an the primary - but I have concluded that I have only one issue - single payer health (the other future action issues like Iraq I suspect will be treated nearly the same by all candidates - if not I will have more than one issue to ponder).

At this point of the big three the Edwards plan is the only one out there and is inadequate - but at least more extensive than Hillary's child care only approach. DK has what I want but doesn't seem more than a protest vote so far.

[H2O Man]

21. I think that the democrats

have a strong group of candidates. I look forward to the debates that will take place across the country -- and especially on DU -- that focus on the strengths and weaknesses of each one.

The media attitude strikes me as curious -- yesterday, for example, I heard again on MSNBC that the democrats don't have "a position" on Iraq. Of course the party doesn't have any single position .... although there is a common theme that the administration lied to the country to get us into the war, and has failed the country (including the military) as well as the Iraqi people. Yet there are differing opinions on what path we should take. I see that as a democratic strength.

More, these same journalists fail to mention that there is not a single "republican position" on the war. The candidate that wants to be most closely associated with the Bush-Cheney policy seems to be John McCain, and I think his chances of being elected in '08 are about the same as Bob Dole's.

We have some a lot of very serious problems facing our country. Between now and the end of the primary season, we need to decide what must be done, what is realistic and what is idealistic, and who is most capable of accomplishing the most important things. In these months, I hope that people at the grass roots level invest time and money in moving the party to the left. My primary concern is that there are attempts being made to lower the number of choices we have .... and to make a "moderate" democrat appear our best bet. In that sense, though support for Dennis K may seem to be a form of protest at this time, if I were to support any one candidate right now, it would probably be him.

[NYCGirl]

22. They also worked for Richardson and Visack — using your logic, maybe one of their

campaigns put them up to it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/phil-de-vellis-aka-parkridge/i-made-the-vote-differen_b_43989.html

[papau]

14. All that may be true - and likely is - but truth rarely counts with our media or even

with posts on DU as flame wars often break out over nothing that can be proven - and where nothing was meant to imply anything, most likely .

[Colobo]

5. If anything, you are trying to imply in your post

that Obama is arrogant, is inconsistent abour Iraq and is running a dirty campaign.

Nice try, though.

[papau]

7. No - read the response to H2O man n/t

n/t

[Atman]

16. Teflon is bad for you. It leaches into your food and rots your brains.

Just sayin. Maybe he's our "PAM" candidate.

.

[bryant69]

17. We don't have a teflon candidate

And we won't; the Right Wing and the Press (to a certain extent) haven't really gotten started on Obama yet.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[BeyondGeography]

18. Back on point, the parallel with Reagan is interesting

in this respect: Reagan got the benefit of the doubt from his supporters no matter how bad he fucked up because people LOVED him. We thought they were nuts, but the dynamic was undeniable. This is what made the teflon effect possible.

Whenever Ronnie stumbled, the media was blamed, the LIBERAL media. This was an incredible source of strength for Reagan, as he was essentially able to talk to his base over the heads of the media. I see the same potential in Obama, whose essential goodness (like Reagan's, as far as his base was concerned...work with me people) is unquestioned by growing numbers of people who want to love him. Obama still has a long way to go before he has the emotional claim on people that Reagan had, but he alone among our candidates IMHO has the potential to enjoy that kind of popularity.

In the meantime, however, he will need to have his facts straight.

[skipos]

23. He doesn't give the Repubs much dirt to work with, so the IRAQ HUSSEIN OSAMA

muslim innuendo is what they will try. Most informed voters will see through it, but there are millions of uninformed voters out there.

[Mugu]

24. I’m waiting to see who brings up his vote

while in the Illinois Senate against (I think it was called) the born alive protection law. I always wondered if the Republicans tried to pass the law knowing that they could use a Democrat’s vote against it at a later time to smear them.

It may not be brought up during the primaries, but you can be sure that it will if he’s the Democratic nominee.

Regards, Mugu

[Nikki Stone1]

25. Maybe it's all about antibodies

It seemed that every Obama "scandal" (parking tickets, smoking, MLK) was fairly small and easily remedied and forgotten. I wondered if this was why "Obama, the Magic Negro" was published in the LA TImes: someone was trying to find a way of creating a negative vibe around Obama, even though he had done nothing wrong. (I thought that article was ridiculous, targeted toward left wing white voters to make them feel they were complicit in some kind of closet racism if they voted for Obama.)

Then came the 1984 ad, and I'm not sure anymore what the game is.

I don't know how Teflon he will be ultimately, but perhaps there is a PR thing behind it, slowly building up an immunity to bad news. The attacks are small enough (and indirect enough) to create a defensive reaction on the left. When the big revelations come along, the cognitive anti-bodies will be strong enough to fight it.

Just my 2 cents.