Jeremiah Hits Houston

Love the maps!

I'm curious why you're so bitter about Obama. Did he bite you when you were a kid? Is he a secret Bush bastard?

No, I'm serious. I really AM curious.

Dunno that I'd call it bitterness, but there are presently two aspects of Obama's campaign that I find particularly disagreeable:

1. The 90s never happened ... or it could have been a better decade in terms of economic performance. If history is kind to Obama, then his statements to this effect will be forgotten. But if the media were being accurate right about now, they'd note that Obama's economic team hardly has anything in the works that would indicate how they might go about doing better.

2. The belief that there is some attainable post-partisan moment that can be willed into existence. There's a dangerous naivete at work here. At a minimum, it would just cost Obama a defeat in a general election. But at worst, there's the risk of a repeat of the Carter years, where the belief that anti-communism was out of fashion was met with an expansionist Soviet Union that invaded Afghanistan. I prefer neither such scenario be played out in the context of current events.

On the whole, I think Obama's campaign messaging is wonderful for naive elites who would like to start politics anew and are tired of seeing some of the same debates play out. But at the core of politics, there's a reason those debates play out and there's a reason they don't go away. To merely wish them away with a glowing speech that impresses a certain population just strikes me as well beyond fanciful. I'll stick with the reality-based world.

That's not to suggest that the Clinton campaign is a perfect practitioner of the opposite. But merely to highlight what it is that most disturbs me about the Obama campaign.

I see, so you're afraid too many of his supporters have let go of reality too much. Well, there's something to that. Many of us have. Every day I read plenty of pro-Obama comments that make me cringe. But that's true on both sides, I think.

I don't expect peace to break out suddenly in DC, but I DO think he's the best candidate on that front. I'm failing to see why speech about making peace in DC is a liability, since Bush II made similar noises (same thing squared with partisan pastor influences).

The major reasons I'm supporting Obama are disinterest in fear, and LACK of White House experience. Hillary Clinton has long been engaged in trading fear (of drugs, media and videogame porn and violence, terrorism, etc.) for rights; Obama's record so far says he isn't going to make it worse. WH experience comes with a penalty: corruption. Her husband and campaign chief look to me like they're already there. It took Bush II a whole YEAR to go corrupt after his WH experience.

Obama's hardly a peacenik. He supports the Afghan War, wishes we'd just occupied there (probably right, in hindsight), and wants to add 100k to the military. I know the right WISHES he were Carter II; I don't think they'll enjoy November, no matter if Clinton or Obama win.