Tuesday, February 12, 2008
That Obama Magic
Has anyone noticed that talking to Obama supporters is like talking to children?
Here's some of the things we've heard recently:
Republican politicians and pundits overwhelmingly praise Obama because they, too, are sick of the status quo.
Republican politicians and pundits are afraid to run against Obama; the one they really want to run against is Hillary Clinton.
John McCain is a moderate -- see, Rush Limbaugh doesn't like him!
Barack Obama is very, very liberal -- Rush Limbaugh says so!
It doesn't matter that Hillary beat Obama in Florida, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Arkansas, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and New York.
Don't worry about Texas, Florida, and California; given a choice, Hispanic and Luso-American voters will choose Obama over McCain, all evidence to the contrary, and even though McCain has cultivated a reasonable (for a Republican) stance on immigration. After all, African-American voters would vote for Hillary over McCain, so Hispanics will vote for Obama -- right? Yes we can!
Health care really isn't a pressing issue.
The health care plans of Obama and Hillary are virtually identical.
The differences between the health care plans of Obama and Hillary are immaterial, because neither plan will become law as currently proposed -- after all, what can a President accomplish with both a House and Senate of his or her party?
Look, you can't have mandated health care, because it would be too expensive, and besides, how would you enforce it?
Ok, we mandate things like car insurance and Social Security, but hey, Social Security faces a "looming crisis" and needs to be fixed in the very near future anyway.
And so on.
It seems unlikely that Hillary Clinton can overcome all four of the forces aligned against her: the corporate propagandists in the media, the Obama money machine, the misogynist undercurrent in our society, and the breathtaking naivete of younger Democratic voters. Even if the momentum doesn't swing enough to stop her from taking Texas and Ohio on March 4, those forces will only redouble their efforts to assassinate her character, and her campaign -- even if it means changing the rules of the party to disenfranchise the superdelegates while maintaining the rules that disenfranchise the voters of Florida and Michigan.
That leaves McCain vs. Obama, which gives Texas, Florida, and maybe even California to McCain. And that's that.
Even if by some miracle Obama pulls out a win against McCain (don't bet on it) the powers that have opposed health care in this country for decades will have stopped it again -- improbably this time, and in the face of overwhelming support for it. Obama v. McCain is win-win for them.
Then Social Security "reform" will be back on the table -- again, however improbably, unnecessary, and unpopular.
You have to hand it to the money: it really knows how to win.
Here's some of the things we've heard recently:
Republican politicians and pundits overwhelmingly praise Obama because they, too, are sick of the status quo.
Republican politicians and pundits are afraid to run against Obama; the one they really want to run against is Hillary Clinton.
John McCain is a moderate -- see, Rush Limbaugh doesn't like him!
Barack Obama is very, very liberal -- Rush Limbaugh says so!
It doesn't matter that Hillary beat Obama in Florida, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Arkansas, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and New York.
Don't worry about Texas, Florida, and California; given a choice, Hispanic and Luso-American voters will choose Obama over McCain, all evidence to the contrary, and even though McCain has cultivated a reasonable (for a Republican) stance on immigration. After all, African-American voters would vote for Hillary over McCain, so Hispanics will vote for Obama -- right? Yes we can!
Health care really isn't a pressing issue.
The health care plans of Obama and Hillary are virtually identical.
The differences between the health care plans of Obama and Hillary are immaterial, because neither plan will become law as currently proposed -- after all, what can a President accomplish with both a House and Senate of his or her party?
Look, you can't have mandated health care, because it would be too expensive, and besides, how would you enforce it?
Ok, we mandate things like car insurance and Social Security, but hey, Social Security faces a "looming crisis" and needs to be fixed in the very near future anyway.
And so on.
It seems unlikely that Hillary Clinton can overcome all four of the forces aligned against her: the corporate propagandists in the media, the Obama money machine, the misogynist undercurrent in our society, and the breathtaking naivete of younger Democratic voters. Even if the momentum doesn't swing enough to stop her from taking Texas and Ohio on March 4, those forces will only redouble their efforts to assassinate her character, and her campaign -- even if it means changing the rules of the party to disenfranchise the superdelegates while maintaining the rules that disenfranchise the voters of Florida and Michigan.
That leaves McCain vs. Obama, which gives Texas, Florida, and maybe even California to McCain. And that's that.
Even if by some miracle Obama pulls out a win against McCain (don't bet on it) the powers that have opposed health care in this country for decades will have stopped it again -- improbably this time, and in the face of overwhelming support for it. Obama v. McCain is win-win for them.
Then Social Security "reform" will be back on the table -- again, however improbably, unnecessary, and unpopular.
You have to hand it to the money: it really knows how to win.
