Hillary and Bill are demonstrating the ease with which Barack Obama can be pushed around. With no real leverage over Obama, they have managed to secure prime time speeches for themselves on Tuesday and Wednesday night at the convention and to get Hillary’s name placed in nomination. They have won all of their demands for convention scheduling. In the name of party unity, Obama has given away the store. After the nominations, there will be a roll call vote. This further assures that the convention will be a continuation of the primaries and that Obama will be a guest at his own convention.This begs the basic question: Is Barack Obama strong enough to be president?
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Obama Shows Weakness vs. Clintons
I found this interesting article from previous Clinton adviser, Dick Morris, who points out that while Obama has become a media darling his inability to control even his own convention may ultimately prove his inability to meet the extreme demands of leading this nation:
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4 comments:
It might be because it's late. But I don't really see how this can only be interpreted as weakness. If we know anything about Obama we know he likes to include a multitude of discourses into his own political narrative. Opening up to the Clintons is a move right in line with Obama's attitude, just look at how diverse his foreign policy staff is. It also shows an attempt at party unity on his part.
Is it weakness not to kick your enemies while they are down? I'm not sure. But I think it's a strength for a linebacker to extend a hand after he just tackled the running back.
It would be gracious if Obama allowed Hillary to have a speech and let that be the end of it. This is not what is happening. Hillary is speaking, she's having her name put into nomination, she is having seconding speeches and Bill is also speaking. This isn't a case of "not kicking your opponent when they're down" it's an example of the lack of control Obama wields over a convention that is supposed to be about him
Maybe I misunderstood you then. What do you mean by lack of control?
The convention is supposed to be about Obama; the winner of the primary race and the Democratic nominee. It is supposed to focus on his vision for the future and how he plans to lead this nation. By allowing the Clintons - his primary opponents - to have two nights of prime-time speeches, it sends the message that Obama has not truly won. In other words, he may have won people's votes, but he has not won the full support of his own party... it's kind of like they're saying, "lets split the nomination 50/50."
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