Where to start…
I had a lot of faith in this guy when all of this started.. but it seems as if that faith is slowly melting away into doubt. I hope in the coming months he will revive my spirits.
Anyways, What I fear about him… (or his qualities that make me fearful I should say)
1) His empty promises.
I really looked past it all these months during the primaries, but last night it really hit me how empty and shallow his “speeches” are. At one point last night he PROMISED to lower the taxes of some 90% of middle class americans merely by cutting through corporate loop-holes, and cutting there speding (or something or the other). I understand that that type of thing can in fact be done… but where is all that money going to come from.. 90% of middle class americans?… that’s A LOT of dough. I think it was Ben Stein that said it on Larry King after the Convention; that a proposal like that is absolutely impossible. Very disheartening…
2) He is too good at playing off people’s emotions.
I realize that this is a skill that politicians need to obtain to get people to follow them into battle, but if you ask me… it went a little over-board last night. All this “not fighting for a blue or red america” and using all these examples of poor factory workers having to send there children to grandparent’s houses and selling there shops and so on and so forth….. yea, I’ll agree that it can work up to a certain degree, but after a while, (to me anyway) it all just starts to sound like a mountainous load of hot air.
sorry dude.
3) Hypocrisy within his campaign
We all know he is the candidate for change. Poor naked children in third world countries without TVs know it at this point. All he ever talks about is breaking party lines and not following the ways of “old Washington.”
My problem is, how can you preach so hard on reaching across party lines and uniting the parties, and not bickering like the ways of the “old Washington” when you sit and slice and dice the other party in front of not only 75,000 directly in front of you, but millions and millions more watching on TV.
I don’t get it.
I know I had a lot more to say about ole Barack that John McCain. Sorry about that. I’m just a little frustrated with Obama and friends right now.
3 Comments
August 29, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I’ll do my best to offer up a defense, but it will be hard because I have my own doubts.
1) Republicans are always promising to cut taxes too, so lets not be too harsh on him. Fiscal responsibility is a big issue, and I wish people would talk about it more, because the Republicans have failed enormously these last eight years in that area. And there is a good deal of it that is simply wasted spending. If someone could figure out what was wasteful, what wasn’t really effective and cut spending on all those programs, they could theoretically give a lot more to liberal programs on education (one I think both parties should work on), healthcare, energy, and everything else they promise. And he said as much. The theory is that you tax the upper class more to make up for the tax cuts in the middle class, restore fiscal sanity to the budget, and then you’ll have money. And I wouldn’t count on the Democrats to erase the deficit, but it’s Republicans who got us into this crap hole in the first place. So the logic is there, but it will be very tough, and to think that any candidate can deliver on all their campaign promises is pure fantasy. Nobody has, ever.
I thought last night was one of the most substantive speeches he’s ever given (I only read the text) on a stage like that. The problem with national politics is that many times you have to play to the lowest common factor. It’s hard to get really meaty, because most people just tune out. Even highly intelligent people many times don’t understand the inter-workings of the budget, the dynamics of the economy, the healthcare system or any of that stuff. That’s why there are people in the cabinet who specialize on certain areas, because no one understands it all. So yeah, you aren’t likely to get much meat on a national stage, but I thought last night was one of his better ones in that area. His website’s Issues section is far more detailed than John McCain’s, I might ad.
2) Many historians think that the president’s power to persuade is the greatest power he can possess. The President doesn’t actually have many real powers (don’t tell that to Dick Cheney), but he does have the power to be a statesman. And those who master that power become great Presidents. Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, etc. all had that ability to inspire and to lead, and much of that was by virtue of their oratory, which was often very lofty and fluffy. Lincoln appealed to the “better angels of our nature” in his first inauguration, Roosevelt said “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” in his, Kennedy said “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard”, and Johnson appealed to Congress to do honor to their fallen leader (Kennedy) by passing the Civil Rights Act. All of these things were said at pivotal times, and they didn’t have much to them, but they were more than just words. Each vowed to do what seemed impossible, and because they were great leaders and great men, they did it.
I say this not to compare Obama to Lincoln or anyone else. He could be Abraham Lincoln, or he could be James Buchannon, and we will have no way of knowing until many years after his terms have passed. But when people say “all he has are speeches,” I see the fact that he is a brilliant and inspiring orator as his greatest asset. And it’s one he will use time and time again in the Presidency.
3) I think there’s a difference between personal attacks and substantive disagreements. When he says, “We are better than these last 8 years”, I don’t think that’s a personal attack on anyone. There is a case to be made, and it can be made respectfully, that Republicans have really messed up over the last 8 years. And in an election, the case has to be made that you are better suited to lead than the other guy. I draw a serious distinction between ideological disagreement and mindless partisan hackery, and I think that’s what he is addressing when he talks about a new kind of politics.
Again, I have lots of doubts too, I was just offering up defense for the sake of conversation.
August 29, 2008 at 5:13 pm
well you obviously know more about all the tax cuts and policies (as spoken in number 1) than I do lol. A lot of these thoughts and opinions come from my limited knowledge about all this stuff. and you are right, every politician makes promises that they don’t uphold while in office, I’m just tired of hearing them
……. (as we all probably are)
I guess I should have made it more clear, but I find Obama to be an outstanding speaker. He is extremely dynamic and his words are spoken with finesse. Once again, I just get tired of hearing the same stories about the factory workers he met last week who have to shut down there business. (I guess he just has to keep using them to get his point across) And I know that is a serious matter, and I’m not making light of it at all, I’m just tired of all the campaigning. It may be a personal thing. Its like one of those movies that looks like its going to be absolutely terrible but you want it to come out already so you don’t have to watch the trailers for it during the commercials in between the Simpsons.
(That was probably a bad analogy.)
August 30, 2008 at 12:15 am
Campaigns can be tiring. Sometimes it’s good just to turn it off for a while.