Joe,
I’m not sure why the Republicans were successful in 2000 and 2004, but isn’t at least some of their success due to election fraud?  As for strategy, I think you give them too much credit. 

Too many Americans rely on 30 second sound bites, headlines, and political attack ads for making decisions about candidates.  And that is really all that the Republicans have going for them outside of election fraud.  If all they had were the wealthy to support them, they could not get anyone elected.

So, the strategy never changes.  Get everyone upset about something - terrorists, abortion, gay marriage - and hammer away at it until it’s all they hear.  Then attack the challenger with whatever you can find or invent so that your guy looks better even if he is the Crawford village idiot.

Joe, you are right about the crackers, but they were not going to vote for Obama anyhow.  Obama’s strength is his ability to mobilize younger and more educated voters. His support was never going to come from the guys who repeat what they heard on talk radio and Fox News. 

The right wing will tear down whoever the opponent is, Obama or Hillary.  They have to make McCain look like a better choice.  After eight years of Bush, they have no accomplishments and everything is against them - foreign policy, healthcare, the economy.  Tearing down the other guy is all they have.

I’ve been watching ‘Winter Soldiers’ on Democracy Now.  Pastor Wright is right about God damming America.  Indiscriminate killing of innocent men, women and children in Iraq is rending the minds of our young men.  Insanity and unspeakable shame!

Cyrena:

“Liza, he ALWAYS writes his own speeches.”

Nope.  His head speechwriter is Jon Favreau, assisted by Adam Frankel and Ben Rhodes.  And since Ted Kennedy’s endorsement, the legendary Ted Sorenson (speechwriter for JFK) has been chiming in unofficially:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/fashion/20speechwriter.html?pagewanted=print

Peace.

Joe in Maine:

Your quote: You assume that the GOP believes that Hillary is the weaker candidate?”

**Funny..that of all the posters “Joe in Maine”, that you would accuse others of making assumptions.  You have continuously made assumptions on many different stories on Truthdig.  Such as:

This:  ” Tomorrow Obama will be standing there blood-soaked and soot-faced trying to explain why he cut the wrong colored wire just before the big boom sound we all heard last Thursday night. Not to put any additional pressure on the guy but his whole political future depends on spin and damage control now… “

And this: “Oh well, you must have been out at the Kool-Aid concession stand in the hallway during that part of Obama’s speech, huh? The rethuglicans are going to peel him like a banana in the general. Oddly enough they will find nothing under there but jockeys, no skeleton or anything, making him an actual empty suit, but I digress.”

And this:  “He must find a way to turn this into a teaching opportunity and raise awareness among white male voters. This “God Damn America” stuff is going to destroy any chance he had of a crossover voter block. It’s never going to attract your average ex-military, pickup drivin’, Skoll-chewin’, deer-huntin’, country music listenin’ good-ol-boys from the back woods of Maine to the swamps of Florida. You can’t alienate the redneck vote this year and expect to win.”

And this: “That’s why some pundits even theorize that Obama has been encouraging this story to break at this moment so he can have the national stage and hit a political home run when his opponant can’t say a word about race at any level without being boxed in as a biggot.”

And this: “It’s a tough job to erase the impassioned cries of, “God Damn America” in an electorate that secretly distrusts anyone with radical views. I guess only time will tell.”

And of course this: “No matter what that might be, thanks to his love for his pastor, a growing number of people see a more elequent and socially acceptable version of Jessie Jackson at best and Louis Farrakhan at worst. He has become the black candidate. It is a mortal wound in this day and age, I am afraid. A more serious problem for Obama is his growing credibility issue. He’s playing loose with the truth on a regular basis. People have a strong sense of BS when they hear it.”

**Let me reiterate that for you “Joe in Maine”, “PEOPLE HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF BS WHEN THEY HEAR IT.”  I only have one question, why do republicans work so hard at making fools of themselves…?  no offense, of course…

Liza - please see my reply above. Not sure why it didn’t indent under your comment. Sorry.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. You and I are on different sides of a couple of issues here. First I don’t necessarily believe it was the GOP that got this year old story to play at this most perfect of moments for the Obama campaign. With a virtual eternity, four weeks, to clean up this messy pastor business before PA, could there be a better time for this story to be addressed by the Obama campaign? Rev. Wright is one of the three issues Obama’s Alexrod knew would be a potential deal-breaker. I don’t believe in coincidences in politics.

You assume that the GOP believes that Hillary is the weaker candidate? I strongly disagree. Lord Darth Rove ‘endorsed’ Obama for a reason. Don’t expect the Swift-Boaters to show you their cards before the game starts. The rethuglicans have done their OP research and know that Wright, Rezko and the Truth are Obama’s weak points. Remember if you will that this group of political operatives beat two legitimate war heroes with a drunken draft-dodger with an IQ lower than the average daily temperature of Waco Texas. This is a group that spent $70 million on a Whitewater investigation putting life-long friends of Bill&Hill;in federal prison and they got… NOTHING. Honestly. Search your soul and ask what absolute evil will do to a one-third of one term freshman senator from IL, a man who has been running for a better gig his whole life? They will peel him like a banana.

Was it a great speech? I believe it was. Joe Sixpack is looking for the words, “I’m sorry. What was I thinking?” and they won’t find it. The best analogy I can give you about this speech is this. Imagine Michael Jordon getting clothes lined under the basket, taken to the ground in a terribly flagrant foul. After the game the player gives a tearful apology to Jordan. How many times will ESPN show the foul? How many times will ESPN show the post-game speech? You see my point? The people who wanted to see Obama do well today saw just that. Most people will never understand the complexity of Obama’s relationship with Wright. A dime store shrink like me can imagine a young black man raised in a white household might have been looking for a great man to teach him about his heritage. Wright is more than a spiritual advisor, he a father in many ways. The people predisposed to hate Obama if he seems too radical will never forget the flagrant foul. GOD DAMN AMERICA is going to unite the crackers I am sorry to say. No post game apology will resonate louder than the foul.

“...I just read that Obama wrote the entire speech himself over a two day period…”

Liza, he ALWAYS writes his own speeches. There aren’t too many from our history who are this brilliant, eh?

Like you, I was glued to the screen.

I’ve always liked Obama, (even when I don’t agree with him) and I’ve always recognized and appreciated his brilliance. But, this goes beyond that.

It brings to mind a comment I overheard just a few weeks ago…(on a university campus). Apparently this was between two grad students, or maybe even a student and his advisor. It sounded like maybe the continuation of a discussion that I only heard this short part of…they may have been discussing a grade, or whatever.

Anyway, the one guy is claiming that “he has knowledge”, and it’s clear that he’s definitely trying to make this point.

The other guy tells him that it doesn’t do much good to have the KNOWLEDGE, if one isn’t able to express or otherwise communicate it.

Sounded pretty rational to me, and it sort of hit home, since I’m not always able to properly articulate certain complexities myself, even when I do understand them.

Therein lies the brilliance of Barack Obama. If folks didn’t ‘get this’, than they won’t. Some just can’t, and others don’t want to.

You’re right. This is historical.

The title that truthdig has here couldn’t be better…it is a TEACHABLE MOMENT.

Free education. We should be grateful. Tuition these days is totally out of reach. A lecture not HALF as good as this one would cost mega bucks these days.

Thank you Prof. Obama.
(seriously).

Thanks Outraged…this says it all. (so I don’t have to.)

Joe,
I think it is important to remember that the conservative right wing would attack any Democrat in the same manner as Obama.  I believe that the attack on Obama has been launched early for two reasons.  One is that McCain is now the Republican nominee so they are now free to interfere in the Democratic race.  And, they believe that Hillary is the weaker candidate so it is to their advantage to get rid of Obama.  The attack on Hillary is only necessary if she becomes the nominee.

So, it was going to be something, and in Obama’s case, race is obviously the easiest and most divisive issue to exploit.  It is all about winning the election and there are only two ways that the Republicans can win in 2008.  The first way is election fraud.  The second is by tearing down the opposing candidate to a level that makes McCain look like the best choice despite his warmongering and other unappealing flaws. 

Obama is not fatally wounded, in my opinion.  They are up against a world class orator who can engage people and get them to listen.  He responded to his attackers with a speech that will become part of American history.  People listen to Obama and they hear a president. 

Whether the nominee is Obama or Hillary, the right wing tactics remain the same.  It is about trampling the opponent because it is all they can do other than fix the election in a couple of states.

Your accounting of time is much more accurate than my ham-handed reference to Obama wasting it. My point is not the specifics of when the story broke but more to the issue of offense and defense on the campaign trail. I’m bleary-eyed at the moment so I hope I can make a good case here and I am sorry if I don’t. Since the last week of February has Obama had any momentum? Has he had a single day where he controlled the message of the day? Perhaps he has, but for the most part I see him trying to defend himself. He’s so far off message at this point it’s difficult for me to see how he gets back on the offense. He’s never been able to slam the door shut on Hillary. If he lets her continue to hang around and hang around she might just slam the door on him. He’s spent the better part of Thursday, all day Fri, sat, Sun, Mon and today on the 88th most important issue to most voters. Hillary, meanwhile, has pounded the economy theme last weekend, gave a major speech on Iraq yesterday, followed up on Iraq today and so forth. You see my point, don’t you? I hear that Obama plans to give ‘major speeches’ on the topic of Iraq tomorrow and the economy later this week. Maybe he can put the Pastor Disaster behind him and start building momentum again. He may have stopped the bleeding today. Maybe.

I thought Obama’s speech was great.  It shows that he has the fortitude to address issues from all ethnic perspectives.  It is true that our roots AND our life experience plays very much into how we address racial controversy.

Everyone needs to be heard.  That doesn’t mean however that what they say will necessarily be endorsed or validated by America.  But still everyone needs some avenue to at least voice their concerns.  How can we address an issue everyone refuses to talk about?  Conversely, will we address an issue we refuse to hear?

It definitely shows strength of character for Obama to address the issue is such a forthright way.  This strengthens Obama as a candidate.  I think he made it clear that this isn’t about “those” people as opposed to “those people over there”, it is about us.

There’s always someone who makes every molehill into a mountain.  I’ve read so many comments and articles spewing rhetoric regarding this, that and the other thing. But in the end everyone knows that rhetoric is just that, rhetoric.

We know the right wing and some Hillary supporters, will do what they can to destroy his chances, but one thing he did with this speech, he opend the minds of people capable of thought and reason.  Real people, not the petty bigots and those who hate themselves and everything around them.

Normally people as enlightened as Obama do not go into politics, we are lucky he made the choice, we have an opportunity to elect someone to unify this county, instead of the usual divisive fear mongering crap.

Some people have stated that Bush made some nice speeches when he was running, and just making a nice speech does not mean anything, the difference is Obama was not born with a silver spoon up his ass like Bush, and anyway you try twist it,  the unifying and caring seem real with Obama.

Everything I have read in response to Obama’s speech today is mostly positive.  I would say overwhelmingly positive.  I just read that Obama wrote the entire speech himself over a two day period. 

I was hoping for a major Iraq speech on the fifth anniversary, but I understand why this speech had to be given, and yes, it was brilliant.

The speech did not bring me to tears but it kept me glued to my screen.  It will most definitely be considered one of the great speeches in American history. 

Obama still has time for a major Iraq speech before the next big primaries and I hope that he gives one.

RE: Joe in Maine: “Every day Obama spends talking about race…”

Joe,

I just want to make sure I understand the timeline here: This stink bomb of the Rev. Wright was thrown on Thursday or Friday of last week, the video clips are played everywhere on an endless loop, and Obama goes directly to almost every news outlet to comment on the Wright clips on Friday night.

The Rev. Wright clips are still on and endless loop and now the pundits are saying “Obama still has to address this issue in greater detail.” Obama addresses the issue in bold detail this afternoon (Monday; 3 days later) — what seemingly everyone is demanding. Almost everyone says it may be the most significant speech on the issue of race in the last 40-45 years.

This evening you are asking why he didn’t talk about something else and that if he doesn’t he loses traction?

I mean if this were, say, sometime next week or the week after and Obama had delivered an additional five speeches on nothing but race relations, I’d probably take and embrace your point.

But five hours later? Really? Isn’t that just a smidge soon to bemoan his ignoring the important issues of the day?

Personally, I have faith he will get back to business, oh, maybe tomorrow — pretty much like he did on Sunday at a small town in Pennsylvania where almost all he talked about was not rewarding companies who outsource jobs and plans to make more money available to people wanting to attend college. But, and I’m just guessing here, I’m thinking it’s tough to get to another town meeting and whip up another speech in five hours; don’t you think?

Obama’s speech was just brilliant.  It will certainly go down in the history books.

I agree with much of your thoughtful and well-reasoned posting. There are much bigger issues than race at stake in this election. As much as I want to believe that this country would be better off with an African-American as it’s President I have seen very little evidence that we as a nation are ready for one. The viral explosion of the Wright garbage was almost like watching a whole section of a ballpark do the wave, screaming in unison, “SEE! I told you he was black!”

Forty-five years ago Dr. King said, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Sadly, in the minds of too many, all men aspiring to the highest office in the land are not created equal.

I have some questions that will go unanswered tonight, but I’ll ask them anyway.

1. Is Obama fatally wounded?
2. Should Hillary be our nominee?
3. Can she win without the support of the Obama voters?
4. Is it more important to be right, or to win when you can’t have both?

I’m not that much older than Obama, but I grew up in the Jim Crow south and I have some very early memories of segregation.  Even as a little kid I knew that race would become less of an issue when the older generations died off and not because they would learn to be tolerant.  Some of them did, of course, but not the majority.

No one is less surprised than I am that race is the issue that the right wing will use to try to get McCain elected.  And if we are not careful, they just might do it.  There is plenty of residual racism for them to exploit.

We are at the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq and we have Dick Cheney telling us it was all worthwhile.  We have financial markets in turmoil or in “unchartered waters” as they say and it is not looking good.  We have 50 million Americans without healthcare.  And we could go on.

We can let the conservatives do it to us again and repeat 2004 by swiftboating our best candidate and making sure that America is safe for warmongers and greedy corporations. 

Or we can just say, “not this time” to paraphrase Senator Obama.  We need to stop giving up elections to “family values” or race or gender or whatever they come up with and then wonder how they did it to us.

We can stop it right now, and we should.

Amen. That was gorgeous. Thank you.

I posted this on another report but it should have been here.

My first reaction, without listening to the pundits spin was that it was a brilliant speech. Obama just put this subject away in my mind. No doubt the educated and or intellectuals of my party will really see the brilliance and appreciate the balls it took to give this speech. No doubt the ‘Dreamcatchers and Rainbows Wing’ of the democratic party will put a copy of this speech right up on the same shelf with MLK’s Dream and JFK’s Ask not! After a quick swig of Obama Kool-Aid they’ll be fired up and ready to go again. The Right Wing of the GOP will no doubt say he never appologized!!! Oh and he LIED too!!! God Damn America!!! Blah Blah Blah.

You know what Joe Sixpack (2008 Swing Voter) is going to be thinking tonight? “Who do we have to nuke to make my gas a buck a gallon again? Speech? What friggin’ speech?” 

I agree we need to move on to the important issues of the campaign. That’s what Obama needed to do. I predicted correctly his message but am left with the same questions. I commend Obama for pulling his pastor closer and at the same time distancing himself, even rising above the anti-white rhetoric of an old preacher, I have to wonder if the speech will resonate quite as loudly among those so completely turned off by the crazy talk of a pastor they could never relate to. It’s a tough job to erase the impassioned cries of, “God Damn America” in an electorate that secretly distrusts anyone with radical views. I guess only time will tell. Every day Obama spends talking about race he loses traction to both Clinton and McCain.

May we All soon know more
of our One Common Source
so that no more
will we be blind…..
May our angles of vision become
as varied and clear as the crystals
which grow in the caves..
Lovingly..
Firmly..
Eternally..
confronting the darkness..