May 29, 2008–Karl Rove’s op-ed piece, Obama’s Revisionist History, in today’s Wall Street Journal is a mini-appetizer, a teeny, tiny fraction of the vast “kitchen sink” that Republicans will throw at Barack Obama if he is the Democratic Presidential nominee. He covers Rev. Wright (that flap’s obviously not over), Obama’s backpedaling on his foreign policy gaffes about meetings he’d have unconditionally with rogue leaders, and his ever-changing family history.
By October, Mr. Obama was backpedaling, talking about needing “some progress or some indication of good faith,” and by April, “sufficient preparation.” It got so bad his foreign policy advisers were (falsely) denying he’d ever said he’d meet with Mr. Ahmadinejad – even as he still defended his original pledge to have meetings without precondition.
The list goes on. Mr. Obama’s problem is a campaign that’s personality-driven rather than idea-driven. Thus incidents calling into question his persona and character can have especially devastating consequences.
Stripped of his mystique as a different kind of office seeker, he could become just another liberal politician – only one who parses, evades, dissembles and condescends. That narrative is beginning to take hold. If those impressions harden into firm judgments, Mr. Obama will have a very difficult time in November.
Oy vey! It’s a very sad day in Boomerville when a (former?) lifelong Dem could agree with Karl Rove (or FOX News), but I’ll say it anyway: What he said. . . And more, but we know that’s coming.
Isn’t it clear that Democrats should choose (well, over 17 million already have) the “idea-driven” candidate?
Lady Boomer NYC 