Obama does not win always win arguments by being right. Often he simply stakes out a middle ground and sticks to it, staying very calm and genial as his opponents flail about and eventually commit some grievous error. Then they are finished and Obama goes onto the next level. It sounds easy to do, so why doesn't everyone else do it? It is like saying all you have to do to be a great baseball player is to hit the ball out of the park. The trick is to know what position to take, far enough in advance, so that the other side is only left with the lesser choice. It is complicated because in politics it is not enough to figure out which position is correct logically. You have to know which one will win. Not always the same thing.
But there has to be some luck involved also. How did Obama go from being a State Senator in Illinois to the Democratic nominee for President in four years? People take a lifetime, if ever, to make that transition. He was extraordinarily lucky in his Senate race. His first opponent, Ryan, self-destructed in a sex scandal. (Don't ask. Ok just a hint: 7 of 9) As replacement the Republican Party could find only Alan Keyes, the Mike Stark of the Right wing. Keyes was so batshit crazy that Obama did not even have to work hard to win in a landslide.
You don't plan that sort of thing. It has to be luck. I think.
Obama is also quite good at political machinations when they are needed. Chicago happens to be a good place to learn that stuff. When he ran for State Senate, he got his opponent disqualified by challenging her nomination signatures. Obama understands details of the political process and is quite capable of exploiting technicalities to his advantage. This skill was to serve him well during the Democratic primary where he won a disproportionate number of delegates from Party Caucuses. Other candidates, even the ultimate insiders like Sen. Clinton, missed that.
There is more to it. Solid politicians melt when they go against Obama. There is something about the icy steel beneath the geniality that unnerves mortals. Why did Sen. Clinton, who spent a lifetime watching, learning and practicing politics, blather about the RFK assassination? We all made a big fuss about it, but honestly, Sen. Clinton just screwed up royally. She could not have possibly meant to suggest that she was waiting for the unthinkable to happen so she can win the Primary.
Why did Jesse Jackson go nuts yesterday? True, he is not in the same leagues as Sen. Clinton politically. But how dumb do you have to be to whisper unmentionables to your friend while you are in a FOX News studio? Hot mike or not, there is something really odd going on here.
You might say Jackson is not an opponent, but an ally. The word frenemy comes to mind.
Why does the McCain campaign make gaffe after gaffe, wasting the three month head start they got in the GE? Phil Gramm always had a habit of making an ass out of himself, but even by his standards, calling the American people whiny and declaring the recession a mental depression is a bit extreme.
What causes such unforced errors?. An old strategy of war is to present your enemy with an odd situation, one that makes him lose his confidence in his own abilities. Just by being himself, Obama is that unfamiliar situation.
Although he is a mainstream Democratic politician, his unusual background and extraordinary intellect and guile allow him to present himself as something out of the ordinary. He confuses not only his opponents but even his followers.
He tells people exactly what he is going to do and they can hear exactly what they want him to say. Some of them later get disillusioned. The smarter ones can always go back and read word for word what he said and realize that Obama has kept to the spirit of his promises and even to the letter, except for a couple of times.
For the first time in American politics, Obama has given his rank and file supporters a mechanism to express their discontent with the candidate within his own campaign. Modern technology makes this possible. But there is more here than mere technical wizardry. By keeping dissent in-house, Obama co-opts the energy of those who could have been out there roaming as wild pumas. It is a form of political jujitsu. Obama gains even from the energy of the agitators who are organizing against him.
People get mad at Obama, announce that they are going to abandon him. They write diaries here with titles like "Dont Donate to Obama". " I have had it with Obama". Few days later the same people are still with him, and are now threatening to abandon ship yet again over some other issue. Of all the social phenomena associated with Obama this is the one I find most baffling.
How will I miss you if you never leave? you want to ask them. Al Giordano understands these people. He has seen them during his days as community organizer. Presumably Obama learned how to deal with people the same way.
Obama impresses some people with his intellect. Others are won over by his charisma and eloquence. Yet others are scared shitless by his icy resolve. Then there are those who look at him as their daddy figure. Daddy gimme that. Gimme a space station. Health care. Stop the big bad Republicans from tapping my phone. Pay off my campaign debt. Although I borrowed to destroy you.
Sometimes Obama evokes the opposite response. These are people who want to teach Obama a lesson. To encourage good behavior in him by withholding his allowance--ahem.... contribution- until he shapes up.
If Obama can keep his enemies confused and his supporters dazzled, he will win this election. But there are no guarantees in politics. In the second half of the Primary campaign, Sen. Clinton almost figured out how to defeat Obama. Until she talked about RFK.
McCain is still clueless about Obama. Let us hope he never gets a clue.
UPDATE: I just realized who McCain has been reminding me of. ELMER FUDD!! Take that you silly wabbit!
h/t Axmxz
