Comments | blueyedbaby: One-track mind

blueyedbaby

One-track mind

Jan 28, 2008 11:21

Today I read the first convincing endorsement for Barack Obama that I've seen to date. And let me just say that I really could care less that Deval Patrick and John Kerry and Ted Kennedy (and Caroline Kennedy) have all endorsed him. I really could care less that he has a number of glowing recommendations from a number of politicians and celebrities ( Read more... )

Comments 3

cos January 28 2008, 19:52:37 UTC

I read that xkcd endorsement and even though I already favor Obama (and Edwards) over Hillary Clinton, I still found it very useful - especially in reminding me of Obama's consultation with Lawrence Lessig. I've long found that in a race where you have multiple candidates with strong liberal positions that are very close to each other, the best heuristic to identify who the really progressive ones are (as opposed to just liberal) is to look at process issues, particularly election reform and open/transparent government and accountability. If you just had candidates' position statements to go on, that strategy would've worked to identify Pat Jehlen as the progressive vs. Mackey when most of their positions were about the same, and it would've worked to identify Denise Provost as the progressive vs. Elizabeth Moroney, and so on. xkcd reminded me that this works in comparing Obama with Clinton, because both of them are very liberal, and I've long felt that Obama is at least partly a progressive while Clinton is not ( ... )

senadeth January 30 2008, 03:05:51 UTC

Why do you fear that Obama will be like Jimmy Carter?

blueyedbaby January 30 2008, 18:27:34 UTC

In 1976, the country faced a very similar political scene to the current one: we were nearing the end of what had been a corrupt Republican administration marred not by sexual scandals but by lies covered up with more lies, and all of a sudden, a young, untested idealist rises from the dust to have a surprise win in the Iowa caucus.

He went on from there to beat out a number of more experienced, well-known Democratic contenders for the nomination, all the while campaigning on (let’s all say it together now): change. Carter campaigned on change so effectively because the country was in the wake of an extremely divisive war and an extremely unpopular Republican administration. And it’s starting to sound familiar.

We look back now on the Nixon years and wonder how anybody running in 1976 could have not campaigned on change…another similarity to what we’re seeing this year, only imagine if Dick Cheney were in the race as well ( ... )