The Empty Suit. The Used Idea Salesman. The Pied Piper of Failed Liberalism. But what do others say? Elitist. Arrogant. Naive. Stubbornness. Thin-skinned. Narcissist. Argumentative.
My very first impression of Barack Obama was "empty suit": a thin resume with no business or administrative experience, no military or foreign policy expert, no legislative track record of note, no signature domestic policy expertise. Personable, even somewhat charismatic and able to deliver an inspirational, well-modulated speech, but leaving one decidedly unsatiated thereafter. But put him in another context, say, the so-called primary debates, and Obama looks like a fish out of water. There are many iconic moments, one moment being in New Hampshire when Hillary Clinton's reaction to being told that Barack was perceived as more likeable was a tongue-in-cheek "That hurt my feelings...". Barack curtly responded that Hillary was "likeable enough", a rather patronizing, inappropriate thing to say.
What surprised me was when I went to Internet search engines, there were at least a quarter million to 1.5 million hits (and climbing) on 'Obama' and many of those terms (e.g., arrogant). So my perceptions are not an outlier. (In fairness, Obama and his supporters defensively reject those characterizations and try to turn the tables on their opponents.)
Democrats in particular have been obsessed with symbolism and spin. Obama's exaggerated sense of self-importance is seen in his failed attempts to schedule a rally at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a mere Presidential candidate wishing to identify with the powerful memories of Jack Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" and Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall" speeches. However, his transparent attempt to link his image with a young Jack Kennedy, whom was the last nominee to deliver an acceptance speech in a stadium in July 1960, is seen by the scheduling of his own nomination acceptance speech at a Denver stadium.
There are other incidents that underlie these terms. Obama said to his House colleagues returning from his overseas tour, "This is the moment...that the world is waiting for...I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions." Democrats claim that the quote is "out of context", that he was talking about America. Oh, I agree that Barack Obama paid lip service to the preposterous notion that the crowds had come out just to cheer America and to pretend that he hasn't observed overflowing crowds coming out to see him (versus others) at other times during the campaign.
One of the early ones to come to mind was Obama's query in July a year ago when he asked the crowd, "Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula? I mean, they're charging a lot of money for this stuff." The problem is, few people, if any, had ever been to a Whole Foods, because there weren't any in Iowa. Most of them probably didn't even know what arugula is. Now, former White House chef Walter Scheib knows; Laura Bush some time ago decided to go organic (all produce, meat, and dairy), and I think I read somewhere that Whole Foods makes deliveries to the White House kitchens.
Now, if you had asked about corn ethanol subsidies, which Obama has supported and Senator McCain opposed, and the effects of using grain for fuel on food inflation, homemakers do know that the price of milk and eggs have gone up, and hog producers do understand it's tougher to turn a profit on higher feed costs.
Then there's the infamous Obama "bitter" gaffe. Perplexed by why rural, small-town Americans are not supporting him despite his economic policies which he thinks are in their own best interests, Obama speculated that they are responding to tough economic times by retreating into cultural issues like guns and scapegoating illegal aliens for taking jobs that should be going to them. But, for instance, guns represent a means of defending one's property and family, as crime increases in economic bad times. Lax enforcement of the borders not only makes it easier for farmworkers and housekeepers to enter the United States but hardened criminals. Liberal judges, running their own hidden political agendas, unilaterally redefine traditional concepts of marriage and family, and the cohesion of family is particularly important in getting through tough times.
And we aren't even talking about the uncertainties of Obama's knowledge and skills of dealing with the economy, the trade deficit, the operational deficit, trade, or global competition. Any marginal tax relief may be more than offset by energy cost surges as Obama's anti-drilling policies sustain an ever-worsening oil dependency on international oil sources. Will Democrats' usual failed responses of overregulation, trade protectionism, and uncompetitive business tax policies result in our becoming increasingly irrelevant in a competitive global economy?
But now it looks like Obama is try to emulate John Kerry's smears against President Bush and Vice President Cheney after the Republican Convention in 2004. Kerry said that he wasn't going to take [imaginary] challenges to his patriotism by two "draft dodgers" (as if they spent the war years at Oxford not inhaling!) In fact, President Bush repeatedly stated then, on the record, that he honored and thanked John Kerry for his service during the Vietnam War and said that his stateside National Guard service was not comparable with John Kerry's active service in a war zone.
Obama said: "Nobody thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face. So what they are going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, he's not patriotic enough. He's got a funny name. You know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."
Hey, Barack Obama! First of all, you may not know this, but Bush isn't going to be on the ballot this fall. By the Constitution, he can't run for a third term. You don't seem to know this, because you keep saying Bush is on the ticket; other people know, and they weren't even, say, a Constitutional law professor in the past...
Yes, McCain has real answers for the challenges we face; Barack, ask your 9-year-old daughter to teach you how to access John McCain's website on the Internet. You'll see, for instance, that John McCain thinks it's unfair that some Americans get discounted gold-plated health insurance coverage tax-free, but others have to fully pay the policies on their own, using after-tax dollars. John wants to enable companies to be market their offerings across state lines and thus increase competition. John is for allowing all people, not just the well-to-do, to enjoy the above-average returns of diversified investments in retirement vs. low-yielding T-bills papering over Democratic Congress' ever-widening federal deficits.
But you are telling the American people that John can't rely on 26 years of service in the Congress, a real record of bipartisan, reformist legislation (not just rhetoric), a hard-fought reputation for being thrifty with the nation's revenues, the broadest background of military and foreign policy experience since Dwight Eisenhower, a leading member of the Republican Congress which provided the first balanced budget after some 50 years of Democratic Congress overspending. No, you are alleging John McCain has to rely on racial attacks to defeat a flip-flopping, tax-and-spend, 3-year senator with the most liberal voting record since George McGovern. You have spent most of that time running for President, with zero military and foreign policy experience, no domestic policy expertise, no meaningful legislative accomplishments, a state senate record which includes some 130 "present" votes, and reckless foreign policy statements which have stirred the pot in Canada, Pakistan, and Israel, our traditional allies.
No, Barack Obama, the Republicans don't resort to dirty tricks or racial smears to win elections. Despite winning less than 15% of the black vote, Republican administrations have named strongly qualified blacks to high-profile, meaningful positions, such as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State.
