| 04.06.2008 |
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| International reactions to Barack Obama's victory and Hillary Clinton's defeat are pretty much as expected. Most commentators are not surprised and glad the Democrats finally have their candidate. You can find an overview of global reactions here and here. Let's look at two more interesting takes on the end of the Democratic campaign: In an editorial titled "The Weaknesses of Barack Obama," Austria's Die Presse argues that John McCain stands a good chance of becoming President because for many Americans Obama is "too liberal, too black and too aloof." Obama's pros are his drive, his refreshingly positive style – and McCain's age, adds the paper. But Obama's long campaign against Clinton has revealed weaknesses. "The black darling of the educated elite has considerable difficulties with white workers and in large states, which were all won by Clinton. Should McCain manage to hold on to Florida and Ohio, and win Pennsylvania, than the Democrats have a real problem on the 4th of November." Torsten Krauel, Washington correspondent for the German daily Die Welt, lists eight reasons why Clinton lost against Obama: 1. Clinton focused on the large states and neglected the small ones. 2. Clinton neglected important new donors in Silicon Valley and instead relied on her old Hollywood connections. 3. Clinton's election campaign was still from the 20th century while Obama's was from the 21st and harnessed the power of the internet. 4. Bill Clinton's vicious comments that often had a racial undertone. 5. Lack of Brutality: When the Jeremiah Wright tapes surfaced Clinton could have played them constantly in her campaign and seriously damaged Obama's chances. She chose not to for fear of dividing the party. 6. She hesitated to distance herself clearly and convincingly from her vote for the war in Iraq. 7. Proportional representation hurt Clinton. In this campaign there was only one chance to build a lead among delegates: Super Tuesday. Had it not been for proportional representation, Hillary Clinton would have been the Democratic nominee on February 6th. 8. Race beats gender: Clinton thought women's rights were the core question for liberals. She was wrong. The race issue was. What is your explanation of Clinton's defeat and Obama's win? What are Obama's weaknesses in the race against John McCain? |
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| 8 Comments |
| DNC establishment did her in . The DNC heirchary put an arbitrary constraint on Hillary's candidacy. Specifically that superdelegates could not overturn the will of delegates won from contests. If this is the case then superdelegate should be just given VIP passes to attend and watch the show for free but should not be allowed to vote at the convention. Theoretically if it were really true that she had the support of the establishment 2/3rds to 1/3 as was reported on super tuesday then she should have won. After every democratic loss Obama was able to mask her wins by support from the super delegates. That is the math she could not over take. I am actually amazed how far she travelled after losing 10 in a row and agaist the media . against the DNC wind , against national polls showing her trailing by up to ten points. Hats off to MR and MRS Clinton You have nothing to be ashamed off. The DNC has no backbone. This is payback for past and future black vote - that's the political calculation. Despite all the republicans failures America needs a leader with a backbone to get itself out of the Mess. Running away never helped anyone let alone a single country. | ||
| sarb | Homepage | E-Mail | 10.06.2008, 03:28 | ||
| Let me just quickly point out that the editor of Die Welt is wrong in at least point - Obama's campaign has not been on the forefront of internet campaigning. his followers have, but his campaign was reluctant for a long time to use all the opportunities that the web provides. just look at how they handled the issue around who owns myspace.com/barackobama (http://tinyurl.com/2sgg4q). in terms of innovative spirit, mitt romney was the one to watch out for on the net. his campaign tried as much they could online. obama just has the most internet-savvy followers, but his campaign strategy caught on to this only very late. in mccain vs obama, the internet will not be the decisive factor. great blog, btw. greetings from berlin. |
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| tapmag.net | Homepage | E-Mail | 06.06.2008, 21:22 | ||
| if clinton would have won, it would have been bill running the country again n clinton just following him, we all want CHANGE, an infussion of new ideas, leadership n passion, which clinton's granddaddy can also not get; you never know if bill chose monica, clinton.... | ||
| jay | Homepage | E-Mail | 06.06.2008, 03:08 | ||
| Personality - read Drew Westen's "The Political Brain". Obama has the charisma of Bill Clinton, Ronald Regan, RFK, JFK. Hillary was helped by name recognition, white women, racist, Rush Limbaugh |
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| Julie | Homepage | E-Mail | 05.06.2008, 04:52 | ||
| Interesting that there is not a single mention tht the MAJORITY of Americans found CLinton to be "dishonest" and "not trustworthy." | ||
| tony | Homepage | E-Mail | 05.06.2008, 00:44 | ||
| From my perspective Sen. Clinton fell into difficulty securing the nomination for several reasons not mentioned by Die Welt. 1). Her vote to authorize the Iraq debacle 2). Her refusal to say that vote was a mistake 3). Many Americans are sick to death of the Bush-Clinton- Clinton- Bush-Bush cycle 4). Senator Clinton is seen as "old politics" 5). For years Sen. Clinton has been accused of being scheming and manipulative and her campaign seemed to bear that out 6). The progressive left became just as hostile to her as the conservative right had been for a long time 7). Her husband was a definitive drag on her momentum. My conclusion is that if she had divorced him after she was elected the first time to the Senate and apologized for her war vote (when John Edwards did) she could have overcome all of her other negatives and would have waltzed right into the nomination. As it is, alas, she has had to swallow a bitter pill. Obama is a wonderful breath of fresh air for the American body politic. The whole issue of race is a peculiar one since he is a mixed race person and not an "African-American" as constantly touted by the media. He did after all dedicate his triumph on Tuesday June 3rd to his grandmother, a very white woman from Kansas. Racial prejudice is the great American "sin" but since most of our athletic and musical heros and heroines are "black" perhaps the time has come to have a non-white elected head of state. He is already a hero to me, come what may (I'm 63 & caucasian). The fact that he is 50% negroid may undo his chance at being elected, we shall see. He will be called "to liberal" & certainly he is more liberal than McCain but no more than Clinton. The gay marriage thing is about to raise it's head again. He can negotiate that better than Clinton ( no one is whispering that he's a Lesbian). Obama has infinitely less baggage than McCain (a flip-flopper par excellence) to drag around. Plus look at McCain, he looks worn out and sounds worn out. Obama is vibrant, fresh and beaming. Plus McCain is attached to Bush, if not "at the hip" at least ""to the elbow, and that cannot bode well for him. Can The United States rise to its better self and elect a leader of intelligence, virtue and hope in spite of what race his father was. We're about to find out. Thank you. |
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| Lorenzo | Homepage | E-Mail | 05.06.2008, 00:02 | ||
| The reason was because of the Media...the media is owned by republicans. The press has been negative since the beginning. | ||
| ve | Homepage | 04.06.2008, 22:51 | ||
| Hillary Clinton is STUNNING!!! You have just witnessed the greatest political campaign fight in American history. One for the textbooks, and the history books. Hillary Clinton fought her heart out against all odds to win for all of the American people . While at the same time doing her best to prepare Sen. Barack Obama to win in November if he was the nominee. STUNNING!!! WELL DONE HILLARY CLINTON. WELL DONE! Your AMAZING! :-) Sen. Obama could not have had a better opponent than Hillary Clinton. Nor could he have had a better opponent to prepare him for the battle royal to come against John McCain and the Republicans ahead of the November elections. Hillary Clinton was like a big Mama cat determined to teach her kitten how to hunt, and hang with the big dogs for the fights ahead. And how about Bill Clinton, Chelsea, and th whole Clinton team. They were magnificent. They really showed their metal. BRAVO! TEAM CLINTON... BRAVO! And how about YOU! my fellow Americans. I'm so proud of you. And proud to be one of you. You showed what you are made of. And what makes America so great. You never gave up on your Champion Hillary Clinton. Time, and time again you eagerly waited your turn to vote for Hillary Clinton. To pick her up and pass her along down the line to the rest of your fellow Americans. You never gave up on her. Just as Hillary Clinton never gave up on you. No matter how many times they counted her out. No matter how many times they brutally knocked her down. You knew she would get back up. And you were ready to support her when she did. AMERICA LOVES A FIGHTER. AMERICA UNDERSTANDS A FIGHTER. AMERICA IS A FIGHTER. I'M PROUD OF YOU AMERICA! Hillary said she would accept the VP spot on the ticket if ask. And I am thrilled to hear that. I think it would be crazy not to take her up on that offer. You could not have a better VP than Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is Sen. Obama's best chance of winning the Whitehouse in November. And it is essential that the democrats take back the Whitehouse. The American people are in a very desperate condition now. George Bush has wrecked America, and much of the world. YOU MADE US VERY PROUD HILLARY CLINTON! :-) WE LOVE YOU... jacksmith... Working Class :-) p.s. I really liked Sen. Barack Obama's speech in Minnesota. I think he just maybe ready now for the Bush Republican attack machine, dirty tricks, and vote fraud machine. :-) |
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| jacksmith | Homepage | E-Mail | 04.06.2008, 22:39 | ||