Jesse Jackson Bill Clinton pushed a side

							                         The Obama “smack down”

Good….

In less than two years Obama has accomplished what many believe was
impossible.

First, he captured the imagination of the media and then forged an
unshakeable alliance with many of them. Then with their help he has
dominated the Democratic Party, replacing the old guard, while capturing
it’s presidential nomination. No modern Democrat has ever been this prolific
yet so divisive.

Whether you like the man’s politics or methods you have give him his due
for achieving such a monumental task.

Bad…

Unfortunately along the way there has been some political antics and fallout,
the most recent being with Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Having met Rev. Jackson and keeping in mind his 40 years of public
speaking I can’t believe his so called gaffe was just that, especially since it
happened on FOX. Anyone who has followed Rev. Jackson knows he has a
pension for the dramatic when he wants to convey his message.

Let’s face the facts there’s no difference between Obama’s government
sponsored faith based social initiatives and Rev. Jackson’s government
based initiatives when you take away their personalities.

In fact Obama and Jackson’s opinions on personal responsibility are
identical. The problem is being associated with Rev. Jackson which is two
fold. Jackson is viewed as hypocritical by many because he didn’t
voluntarily accept responsibility for his own “love child”. Also Jackson’s
hard line positions are notoriously unpopular in middle America.

This alleged “gaffe” affords Obama distance between him and Jackson at
least style wise if not substantively which works according to the polls.
I listed this in the “bad column” due to the sophomoric theatrics but still give
Rev. Jackson and the Obama camp kudos because it worked.

P.S. Rev. Jackson your son’s remarks were a little over the top, even if he is
Obama’s co-chairman, so you might want to work with him next time.

Next the so called surrogate slams are a little old and ineffective on two
counts. The public is not that stupid so there is no such thing as plausible
deniability when a VP hopeful like Wesley Clark allegedly goes off the
reservation. Any attempts to minimize McCain’s practical war experience
and POW status is beyond stupidity and does nothing but highlight Obama’s
lack thereof.

Ugly…

Flip flopping has a “please god not again” wearing quality on the nerves so
everyone should let it go.

No one wants a “hard head” in the presidency so sincerely changing one’s
mind with new data is not a bad thing. Leaving behind the values of your
supporters that brought you to the dance sometimes is a political reality.
Both candidates and supporters have to be understanding especially since
there is no second place in a political race.

Sen. Obama has tried to move to the center as all politicians do whether
Left or Right but was decidedly re-buffed by his supporters. Rather than
quietly comforting or allaying his supporters fears Obama came out firing.
With his finger pointing, reminiscent of a parent scolding a misbehaving
child, Obama claims he hasn’t changed.

Ugly doesn’t begin to describe the fallout which caused Obama to do an
abrupt about face making him appear to be weak. Infighting or unrest seems
to breed contempt and re-open old wounds so enter the Clinton supporters
and their long memories.

Obama and his friends in the media minimized Hillary Clinton by referring
to her as the “Clinton machine” to energize the youth against the dirty
politics establishment which in this case was her.
Sen. Clinton was also lumped into “The Clintons” depersonalizing her again
while associating her with Bill and his past indiscretions and failures.

That contention was extraordinarily evident when Chris Matthews (MSNBC
Hardball anchor) insinuated that “no one would vote for her if she wasn’t
Bill’s wife and he hadn’t cheated on her”. When I heard this I got the low
blow at Hillary but couldn’t believe my ears at such a slight to women’s
intelligence as a whole.

Although the slight was unintentional it’s still astounding when you
remember the old political axiom of you don’t insult the voters, especially
the ones your guy needs. Couple the unintentional insults to women with
assaults on Bill for racism and Obama’s quote that Reagan (not Bill) was the
most significant political figure of 20th century and you get real ugly.

Let’s face it Sen. Clinton and her crew were no saints but they managed not
to insult the intelligence of women voters everywhere. The charge by some
Hillary supporters that Obama and company are misogynists is unfounded. It
just wasn’t a well thought out tactic on the part of some Obama supporters
and the media.

Next Obama and the Democratic Party need Sen. Clinton’s donors. To
alienate them should make the consequences plain to see for everyone. The
Dem’s have a split party and neither Obama or the Dem’s get the cash.

Obama and her Donors didn’t get along. Things got uglier after a rebuke by
a small group of Hillary’s big donors. Obama apparently lost control of his
emotions and thus the group dynamic which is exemplified by his
campaign’s response.

Obama spokespersons announced little was contributed and blamed the lack
of funds on Clinton supporter’s needs for “made up titles” similar to those
handed out by pyramid schemes. Up to that point the Obama camp had lost a
few Clinton donors but the childish insults lost them and possibly the Dem’s
the rest or majority of her donors.

If you missed it Hillary become emboldened by all of this and asked her
donors to hold the cash for her until her next un-named race in 2012.
When you think you’ve heard it all and there’s nothing else that could
happen, we have more entertaining Obama drama.