The Audacity Of Hype
Posted at 10:23am on Jul. 8, 2008 Bob Herbert freeloads his disillusionment.
Silly op-ed writer!
By Moe Lane
Bob Herbert is subbing for David Brooks today in the NYT Op-Ed, and his plaintive lament for the way that Senator Barack Obama's running away from his base is well worth the perusal (H/T: Hot Air). It's also meaningless, for the simple reason that the only way that Obama's going to even remotely care about Blue-on-Blue criticism is if it's accompanied with a torn-up check; and as near as I can tell, Bob Herbert's never given any money to Barack Obama at all.
Of course, people who have already given the maximum to the junior Senator from Illinois are (oddly enough) pretty much in the same boat as Mr. Herbert. Ah, the perils of premature infatuation...
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Posted at 11:11pm on Jun. 8, 2008 Still Friendly To Lobbyists After All
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Barack Obama has stated that he will not take money from PACs or federal lobbyists and that PAC and lobbyist money would also be banned from the Democratic National Committee now that Obama is the presumptive nominee and can institute such changes.
However, (1) former lobbyists, (2) unregistered lobbying firm partners and (3) state lobbyists can still give money. In addition, both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will continue to take money from PACs and lobbyists and the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee is a registered federal lobbyists.
Source. This is a Republican National Committee press release that I found on Google News. Of course, the RNC is expected to take Obama on with press releases criticizing his positions and there will be some who roll their eyes in non-surprise at this press release. But of course, if you can't dispute the actual information found in the press release, then it really doesn't matter who the source is, now does it?
Recall as well that despite Obama's boasts that he does not take money from oil companies--mostly because corporate contributions are illegal--he does, however, take money from oil and gas company employees, a take that was in the six figures as of two months ago.
If I had my druthers, of course, none of this would be that big a deal. Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner point out that money contributions do not so much influence political stances as they reward a stance that has already been taken. As such, one does not give money to a candidate in order to try to get that candidate to vote a certain way. Rather, one gives money to a candidate in an expression of support that comes as a consequence of that candidate having taken a particular position. This never struck me as being anything to write home about, but since Obama insists on attacking John McCain for his connections to lobbyists, it is only fair play to point out that the Obama campaign has been rather busy doing lobbyists favors as well.
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Posted at 12:42am on Apr. 17, 2008 Yes Virginia, Barack Obama Does Take Money From Oil And Gas Companies
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
The screen fills with grainy footage of sprawling 1970s gas lines.
"Nothing's changed," Sen. Barack Obama says into the camera, "except now Exxon's making $40 billion a year, and we're paying $3.50 for gas. ... I don't take money from oil companies or Washington lobbyists, and I won't let them block change anymore."
Obama's ad, which has been airing in Pennsylvania as the April 22 primary approaches, is technically true but misleading, as non-partisan FactCheck.org and Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign have been quick to point out.
It's accurate that Obama doesn't take money from oil companies; neither do his opponents, because corporate contributions are illegal. But Obama, like Clinton and John McCain, has accepted donations from oil and gas company employees -- $222,309 in Obama's case from donors from Exxon, Shell, Chevron and others, according to campaign-finance data. Two oil company CEOs have pledged to raise at least $50,000 each as part of Obama's fundraising team.
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Posted at 2:15am on Feb. 21, 2008 The Obama Bubble
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
It may be bursting. And Robert Samuelson rightly piles on:
As a journalist, I harbor serious doubt about each of the most likely nominees. But with Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain, I feel that I'm dealing with known quantities. They've been in the public arena for years; their views, values and temperaments have received enormous scrutiny. By contrast, newcomer Obama is largely a stage presence defined mostly by his powerful rhetoric. The trouble, at least for me, is the huge and deceptive gap between his captivating oratory and his actual views.
The subtext of Obama's campaign is that his own life narrative -- to become the first African American president, a huge milestone in the nation's journey from slavery -- can serve as a metaphor for other political stalemates. Great impasses can be broken with sufficient goodwill, intelligence and energy. "It's not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white," he says. Along with millions of others, I find this a powerful appeal.
But on inspection, the metaphor is a mirage. Repudiating racism is not a magic cure-all for the nation's ills. The task requires independent ideas, and Obama has few. If you examine his agenda, it is completely ordinary, highly partisan, not candid and mostly unresponsive to many pressing national problems.
Read it all. Obama's a very smart and very gifted person. There is no denying his talent. But if you want to sign up with his campaign, you will have to buy into policy proposals that haven't a hint of originality about them--Obama's soaring rhetoric notwithstanding. And as Samuelson points out, those policy proposals do not constitute any kind of straight talk. Moreover, they are utterly unworkable.
Something to think about when you are electing a President.
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