Democrats on Deficit: Proclaim, Don’t Blame

Republicans have a potent issue to win over Independents and other swing voters in the 2010 congressional elections – the deficit. And the Democrats’ defense against deficit spending charges so far has been “Bush did it first.”
That “Bush did it first” blaming is certainly true. Bush’s Democratic predecessor eliminated the deficit, and Bush [...]

Not cool

Even if it were 100 percent verifiable and true that Obama had lied about this issue at hand, a congressman shouting from the House floor, “You lie!” is totally not cool. Not cool at all, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.
The quick-on-the-heels apology, however, is a good move. So kudos for that, I [...]

Premature E-Agitation

prēk’out’. noun. A pre-freakout prior to a transgression that one imagines is about to happen. A premature freakout. See Barack Obama’s pending speech to school children, in which conservatives imagine the President will hypnotize America’s youth into ideological submission.
If the President engages in political evangelism or hypnotism with minors, I’ll be [...]

“Public Option” = “Medicare”?

In the past, we’ve discussed the Obama Administration’s failure to use compelling labels to crystallize messages in the health reform detate. For example, the greatest political communicator of our times can’t seem to come up with a better brand name than “public option?”
Such as, oh let’s see now…“Medicare?”
While “public option” is a hopelessly flat [...]

Calibrating Words — Yuk

Lest those of us who are fans of Barack Obama forget that he is, in many ways, a traditional politician, he reminded us with some silly political words today.
The flap over Henry Louis Gates’s arrest in his home had grown to such ridiculous proportions that Obama came into the regular press feeding today to — [...]

No Peace. No Prosperity. No Pawlenty.

Many political scientists maintain that peace and prosperity are among the most reliable predictors of presidential electoral success.
At this stage, America in the Obama era has neither. It has the highest unemployment in a quarter century and is embroiled in two bloody, complex and unpopular foreign wars. Bad news, Barack.
So with all [...]

We’re at War Again

This morning Barack Obama declared war on the Taliban and Al Qaeda. He said American and world security depends on not letting Al Qaeda rise again in the chaos of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The people who killed more than 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001, are in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan plotting to [...]

Obama Does It Daily

Barack Obama doesn’t need to hit homeruns in his major set speeches like tonight’s address before Congress. He’s already doing well as a communicator in his daily talks, his press conference, his meetings with people around the country and around the capital.
Obama’s strength as a communicator is that he’s genuine. At the meeting with congressional [...]

Ask Not, You Know, What, You Know, Your Country Can, You Know, Do For, You Know, You…

Verbal crutches. We all use them. Many of us are susceptible to overuse of “ums.” Young people famously favor “likes.” Even great orators such as Barack Obama sprinkle their interview responses liberally with “ahs.” Obama is also among those prone to the use of “look,” to start answers, which can sometimes make [...]

Will Hawkish Obama Spin Lead to Afghanistan Chagrin?

Throughout the presidential campaign, whenever Barack Obama opposed the Iraq War he would quickly point out that he would direct significantly more military might to stop al Quaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Maybe broader involvement in the ‘Stans is what Obama sincerely believes is necessary. But I always wondered whether it was perhaps [...]