Bob Wright on Bloggingheads: But Obama’s great on the issues!
posted at 12:45 pm on April 23, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
The scope of last night’s defeat has begun to dawn on Barack Obama supporters. Bob Wright squares off against Mickey Kaus, both of Slate, and Wright rails against Kaus’ participation in what Wright considers a right-wing attack job on Obama. He never really explains how Hillary Clinton and Mickey Kaus, of all people, fit into the vast right-wing conspiracy. However, Wright sounds pretty despondent as even he has to admit how badly Obama has botched the campaign of late:
I hate to burst the fantasy that Wright and other Obama supporters have begun to spin, but issues alone do not decide elections. Tangibles such as experience and track records count when assessing a candidate, but Obama has little of either to offer. When that happens, people look at intangibles to get a sense of the person they’re considering, especially for the highest office in the land. When the intangibles indicate that Obama is a hard-Left elitist who sees nothing wrong with establishing political ties to unrepentant domestic terrorists and believes that middle Americans are Bible-thumping bigots who need a whopping dose of federal regulation, it tends to provide plenty of information to fill the vacuum.
Besides, Obama didn’t do all that well on policy, either, a point Wright misses. From his stumbles over al-Qaeda in Iraq to tax policy on capital gains, Obama has revealed himself as a shallow and superficial politician more at home discussing nebulous themes than a coherent policy. In that sense, the first 45 minutes of the last debate may give Obama and his followers a codpiece for the unbearable lightweight-ness of Barack.
Blowback
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He makes Hillary look reasonable. Scary…
Your Jewish Master on April 23, 2008 at 12:51 PM
I think the voters are seeing that this guy is an empty suit and just can’t bring theirselves to vote for him.
His stump speech was tired last night. He said he was bringing everyone together, but all he has is college kids, blacks and the elite brie crowd.
That is not enough to win in November!
ArmyAunt on April 23, 2008 at 12:51 PM
If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would be rooting for Hillary to win the Dem nomination, well, I would have thought you were crazy!
But she would be far better than mr. terrorist friend by far.
ArmyAunt on April 23, 2008 at 12:53 PM
The bar is whether OB as president will screw up? I’m kind of hoping for a president that will excel.
ronsfi on April 23, 2008 at 12:54 PM
I love that Kaus stops to drink his coffee.
Vizzini on April 23, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Heh……….you said Codpiece……….heh, heh.
omnipotent on April 23, 2008 at 12:57 PM
um is there anyone more condescending and elitist than Bob Wright me thinks not.
liberrocky on April 23, 2008 at 12:57 PM
I can’t pivot either.
This makes me dream of a debate between Obama and Duncan Hunter. An empty cream puff with sprinkles versus rare steak w/ taters.
Christine on April 23, 2008 at 12:59 PM
These are the most massive straw man arguments in history. The reason they talk about bittergate is because it’s easy to say ‘that’s no reason not to vote for a guy’. The reason they bring up that he’s NOT a Muslim and he DOESN’T agree with everything that his pastor or supporters think is because it’s easy to say ‘that’s no reason not to vote for a guy’.
But when you actually DO look at the substance and say, hey, this guy was for a total ban on manufacture and sale of ALL handguns – we don’t like or want to vote for that. Or hey, this guy is for raising Capital Gains taxes which will effect everyone regardless of class or income – we don’t like or want to vote for that. Or that his record is the MOST liberal in the senate according to his VOTING RECORD – people say we don’t like or want to vote for that. Or that his ONLY conservative vote in that survey ranking Senators was his vote to AUTHORIZE FUNDING FOR THE IRAQ WAR – his rhetoric about ‘ending the war’ doesn’t hold water.
The reason these guys point to these straw men is because if you put up reasons based on policy that you wouldn’t like to vote for the guy, they can’t refute them. . .
So they prefer to think you don’t want to vote for him because he’s black – that they can strike down. The media really should be ashamed of themselves for going down this path.
ThackerAgency on April 23, 2008 at 1:02 PM
sweeeeet…watching lefty infighting is such a treat…to watch them get their just rewards…oh how fun the convention is going to be to watch!
JustTruth101 on April 23, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Robert Wright is painful to listen to.
MadisonConservative on April 23, 2008 at 1:05 PM
Let us just hope that all of Soros’ billions can’t remake this guy since his first try imploded. Something is rotten in Denmark when a nobody who has done nothing can be considered a legitimate contender. I want to be Chairman of GM too, but it ain’t gonna happen.
eaglesdontflock on April 23, 2008 at 1:11 PM
Operation Chaos Has had the secondary, AWESOME effect of making the Libs ACTUALLY SELF EXAMINE!!!!! something for far too long they have not done nor had the motivation to do! It is awesome to see them actually THINK and discuss their own candidates like this!
I talk to liberals who now HATE Hill-dawg but 2 years ago talking to them they LOVED the little Minx! AWWWW it was so cute. But! Love fest is over hee hee there’s more Bitter on the left now than the right! (at least from my anecdotal view!)
-Wasteland Man.
WastelandMan on April 23, 2008 at 1:16 PM
Hillary’s support in PA shows why she would be tough to beat in November. There are a whole bunch of people who are going to vote for her no matter what. Even the Messiah can’t budge them with his unlimited campaign budget. The Messiah has his diehards, but he is going to have no support outside the Democrat base, whereas Hillary will have plenty of support. After NC, Operation Chaos should swing back to give Big O the final momentum and drive a wooden stake into Hillary.
pedestrian on April 23, 2008 at 1:16 PM
Nah, these are only Primaries and HEAVILY promoted primaries too. also don’t forget all the Switch (operartion chaos voters out there too. Remember Half the country hates Hillary, including Dems.
WastelandMan on April 23, 2008 at 1:19 PM
What happened to that guy’s face?
Dan Collins on April 23, 2008 at 1:19 PM
Its called “Liberal-us-sour-puss-us”
-Wasteland Man.
WastelandMan on April 23, 2008 at 1:22 PM
Not only his stumbles but the fact that he and Hillary are virtual clones on policy. All he has over her is personality, youth and the Iraq vote. And of course identity politics to match hers.
So what’s he going to talk about on issues? Subtle differences in socialized healthcare? How he’ll talk to our enemies? He’ll get out of Iraq faster? He hates NAFTA more than her?
Dash on April 23, 2008 at 1:24 PM
It looks like Wright thinks Kaus is one sexy beast judging by that starting screenshot.
ninjapirate on April 23, 2008 at 1:26 PM
Funny story… Anyone watch the coverage from Fox to CNN to PMSNBC? It was amazing how “positive” the coverage for Hillary was on FOX and CNN, but over at PMSNBC, they excoriated her! There was Obamawaaaa to be heard from Olby, and noone dared stop him. Now, I’ve always understood that the different networks will spin in their own direction, but it was beyond obvious last night. These dems are screwed come November!!
I’m just sayin’!
Califemme on April 23, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Oh yeah, and what the hell was up with the Abercrombie & Fitch boys behind Obama during his defeat speech?!? Tooo funny!
Califemme on April 23, 2008 at 1:31 PM
I didn’t get to watch the speech, does anyone have a screenshot?
ninjapirate on April 23, 2008 at 1:35 PM
Great on the issues? What universe or fantasy workd is is this kook living in?
If you are an left wing extremist beyond words, BHO is great. He is a total Socialist Utopian, light years out of the main stream of this country, has absolutely no clue how the real world works, and would obliterate the core greaness that the USA is.
Wake up America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
libhater on April 23, 2008 at 1:54 PM
Reality Check -
Even with the Democratic Party locked in a fierce civil war, John McCain still hasn’t pulled ahead of either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in national polls.
The Democratic primary campaign – divisive, bitter, and seemingly endless – has made many Republicans optimistic about their party’s prospects for retaining the White House this November. But the numbers still seem to tell a different story — and not just secondary indicators like the enormous gap between McCain’s fund raising and the dollars his Democratic rivals are raking in, or the underlying economic realities that will make this a tough year for the GOP no matter what. The polls themselves aren’t running McCain’s way, or at least not to the extent that would justify the current wave of conservative optimism about November.
Now of course no poll taken in April can tell us all that much about a vote that’s held in November: Elections that look close can turn into routs and vice versa, and huge polling margins can vanish in the blink of an eye. (Ask Michael Dukakis how well his seventeen-point margin from early-summer 1988 held up in the end.) But by all rights, this ought to be a peak time for McCain’s numbers – not the peak, necessarily, but certainly a high point. His right-wing critics are making nice with him, his favorable ratings are sky-high, and his opponents are too busy driving each other’s negative ratings upward to spend any time (or money, more importantly) putting a dent in his halo. Moreover, the Democrats’ intra-party tensions are bound to diminish once the party picks a nominee: At least some of the Hillary supporters who tell pollsters that they’d vote for McCain over Obama may actually follow through on that pledge, but a lot of today’s McCainocrats will come home to the Democratic fold when all is said and done.
Yet even with all this going for him, McCain’s poll numbers are bumping up against the same 45 percent ceiling that they’ve been hitting since December. If the election were held today – a pretty good day for McCain, all things considered – he’d probably lose to Obama, and might lose to Clinton as well. That doesn’t mean he will lose, by any stretch, but it certainly doesn’t bode well for November.
— Ross Douthat
MB4 on April 23, 2008 at 1:56 PM
Which is which?
The guy on the right creeps me out.
MB4 on April 23, 2008 at 2:02 PM
The knuckleheaded Obama apologist just cannot believe what many see quite easily, Obama is bad on Policy & eapecially bad on Character….and Hillary is as bad as Obama.
Now if we can dump McCain this would be great!
el Vaquero on April 23, 2008 at 2:07 PM
Good point. McCain has a long way to go. It’s positive that Obama’s getting touched up by Hillary while McCain stays above the fray. Maverick needs to use some of this breathing room to positively define himself with the American public before the Democrats unite around Obama and focus their attacks on the GOP.
With luck, the real “bitterness” will be between Clinton & Obama, with Hillary off the ticket, hoping Obama loses, and sitting the race out. Maybe the GOP can reach out for some of the female vote.
dedalus on April 23, 2008 at 2:08 PM
You’re right, Team McCain should worry about why they can’t get in the lead(besides Rasmussen). His focus should be trying to find his ceiling while maintaining the position of the underdog. The base has it’s own problems now and it will shore up itself, he needs to focus on himself and appeal towards the center
ninjapirate on April 23, 2008 at 2:13 PM
To my my Current from yesterday arguing that conservatives shouldn’t let the Democratic civil war blind them to the mountain that John McCain still has to climb, I would add that it’s also worth pondering Jay Cost’s thoughts on the ways in which the primary campaign has actually been “quite helpful for the Democrats,” since it has “exposed weaknesses in both campaigns that might not have been identified until October,” and “given both an opportunity to strengthen themselves.” — Ross Douthat
MB4 – Gosh, you and Ross are upbeat fellas! I encourage you to maintain your optimism. That will make your horror that much funnier when you Dems are once again moaning in November, “I can’t believe we lost to that guy! We didn’t get out message out!”
Django on April 23, 2008 at 2:18 PM
funky chicken on April 23, 2008 at 2:21 PM
All that has been brought up about BO is relevant. It forms his “World View”. And it’s ugly.
I can tell just by looking at Robert Wright that he got beat up a lot as a kid.
kirkill on April 23, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Leftists are such dorks.
peacenprosperity on April 23, 2008 at 2:28 PM
The guy on the right creeps me out.
MB4 on April 23, 2008 at 2:02 PM
My first reaction was he must be the son of Mr. Potatohead.
swami on April 23, 2008 at 2:29 PM
OhMyGosh, is Mickey Kaus biting the camera?
I have to take a break now inorder to recover from the sight of his snarling eyebrows.
S on April 23, 2008 at 2:31 PM
Umm. Wright, did you catch the part where Obama LIED about his positions on the issues?
Kind of puts a monkey-wrench in that whole “he’s great on the issues” thing.
The bad news is that Obama-worship is extremely creepy.
The good news is that it becomes more and more untenable by the day.
Merovign on April 23, 2008 at 2:33 PM
Wanna bet? This sounds like a pretty good policy to me.
srhoades on April 23, 2008 at 2:40 PM
Why does the left think America can and will tolerate a person FOR PRESIDENT who has NO morals, the LOWEST of ethics, has Friends you wouldn’t allow your own children to be with-in the same CITY at the same time, act rude, are selfish beyond compare …… wait, I think…yep
.
.
Bill Clinton and Hillary set the tone for “the lowering of the standards.”
Gee thanks, evil ones.
shooter on April 23, 2008 at 2:43 PM
A whiny social studies teacher vs. Robert Klein.
benrand on April 23, 2008 at 3:03 PM
If Obama = Carter
Then Clinton = Reagan
In comparison, that’s just how horribly horribly bad O’bambam is.
By the way… McCain = Eisenhour + Roosevelt! [Both of 'em!]
;)
Griz on April 23, 2008 at 3:12 PM
I’ve been downloading the audio for these guys for the last few months and listening to them on my ipod, and I have to say that they are a lot of fun to listen to. I really can’t stand to watch or listen to liberals in general, but Kaus is very moderate and very aware of the faults of the Democratic Party. If you want to find out what liberals are thinking without a lot of constant Republican bashing, these guys are your best bet. They have a great chemistry as well and often make me laugh, in a kind of Felix and Oscar way. Thanks for posting this Ed.
Dudley Smith on April 23, 2008 at 3:33 PM
Wright: “All politicians. . . are elitist in a million ways. . . they’re condescending. . .”
All? That’s like taking your car in to the dealer for a weird noise, and the dealer says, “They all do it.”
Wait a minute—wasn’t the Obambi supposed to be offering use ‘a new kind of politics’? But this is the same elitism and condescension of all the others?
If these two guys are exemplars of the intellectual cream of the Democrat crop, imagine what the rest are like.
MrLynn on April 23, 2008 at 3:54 PM
“offering use” = “offering us”
Why can’t HA give us the means to edit our posts?
MrLynn on April 23, 2008 at 3:56 PM
Did you see the execrable little Ronnie Reagan claim that Obama is far better on issues than is McCain?
What a pathetic twerp.
drjohn on April 23, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Wright and the Obama supporters seem to think that these cultural views or elitist attitudes don’t affect or influence the public policy views of Obama.
Of course they do.
For example, the very idea of states rights or de-centraling power from Washington to the states is anathema to the left. This is because they believe that more enlightened and just policies must come from them, from Washington and if they allow states or communities to run things, those benighted souls won’t do the right thing.
There are dozens and dozens of examples of how the liberal elitism affects public policy.
It’s not that Obama is an elitist. It’s that his elitism influences his policy views.
SteveMG on April 23, 2008 at 5:08 PM
I’ve been watching bloggingheads since they were a small-time outfit. Okay, so their still a small-time outfit. Nevertheless, I like Mickey Kaus a lot. Robert Wright is bright and very glib and telegenic but Mickey is smarter.
Sean68 on April 23, 2008 at 5:16 PM
Why exactly did I waste my time watching this Wright character? He’s a lib and a tinfoil hatted leftist one at
that! He can’t say anything difference because he has been literally brainwashed since birth by parents who probably protested in the 60′s, smoked pot and were into sex. He can’t think therefore, I for one refuse to waste another moment even thinking about his guy and anything he has to say.
sharinlite on April 23, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Kaus probably IS part of the VRWC. He’s one of the most conservative self-proclaimed lefties out there.
He’s rabidly, obsessively, anti-illegal immigration. And I mean that as a compliment.
Wright, on the other hand, is a member of the whiny elite.
misterpeasea on April 23, 2008 at 6:30 PM
When I worked at The New Republic (with both Mickey and Bob) as a summer intern (for Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke, now both of FOX News) in 1989, Bob Wright was the most elitist, rude, miserable person in the office (and that includes Sid Blumenthal and Michael Kinsley). No-one liked him, and we all avoided talking to him. I did not watch this video because I know what Bob Wright is all about. But judging from the above comments, it sounds like in 19 years not a thing has changed. Mickey Kaus, BTW, was always nice, friendly, and–at that time–a reasonable liberal.
Debbie Schlussel on April 23, 2008 at 6:48 PM
Funny Debbie Schlussel should have brought it up. I was just going to mention that when Wright was at TNR he posted one column blaming the Oklahoma City bombing on Republicans in Congress and Rush Limbaugh. On a separate occasion he blamed the O.J. Simpson verdict on California’s Proposition 13.
So at least he’s consistent.
DubiousD on April 23, 2008 at 7:50 PM
I tried to watch Bloggingheads, but most of these people look like a bunch of losers who live in their mother’s garage. The backgounds sometimes look like my grad school apartment in 1976. It’s strange to see people who profess to be libertarians support a slimy statist like Obama. It’s like watching B’nai Brith members uniformly supporting David Duke.
The word that commonly comes to mind while watching these low-wattage interchanges is “Crapheads”
Kaus is generally OK (I appreciate his moose reference), although I suspect that his column is possibly some strange form of a complicated masturbation ritual.
TexasJew on April 23, 2008 at 8:02 PM
I can’t help it, I just have to say it, but why do these liberal media types usually seem to be dorky white people? Am I the only person who has noticed this?
And of course these very same folks would never hang out in the hood or the barrio yet Obama would validate their “liberal multicultural world view”. Too hypocritical and too funny.
BobUSMC on April 24, 2008 at 12:31 AM
I paraphrase Bob Wright: Why blame Obama for being an elitist snob? That’s not a bug, that’s a feature!
Hey Micky, why do you continue to debate/befriend such a big, fat dumbhead…. just asking!
silverfox on April 24, 2008 at 4:36 AM