Category: Dick Morris Award Nominee

"When he is forced to fight, Sen. Obama’s inexperience shows. His record, slight as it is, is tough to defend. He’s got a glass jaw, and he will fall into the trap of identity politics. In fact, he already has. The "could we beat Obama?" conversation is purely academic. It’s over. The Clintons have defeated him already, because he is leaving South Carolina as "the black candidate." He won’t win another state. Even worse, in November Hillary will carry 90 percent of the black vote, despite their cynical, race-based campaign against the first viable black presidential candidate," – Michael Graham, January 26, 2008, revealing why NRO had such a good year.

"This year’s primary results show no sign that Obama will reverse this trend should he win the nomination. In West Virginia and Kentucky, as well as Ohio and Pennsylvania, blue collar white voters sent him down to defeat by overwhelming margins. A recent Gallup poll report has argued that claims about Obama’s weaknesses among white voters and blue collar voters have been exaggerated – yet its indisputable figures showed Obama running four percentage points below Kerry’s anemic support among whites four years ago… Given that Obama’s vote in the primaries, apart from African-Americans, has generally come from affluent white suburbs and university towns, the Gallup figures presage a Democratic disaster among working-class white voters in November should Obama be the nominee," – Sean Wilentz, Clinton tool, May 23, 2008.

"Barack Obama is on his way to a McGovern candidacy," – Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, March 29, 2008.

"All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light. Save it for 2050 … I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and values. The right knows Obama is unelectable except against Attila the Hun," – Mark Penn, March 19, 2007.

A blast from the past:

I think his 15 minutes as a serious contender for the presidency are about up.

Palin supporter, Kathryn-Jean Lopez, on Barack Obama, November 4, 2007. In rounding up the nominees for the year-end awards, I found several candidates like this one on Obama. Feel free to find some more and add them to the competition while there’s still time. Email me if you dig one up and send me the link. It could be a fun Christmas season. (Awards glossary here.)

"If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she’s going to be the nominee. Gore is the only threat to her … Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single democratic primary. I’ll predict that right now," – Bill Kristol, the man behind Sarah Palin, December 17, 2006. (Hat tip: Salon.)

A Dish Award glossary is here.

"It must be depressing to be Paul Krugman. No matter how well the economy performs, Krugman’s bitter vendetta against the Bush administration requires him to hunt for the black lining in a sky full of silvery clouds. With the economy now booming, what can Krugman possibly have to complain about? In today’s column, titled That Hissing Sound, Krugman says there is a housing bubble, and it’s about to burst," – John Hinderaker, Powerline blog, August 8, 2005.

A glossary of Dish Awards can be found here. Many nominations come from readers. Be my guest.

"Stocks are now, we believe, in the midst of a one-time-only rise to much higher ground—to the neighborhood of 36,000 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. After they complete this historic ascent, owning them will still be profitable but the returns will decline. You won’t be able to make as much money from them each year. We believe that in the meantime, however, astounding profits will be made," –  James Glassman and Kevin Hassett, The Atlantic, September 1999.

A glossary of Dish awards can be found here.

"I think McCain’s decision to announce the VP pick tomorrow may be too clever by half. I mean, it will certainly draw some attention. But it’s not like the press will completely ignore Obama’s speech tomorrow or over the weekend. In this sense, announcing tomorrow will prevent McCain from getting maximum coverage of his VP selection," – Publius, August 29, 2008.

"She will crush Barack Obama. Barack, just sit it out. It’s going to be ugly. I promise you. You heard it here first," – Joe Scarborough, December 20, 2006, from last night’s Daily Show.

Awards glossary here. I rely primarily on readers for nominations in all categories.