Category: The Dish

Obama’s Glamour

By Patrick

Virginia Postrel has a smart critique of Obama:

His glamour makes it easy to imagine that a President Obama would dissolve differences, abolish hard choices, and achieve political consensus—or that he’s a stealth candidate who will translate his vague platform into a mandate for whatever policies you the voter happen to support.

Where optimists fill in mystery with their hopes, however, pessimists project their fears. The flip side of glamour is horror: the vampire, the con man, the femme fatale, the double agent. These glamorous archetypes remind us of how easy it is to succumb to desire and manipulation. What, ask his opponents, is Obama hiding?[…]

To rely on illusions is to risk disillusionment. If Obama the dream candidate becomes Obama the real president, he’ll be forced to pick sides, make compromises, and turn “hope” and “change” into policies some people like and some people don’t…Some of his supporters will feel disappointed, even betrayed.

I don’t agree with all of her points. For instance, it is hard for me to accept that Obama’s platform is "vague"; as has been written in this space many times, Obama has a plethora of detailed policy proposals. That said, Obama’s theme of unity, hope, and bipartisanship certainly allows room for supporters and opponents to fantasize. There are good reasons to support Obama beyond the glamour, but I have no doubt many Obama supporters are guilty of the projections Postrel describes.   

Ending It

By Patrick
Matt Cooper:

It sounds sort of obvious but if he can somehow overcome the Clinton advantage in Pennsylvania, this thing will be over. Likewise if he streaks through the final states, he will be the nominee and all the anxiety will be for naught. Obama himself wisely departed from the line of his surrogates like Chris Dodd and Pat Leahy that Clinton should get out of the race. You can’t insist that your opponent quit. You have to beat them. It seems somehow forgotten in recent coverage that Obama can still do that. Three weeks is plenty of time to close the gap in Pennsylvania and while the Keystone state seems better for Clinton–more working class, no indies or Republicans can vote in the primary–it’s not an impossible climb for Obama. Should he lose there, he can crush her in the remaining states. Then this thing is done.

More On Penn

By Patrick
The irony of Penn’s actions is astounding. Here is what Clinton said during Obama’s NAFTA flap:

I would ask you to look at this story and substitute my name for Sen. Obama’s name and see what you would do with this story… Just ask yourself [what you would do] if some of my advisers had been having private meetings with foreign governments.

Al Giordano responds to the hypocrisy:

Mark Penn is not – as in the case that Senator Clinton cited on March 3 – an unpaid issues advisor, but, rather, the commander-in-chief of the Clinton campaign: the chief strategist, pollster, message czar, and the highest paid member of her campaign staff.

I can’t remember a presidential campaign in my lifetime in which the top strategist moonlighted for corporate accounts during the heat of the primaries (if that’s really what he was doing with the Colombian ambassador, as claimed: note that the Embassy told the Journal that it didn’t know which hat Penn was wearing). The conflict of interest is staggering.

Money Woes

By Patrick
McCain is preparing to accept public financing? This would put him at a significant money disadvantage, but he might not have a choice in the matter.  After using the prospect of public matching funds to secure a private $4 million loan during the primary, it was unclear whether McCain had legally committed himself to public financing and the limits that go with it. Hilzoy’s posts on McCain’s situation, written a few months ago, are here and here.

Penn’s Troubles

By Patrick
Mark Penn isn’t helping Clinton with meetings like this:

Hillary Clinton’s chief campaign strategist met with Colombia’s ambassador to the U.S. on Monday to discuss a bilateral free-trade agreement, a pact the presidential candidate opposes.

Attendance by the adviser, Mark Penn, was confirmed by two Colombian officials.

Ambers:

I’ve asked several Clinton aides and advisers for their reaction. Some declined to comment. Others responded with pejoratives, but since I don’t print anonymous pejoratives as a policy, I will refrain from sharing them.[…]

One of the toughest tasks for a political journalist these days is to try and find someone in Clinton world who is willing to defend Mr. Penn or his sense of political optics.

Recession Food

By Patrick
The Burger King CEO thinks a recession could help business:

"If you look in the fast-food hamburger space," he says, "it is unfortunate for the greater economy as a whole, but we benefit from the pressure people feel from a disposable-income standpoint. People who cannot afford to go to Applebee’s, cannot afford to go to Chili’s, we are the beneficiaries of that squeeze."

While the foodies say it could spur healthy eating:

Along with some other critics of the American way of eating, [Michael Pollan] likes the idea that some kinds of food will cost more, and here’s one reason why: As the price of fossil fuels and commodities like grain climb, nutritionally questionable, high-profit ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup will, too. As a result, Cokes are likely to get smaller and cost more. Then, the argument goes, fewer people will drink them.