Remember when Sen. Barack Obama was going to change American politics?
Uh, scratch that.
It may be bye-bye Mr. Nice Guy for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who said Thursday that he is opening the "next phase" of his campaign and plans to more pointedly and aggressively go after frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton.
"Now is the time where we're going to be laying a very clear contrast between myself and Senator Clinton," the Illinois Democrat told CNN. "Not just on the past, not just on Iraq, but on moving forward."
Obama's campaign has focused heavily on his biography, and he has been criticized by some supporters for not more forcefully challenging the New York senator, who has a wide lead in national polls and in some early voting states.
Metamorphosis, anyone?
You are reading things that aren't in anything you've cited.
Are you really trying to argue that spending the majority of your campaign focusing on your own strengths and then engaging in some compare and contrast is somehow sleazy?
Why is it that Obama causes the usual rational core posters here to go completely haywire?
"Are you really trying to argue that spending the majority of your campaign focusing on your own strengths and then engaging in some compare and contrast is somehow sleazy?"
No - I'm saying that there's nothing different about Sen. Obama's campaign, that he's not going to significanlty change the nature of American politics, and that it was foolish for him to claim that as a goal, because it's an expectation that couldn't be met given the dynamic of the Democratic Primary since early in 2007. I said that when he announced he'd have to attack Hillary, and in doing to, look like just another politician. And guess what? That's exactly what's happened.
Sen. Obama doesn't make me go haywire. He's a much better Senator than Sen. Durbin, for example, and will be for the next 20 or 30 years.
I disagree. Durbin is far superior at this stage. I do expect Obama to continue to grow and his skill set might very well better fit the white house.
As to what you said, has there been an example of an attack yet? I'm not talking about, "My policies are better!" I'm talking about Rove-style, "McCain is a N***** lover!" or "The legless veteran is a coward!"
Remember to change politics for the better these days, the bar isn't set too high...
I agree with Xian on Durbin. A far superior power player and a much bigger asset to the state than Obama. You might not like his politics, but he is a consistent leader in the Senate and he does much good for Illinois.
IP - I think you are pouncing too soon. When I heard Obama say he was trying to change politics for the better I certainly didn't think that meant he was signing up to be the Democratic Party's doormat. He needs to engage Hillary on the areas where they disagree and the areas where she is weakest in order to clarify the differences in their platforms. That is what he is now vowing to do, which is good politics and will hopefully help him chip away at her lead.
But I still maintain that Obama has the numbers in Iowa. I just wish he would swing to the Left a bit more - his appeal would broaden and with the Republicans in such trouble he might as well go a bit Eugene Debs and see how far he can take it. Now THAT would be changing politics for the better.
"Why is it that Obama causes the usual rational core posters here to go completely haywire?"
Actually, the same question is going through my mind now.
Would that be BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA?