|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
|
 Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:27 am Post subject: Dems Once Again Showing What NOT to Do |
 |
|
The economist isn't so positive about the dems this week:
Article 1: Race issue
| Quote: |
| Mr Obama's candidacy at first seemed a post-racial triumph. While he rarely addressed the issue directly, he seemed to embody the hope that America could transcend its divisions. Iowa's lily-white electorate flocked to him joyfully. But Mr Obama's victory in the caucuses there provoked attacks by Mrs Clinton's allies, which some blacks interpreted (a touch tendentiously) as ethnic slights. Then, just as things were beginning to calm down, Nevada's Hispanics waded into the fray. |
Here is what I found to be most interesting:
| Quote: |
A CNN poll suggests the pattern was repeated across the state. Latinos, who made up 15% of caucus-goers, gave Mrs Clinton a 38-point lead. Blacks favoured Mr Obama by 69 points.
Few expected that so many Latinos would turn out, or that they would plump so heavily for Mrs Clinton. |
Article #2: Bill and the Dems
| Quote: |
The biggest damage is to Mrs Clinton's claim that she will be an effective chief executive. Mr Clinton's frenetic role in the campaign surely prefigures the role he will play in the White House, advising here, meddling there, and using the access to top-secret information that his position as an ex-president affords him to second-guess the most sensitive decisions. Who will hold Mr Clinton accountable for his actions? How will the White House function with an ex-president and a vice-president vying for influence? (One insider once termed the �three-headed� relationship between the Clintons and Al Gore a �rolling disaster�.) The Clintonians like to describe their bosses as complementary figures who act as �force multipliers�. But in the 1990s what actually got multiplied was confusion.
All this will be material for the Republican attack machine. By most reckonings the Republicans should be doomed. But the Clintons' tactics are alienating blacks and young people. The Clintons are in the process of doing the impossible: making the 2008 election a referendum on them, rather than on the Republicans. And the Republicans are inching towards nominating their one candidate, Mr McCain, who has broad popular appeal. If what ought to be a stroll in the park in November becomes a real fight, then the Democrats will know who to blame. |
The Presidential race should be a romp for the Dems, but they're doing a good job of making it just that: a race. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:07 am Post subject: Re: Dems Once Again Showing What NOT to Do |
|
|
| bucheon bum wrote: |
The Presidential race should be a romp for the Dems, but they're doing a good job of making it just that: a race. |
It shouldn't be that surprising. America has always been about identity politics.
The fact is that Hillary and Barack are clones on the issues.
Their environmental plans have the same numbers: 25% renewable energy by 2025, $150billion spending over 10 years, inordinate emphasis on clean coal and ethanol.
Their Iraq plan is the same: stay and draw down minutely over time.
Their economic stimulus package advice is irrelevant, they're not going to pass a stimulus package a year late.
Their health-care plans are really the only difference. Both are committed to expanding health care, but Hillary wants a single-payer system that accomodates those who already have insurance, while Obama wants to accomodate those who already have insurance and expand coverage.
So what's left to distinguish the two? Experience v Hope, battling over who is the change candidate, and identity-identity-identity politics.
Are we really so surprised? Did we think that a black national politician or a woman national politician would pull any punches or not use whatever they could to win?
What we have here are lofty expectations crashing down. What we have here are frustrations over a long and grueling primary. Remember how different things were in October? Well, imagine how different things will be in June, and in next October!
This too will pass. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| We haven't heard such wisdom coming from Kentucky since Abe Lincoln moved to Indiana. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mistermasan
Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Location: 10+ yrs on Dave's ESL cafe
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 3:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| hilary as pres and obama for veep would be a landslide. well...it is gonna be a landslide regardless. it would be best if cheney resigned. bush gave his job to hillary right now so as to maximize continuity. there ain't a dimes worth of difference between them. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 3:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| there ain't a dimes worth of difference between them. |
Just keep repeating that. Sooner or later you will convince yourself. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
