Only Two Weeks? I Count Ten

by CKR

David Broder is concerned about the state of discourse in the campaign.

Indiana and North Carolina were doubly irrelevant this year, because the "issues" that Clinton and Obama discussed in the two weeks before those states' primaries were some of the phoniest of this entire election cycle.

Obama was all but obliterated for that time by the huge media-fanned controversy over his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Wright's inflammatory comments were obnoxious, but they bore no resemblance to the rhetoric and the record of the Illinois senator. I'd like to know what kind of people Obama would bring into his White House and where he would turn for a Cabinet, because there is so much uncertainty about his actual policies at home and abroad.

Wright would clearly not be anywhere in that administration, so why waste a full fortnight on him?

And of course Broder has been absolutely, completely responsible and has asked the kind of questions he'd like to hear and never fanned the Wright controversy. Right?

Broder mentions Wright in every column all the way back to March 23.

May 1: A Pastor's Influence

April 24: The Democrats' Worst Nightmare

April 20: Democrats' Damaging Brawl

April 17: What Pennsylvania Voters Are Saying

March 23: The Real Value Of Obama's Speech

Admittedly, in some of these columns, Wright is mentioned only incidentally. And I suppose Broder would say that Wright was part of the news, he had to mention him.

But I count ten weeks plus, not just the two before Indiana and North Carolina.

Comments

[Courtenay Barnett]

Many people are in the political punditry business, so let me have a go:-

1. I predict that Rev. Wright will not be invited to Obama’s inauguration.
2. I also predict that Rev.Wright will not ever again have a photo opportunity as he did with Bill Clinton in the White House ( visit: http://www.hollywoodgrind.com/bill-clinton-met-with-racist-jeremiah-wright/) for the proof.
3. On a more serious note – if Obama is elected his cabinet will be largely center- right in composition.
4. Finally, my gut instinct tells me that Hillary will try to force herself as VP running mate, but I would wager that she will not be selected. By mid- June she will concede defeat.

Let’s now see if I should stick to my day job.

[Rob Richie]

Broder's column is also breathtaking in its assertion that North Carolina and Indiana are "throwaway states" because they are unlikely to be competitive in the November election under our current Electoral College system.

Gee, Dave, great. Because the Electoral College makes most Americans irrelevant in November, then we should make them irrelevant in the nomination too?

Time for the National Popular Vote plan (www.nationalpopularvote.com) and wash all this muck out of our political stalls...

[Courtenay Barnett]

David Broder wrote on the 24th April, 2008 in an op-ed piece:-

"But in the seven weeks between Ohio and Pennsylvania, a Post poll found shockingly high percentages of voters who regard Clinton as dishonest and untrustworthy."
Be it seven or ten weeks hence, there really is, quite objectively, something amiss in the character of Hillary Clinton,that not just the polls, Mr. Broder, or merely myself sense - it seems to be " Clintonest opportunism".The "nest" i suppose, is the perch in the White House to which she seeks to reutrn. That many people support her cannot be denied - but, how Obama deals with her presence come the convention is now quite a challenge that obviously he can't avoid nor easily escape.