Doubling Down on Obama: A Gambler’s Guide to the Election

I think its fair to say that as more and more becomes known about Obama, the more and more I become convinced that I’ll be able to say I told you so the day after the general election in November.

Obama is a political unknown. He talks a good talk, but can’t walk a good walk. He attacks Senator Clinton for attacking him, but he either started it or then begins attacking her, while at the same time saying he’s the agent of change. Is it really change when your candidate stoops to the very thing he’s supposedly against?

The truth as I see it is that Barack Obama is that Obama is the one who is the fatally flawed candidate. He is the one that Democrats who really want to win the White House need to worry about. With all his talk of change and uniting a supposedly divided America, the truth is that he isn’t capable of doing that. He will be painted as the candidate of multiple Americas - Black America, Liberal and Elite America, Taxation, and finally, the un-American.

Betting on him will be like doubling down on a losing hand.

Obama is a political unknown. He talks a good talk, but can’t walk a good walk. He attacks Senator Clinton for attacking him, but he either started it or then begins attacking her, while at the same time saying he’s the agent of change. Is it really change when your candidate stoops to the very thing he’s supposedly against?

The truth as I see it is that Barack Obama is that Obama is the one who is the fatally flawed candidate. He is the one that Democrats who really want to win the White House need to worry about. With all his talk of change and uniting a supposedly divided America, the truth is that he isn’t capable of doing that. He will be painted as the candidate of multiple Americas - Black America, Liberal and Elite America, Taxation, and finally, the un-American.

Betting on him will be like doubling down on a losing hand.

As more and more is becoming known about the man who would be President, it’s becoming amusingly clear that this man has no chance at becoming elected President of the United States. The laughable part in this whole melo-drama is that Hillary Clinton, John McCain, the Republican Party, nor some 527 group bears any responsibility in making this so. Barack Obama, the master of eloquence and the preacher of change has instead become an agent of the old order of politics as we know it, and thus subject to the types of attacks on his credibility and character that has surfaced lately. Consequently, voting for him is more of a gamble, then a sure thing.

The Black Candidate

Obama’s campaign started out as an experiment to see if America could transcend race and politics. For a while, it appeared as if he might succeed, however with each primary that passes, he’s had limited success. The reality is that he has become the 2008 equivalent of Jesse Jackson’s 1988 run, especially in the South where racial misgivings and conservative values have consistently delivered the electoral votes to Republicans.

Obama’s argument that he’s able to win in states that traditionally vote Republican in the general election is both deceptive and partially inaccurate. The media has largely ignored the fact that Obama’s victories are due in a large measure, to his overwhelming dominance in attracting the black vote. In places like Alabama and South Carolina, blacks outnumbered white voters by 51 to 45 and 54 to 45 percent respectively. In both primaries, Obama took 84 and 78 percent of the black vote respectively. The seemingly “ethnic pride” contributed substantially to Obama’s victories there. Even in Pennsylvania where blacks made up 15 percent of Democratic primary-goers, Obama took an 84 percent share. The area where Obama has attracted the largest percentage of white voters was the youth vote. However, historically, the youth vote has only made up 10 percent of the overall vote in the last two general elections.

While Obama has tried to overcome this stereotype, the reality is that he is more closely associated with the Jackson and Sharpton camps, especially now as he tries to distance himself from racial vitriol of Reverend Wright, the person who officiated at Obama’s wedding and baptized his two children. In addition, his viability in winning a general election will rest on a number of things. First, he will need 100 percent of the black vote which constitutes only 12 percent of the entire population. Second, he will need to win over Latino’s who have a historically poor relationship with the black community. Third, he will need to overcome the symbols of urban black behavior a predominant feature of black youth in many of America’s inner-cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, and New York. Finally he will need a solid majority of the Reagan Democrats who are solidly behind Mrs. Clinton. That will be difficult when a majority of them have no intention of backing Obama should he be the Democratic nominee. If Latino’s don’t support him, and pictures of urban America become the new Willie Horton and working class whites don’t swing over, Obama will be portrayed by Republicans as the black candidate.

The Elitist Tax and Spend Liberal

Obama’s own comments have pegged him squarely as an elitist and a tax and spend liberal. His seething antipathy to people who place a great deal of emphasis on religion and values was uttered during a fund raiser in San Francisco, a bastion of liberal elitism. Obama’s campaign is supposed to be about One America, but it appears that Obama’s One America doesn’t include people who look to religion for guidance and a moral compass. Although he was probably attempting to explain why people incorporate religion and values into their politics, his utterance just didn’t come out that way. Instead, it seemed as if he came out attacking religion and the foundation that many people in this country have built their lives upon. He came out as looking down on a sizeable chunk of America.

Obama’s elitism even extends toward taxation. He recently came out calling Hillary and John McCain’s call for a federal gas tax holiday as phony. By doing so, Obama has placed himself squarely in the old Democratic camp of tax and spend. By coming out against the tax holiday, he’s proven himself to be a tax and spend liberal, a man who wants to take more and more of people’s money in a time of tough economic hardship. It’s hard not to agree that it’s a short term economic stimulus, but one can plan for long term success while providing short term relief. For example, Bill Clinton’s welfare reform, vilified by liberals, but highly successful in getting people to self-sufficiency is in essence, a short term action plan that helps the poor for long term success.

Obama –Poor Judgment and Anti-Americanism

Another argument against him, and one that Obama surely sees as a “distraction” as opposed to a legitimate issue, is the questioning of his patriotism. Obama’s judgment and patriotism have come under fire recently for his association with former domestic terrorist William Ayer, and his close relationship with his formal spiritual and religious mentor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Not only has Obama associated himself with questionable people, he has shown no inclination to wear the American flag on his lapel, and his wife had not previously been proud of America until Obama started doing well in the primaries.

On his relationships, Obama has demonstrated very poor judgment. Ironically, he has accused Senator Clinton (and by extension Senator Kerry and other Democrats) of having this same trait simply because she voted for granting authorization to use force in Iraq. But was it really poor judgment on her part when 60 percent of Americans supported the invasion in March 2003?

Additionally, Obama’s patriotism is an issue, a very big issue. Do Americans want their president to be anything less than a true patriot! Do they want someone who is not willing to defend America and Americans domestically and abroad, from all her enemies? Our flag has and always will be a symbol of what makes America different from the rest of the world, and one that is enshrined in every school, every government installation, and every public square. People have died in order to lift the flag over the battlefield where our troops have sacrificed their lives on the alter of freedom and justice. Isn’t it our right to expect our elected officials to pay tribute to that sacrifice by wearing the symbol that has enshrined the virtues and values of America? Obama’s not totally wrong when he says that patriotism is also a measure of speaking out on issues that you disagree with, but that virtue outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the First Amendment is part of what the American flag represents. His refusal to wear a simple pin is a testament to the fact that Obama is not willing or able to defend America’s ideals and beliefs to the rest of the world.

This is made more evident when his wife says that she wasn’t proud of this country for her the entirety of her adult life, until her husband became a serious contender for the presidency. His attestations that his association with former domestic terrorist William Ayer and close relationship with Reverend Wright aren’t representative of his beliefs is laughable. He’d be more credible on this if both of their political beliefs formed after their association with Obama. How could Obama not have known what Ayer had done? Does it matter that Ayer had engaged in acts of terrorism against America some 40 years ago and could Obama not have known? That fact only adds to the questionable judgment and patriotism of Obama.

And what of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright? This is a man who has used the pulpit to denounce America for not holding his views. One just doesn’t wake up and suddenly realize that the American government invented AIDS to get the black population (ironically this wasn’t seen as a black issue, but a gay cancer back in the early 80’s) or that the 9-11 terrorist attacks was a justifiable response to America’s past behavior toward blacks. It’s hard to believe that after 20 years of listening to him, that he didn’t know of his views.

When the disparate images of Obama are woven into a portrait, the final image shows a fatally flawed candidate. He hasn’t been able to effectively stand up to the legitimate attacks on his character or his beliefs. In the end, super delegates need to ask themselves if they want to take their chance on Obama. To do so would be akin to doubling on 18 and hoping that the next card isn’t higher than a three. What we don’t know, is whether when or if the other shoe will drop, and while his Democratic opponent may not be willing to dig deeper or publicize what’s not publicly known, Republican’s will have no qualms about doing so. Super delegates willing to take the chance should cast their vote and spin the wheel.

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