2008 Primaries, Views on News • May 23rd, 2008

The summer of Dem discontent approaches

by Chris Lato

To everyone who wrote off Hillary Clinton (me included) – this story will give you pause and then make you wonder how the Dems will get out of this fine mess they’ve gotten themselves into.

Can some of the same folks who argued in 2000 that Al Gore should have been president because he won the popular vote turn around eight years later and argue that the popular vote doesn’t matter? Will Florida be disenfranchised yet again?The mind reels.

First, Hillary has to deliver as the article suggests she can. Also, the goofiness of the Florida and Michigan votes will have to play a role.

But really, this just muddies the waters even more. And with Barack Obama flailing around, trying to find his way on foreign policy and showing off his relative inexperience, this promises to be a long, hot summer for the Democratic Party.

The Obama story, in particular, illustrates the dangers of sounding off without thinking first, without having the facts in front of you, without noting that your answer is a work in progress, something to indicate your concern but that a more complete answer will be forthcoming. The snowball just keeps rolling downhill, getting bigger and bigger till it rolls right over you.

But in an age where admitting a mistake is tantamount to political suicide, and a soundbite can sink a campaign, what other choice does Obama have?

Actually, it can be done but it requires strict message discipline and a willingness to step up and admit, at the very least, that Obama didn’t fully form his initial answer(s). Acknowledge the issue is more complex than a simple yes-or-no answer, past statements may have been misconstrued, and that American interests would of course be protected when meeting with foreign leaders who have the potential or interest in doing America any sort of harm. The end goal is always peace and prosperity for all, but the concerns of America and its allies will always come first.

Or something like that.

That won’t get away from the questions that continue to linger, including Obama’s support of the ridiculous notion of unconditional meetings with unfriendly foreign leaders, but at least it starts pointing Obama in the right direction. It gives him room to keep developing his answer and gain some ground.

Obama intended to pander to the members of the Bush-bashing left who view the president as a dim-bulb cowboy - but Obama overreached and will now have to pay the price for that short-sightedness and naivete.

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