Comments on: Not Big Enough

By: doug r

doug r — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 22:56:45 +0000

Universal coverage for children is a GREAT starting point.

By: Salmo

Salmo — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:16:25 +0000

Easy does it. I agree it’s nice to have an agressive advocate for policies we think are correct, but it will be much nicer to have a Democrat in the White House in 2009. Obama will be a big deal and I think that he will make use of his opportunities. He has got to get elected (and incidently pray that the Secret Service does its job while he connects with American voters). We will just have to make do with a little dog whistle politics of our own while he gets there.

By: Duros62

Duros62 — Thu, 31 May 2007 17:57:13 +0000

I disagree, Ollie. Should he come out now, promising Skittles and X-boxes for everybody? Cut the guy a little slack. Everyone is watching him to see what he’s gonna do next, Hillary included. I’d be cautious and methodical. Promise the things now that you have a good chance of being able to deliver. It’s like Wellstone was saying further up; our pyramid starts from the candidate and works down.

By: mike in dc

mike in dc — Thu, 31 May 2007 14:38:36 +0000

The boldest candidate is usually the one making the concession speech…

By: Oliver Willis

Oliver Willis — Thu, 31 May 2007 10:07:42 +0000

Do you guys really believe the closer he gets to the candidacy, the less cautious and bigger thinker Sen Obama will be?

Methinks blindness is causing you to forget the last 50 or so years of U.S. politics.

If he isn’t bold now, he sure ain’t gonna be bold 6 months from now.

By: moron

moron — Wed, 30 May 2007 23:33:59 +0000

The next Democratic president will have a Democratic House and Senate and the chance to not only undo the most recent disastrous conservative government, but an unprecedented opportunity to move the ball down the field

It’s more than that — the problems now facing the country are so severe that there is no alternative to bold, large changes. The country simply cannot survive as a great power unless it completely transforms itself militarily, economically and socially in the next decade. DLC-lite centrism is a luxury we simply can no longer afford.

transformative talk from a black candidate may be too much for America – too much too soon

Obama has been so pusilanimous where courage is required, he is at the point of forcing me to vote for Edwards in the primary.

Other things being equal, I would strongly prefer a Black president to another white southern good old boy (or girl). But Obama is no David Plamer.

By: Duros62

Duros62 — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:28:11 +0000

Mike in DC, hear, hear. I think it would be unwise at this point in the game (we’re pretty much in the pre-season exhibition stage still, aren’t we?) for any candidate to start promising sausages and rainbows for everyone. Boldness may be the name of the game in the long run, but prudence on the side of caution is still a good thing. Start with ideas that are a)do-able and b) will get people thinking (still a huge roadblock in this country), then go for broke in the home stretch.
Maybe Barack isn’t as bold as some might want him to be yet, but I seriously think he is pacing himself very well. This is a long race.

By: goethean

goethean — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:55:11 +0000

> Obama is, frankly, not thinking big enough about a lot of issues.

Sure, if by “big”, you mean “leftward”. Maybe Obama doesn’t equate the two. He’s a centrist.

By: Wellstone

Wellstone — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:53:33 +0000

I don’t want to give Obama any advice, but it seems to me at this stage of Election ’08, eight months before the first Dem Primary on January 14 in Iowa, all he needs to do is put down a marker, just get something preliminary down.

There will be plenty of opportunities, plenty of debates, plenty of Brit Hume snark and OpinionJournal/Drudge/NewsMax/FOX/WND/TownHall bullshit he will have to fight through.

Blaming him or his organization at this time for a lack of long-term vision is just a tad premature.

By: mike in dc

mike in dc — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:43:58 +0000

I dunno. I think transforming the tone and style of washington politics would actually be a really big thing. I don’t think the current hyperpartisan environment is really conducive to boldness. You have to change the tone first before you start sketching out Camelot II.

By: SaveFarris

SaveFarris — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:22:09 +0000

If you’re going to run as an outsider (and Obama will/should), then you by nature have to incorporate transformative ideas. If America wanted a candidate to merely tinker around the edges and not change much, they’d opt for the savvy Washington veteran, which in this race, ain’t Obama.

By: mike in dc

mike in dc — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:10:23 +0000

Single payer is currently a non-starter. However, moving coverage a lot closer to 100%, and bringing down insurance costs for the average citizen is a pretty big deal nonetheless.
This is pretty much a lose-lose scenario for Obama–if he comes out with some super-ambitious plan that promises more than Edwards, he gets attacked for naivete and inexperience dealing with political realities. If he’s cautious, and comes up with something that’s better than the current system and is clearly politically achievable, then in the eyes of many he hasn’t gone far enough.