Obama

[scaeagles]

He let the conversation get away from him? How many press conferences and townhalls has he had on the issue?

There are certainly those talking heads in the media that carry his water. Andrea Mitchell, doing a "news" story on the health care debate said that the protesters may not know what is best for them. And he HAS had the opportunity to make his point with his own staged and controlled town hall meetings. People just don't believe him. It doesn't go over well when protesters are called "evil mongers" by Harry Reid, and Pelosi implied they were nazis. There is audio (perhaps video) of Pelosi saying in 2006 how she loved disrupters, but that was because she was on their side.

Granted, Pelosi and Reid are not Obama. But he needs to gain some control over them. I think they are damaging him. And like Bush, Obama is trying to play to all sides and will end up losing his base as well as the independents along the way.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

He let the conversation get away from him? How many press conferences and townhalls has he had on the issue?

All way too late. By the time he was having them, there were already piles of lies out there that people were ready to stand up and shout angrily at him. I knew he'd lost the fight when he put out the pathetic request for people to send wrong-sounding things they'd heard to the white house email. They should have been out there hearing them for themselves and responding. By the time they were asking to be sent them, it was WAAAY too late.

And defend it as "freedom of speech" all you want, the fact is that the conservative movement has all but cornered the market on generating outrage and yelling half-truths and/or lies as an ends to a means. Conservative voices dominate the talk radio dial. And personally I'm glad that people who hold opinions closer to mine (liberals) simply aren't as good at that game. Liberals don't have the taste for the format the way conservatives to, to make a generalized statement. Just look at Keith Olbermann's ratings. He's undoubtedly just as skilled as O'Reilly or Beck, and I do find I agree with and am entertained by much of what he says. But he grew old for me very quickly and I don't think I'm alone. It just doesn't work for his potential audience, they don't buy into the outrage. But there are consequences to that, and I was hoping that Obama would find a way to inject his attitude of reason into the debate rather than just sit back and let it steamroll him like so many others before.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

And defend it as "freedom of speech" all you want, the fact is that the conservative movement has all but cornered the market on generating outrage and yelling half-truths and/or lies as an ends to a means. Conservative voices dominate the talk radio dial. And personally I'm glad that people who hold opinions closer to mine (liberals) simply aren't as good at that game.

I certainly do not agree with that premise, and would in fact proclaim the opposite when it comes to elected officials. Reid and Pelosi as the leaders of the dem majorities and excel at it.

I don't think it's an issue of not being as good at it, but I think most conservatives who listen to talk radio or other outlets are fed up with what they perceive as the liberal bias in the declared mainstream media.

I've watched Olberman and (liek O'Reilly, whio I've never had a taste for either) he just seems angry all the time.

As far as Obama injecting his voice of reason....he does whatever he thinks is politically expedient, as is common to politicians. Everything Obama says is planned (not that there's anything wrong with that), but he stays on script and when off of it I find him pretty amusing. Like when he was arguing for health care and proclaimed how (the non government companies) FedEx and UPS do well while the (government run) USPS has all the problems. When he is off script or cannot read the teleprompter, he is not so reasoned.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I've watched Olberman and (liek O'Reilly, whio I've never had a taste for either) he just seems angry all the time.

Yes, he is, which is why I think he's failing. His audience that agrees with him doesn't have the taste for the vitrol that the conservative audience does.