Fear Obama

David Brooks writes, "Republicans are wondering how [McCain] would compete against Hillary Clinton (whom they moderately fear) and Obama (whom they fear a great deal)."

Now, either this is some totally cooked up, Kristol-esque horseshit meant to make liberal readers believe that Republicans fear Obama (when the truth is different), or it is not. I tend to think it is not. And I think that's instructive. Because when politicians identify their most dangerous political nemeses, they tend to trot out all the oppo that they can. Better to run against Hillary if Obama's the scary one, right? But where's the beef? Yes, there are email chain and talk radio lie campaigns that have been under way for some time. And yes, the smears in the elite ranks will become more vicious as time goes on. But it's interesting to note that, for all intents and purposes, the worst thing Republican politicians have to say about Barack Obama right now is that he's a liberal.

Comments

You know Mr. Beutler, David Brooks can shove everything he says up his McCain/Lieberman (though still a possibility) loving ass. I will never seriously listen to that guy again.

If what you say is true, "when politicians identify their most dangerous political nemeses, they tend to trot out all the oppo that they can," then Brooks is dead wrong! The Republicans seem to be gunning for Hillary. Don't you think?

Posted by: Juststoppingbytocheckonanoldfriend on February 1, 2008 01:43 PM

No matter who we nominate, the goopers will claim victory. If we pick Hillary, they'll say that we're out of touch with America and picked the one person who every last person in America hates. If we pick Obama, they'll brag about how they scared us away from picking the one person with enough experience and political skill to beat them.

No matter what happens, we'll be told it's good for republicans.

Posted by: MikeJ on February 1, 2008 03:23 PM

Someday we will likely discover how the conservative disinformation campaigns really function. Short of an email list of 'tomorrow's talking points' - that can't be photocopied, forwarded (like the message that self-destructs in Mission Impossible) or even saved on your PC, I can't imagine how all the Goopers can manage to say the same (dumb, untruthful, and unhinged) things at the same time, from Faux News to the NYT. Drudge has been alleged to be the clearinghouse, and Grover Nordquist is discussed as 'the source'.

It really is magic. Vulcan Mind Meld?

Posted by: JimPortlandOR on February 1, 2008 04:30 PM

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