Obama Pivots?

Watching his concession speech, Daniel Casse comments:

All that talk about Democrats and Republicans coming together was, tonight, overshadowed by whatever wonkery he could throw out: caring for veterans, tax cuts, health care policy, nuclear weapons. He has been forced back onto Hillary’s turf of policy plans. Going forward, this Democratic campaign will be about who will promise to do what exactly for which Democratic constituent groups. And this has always been Obama’s weakest hand. The Florida primary fight on January 29th will be about Medicare purchasing power and cap and trade energy programs. The days of “hope” and “change” may just have come to an end.

Update: Andrew Cline has related thoughts, on Obama's "where's the beef?" problem.

Comments

"Coming together" is still the best strategy, and it's more than a strategy, it's what we need. The Clintons win through combat and division, and govern that way. The Clintons may win by trashing Obama, but they'll lose in the general.
Obama should stay with his theme, it's authentic and needed, and he may win with it. HRC's new persona, part Evita, part Carson McCullers, is a lie. She's still a cold-blooded wonk, now she'll talk about her heart, her feelings. I hope we see a lot of Bill. He could lose this for her.
The Clintons dynastic appeal may work with the dummies. But if the Clintons prevail, Obama should seriously consider running with Bloomberg. Wherever he goes, millions will follow. This is no Jesse Jackson - remember how the Clintons "George Wallace'd" Jackson in the primaries?
Obama should stay on message. If he goes into the gutter with the Clintons, he'll lose. Blacks never fare well with hillbillies. And don't think HRC isn't shifting to a "hillbilly" strategy. Carville and his ilk know how to "code" to the dummies that the DEMs are populists...WHITE populists.

Posted by fougasseu | January 9, 2008 8:27 AM

Obama run with Bloomberg??! Lemme have some of what you're smokin.

Posted by Bill | January 9, 2008 11:42 AM

Did he watch the same speech as the rest of us? Obama's talk about tax cuts, health care policy, etc. came directly from his Iowa speech and is a staple of his stump speech. What changed over the past week was the addition of the stirring "yes, we can" section which is as true to Obama's core message of hope as anything he's said all year. On this issue, he's just wrong.

Posted by JZ | January 9, 2008 2:57 PM

Bill - Obama/Bloomberg doesn't work for you, but Gore/Lieberman did? Give me a break. Political partnerships at the highest level are financial and demographic alliances, they're not about things that really matter.
Bloomberg would bring truckloads of money and the Neocon wing of the Democratic Party, the war profiteers and Big Pharma. Wake up, this is about Capitalism, not Democracy.
It all happens on the golf course on Jupiter Island, the most expensive zip code in America: 33455. Jupiter, where Bill fell and hurt his knee in the middle of the night, and where the Bush family has been wheeling and dealing for decades. Where Tom DeLay, Vernon Jordan, Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh and the CEOs of Bechtel, Halliburton, United Health, CACI, TimeWarner and many more ride around in golf carts together.
There should be people at every campaign rally holding placards and wearing T-shirts with "33455" on them. There are two kinds of people in America, those that play on Jupiter Island, and those that work for the people that play on Jupiter Island.
If Obama can't win by doing it the right way, he should walk away from the Democratic Party and do it the old-fashioned way, aligning with Bloomberg. Anything is better than another 8 years of the Clintons.

Posted by fougasseu | January 10, 2008 4:39 AM

fougasseu writes: "Jupiter, where Bill fell and hurt his knee in the middle of the night, and where the Bush family has been wheeling and dealing for decades. Where Tom DeLay, Vernon Jordan, Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh and the CEOs of Bechtel, Halliburton, United Health, CACI, TimeWarner and many more ride around in golf carts together.
There should be people at every campaign rally holding placards and wearing T-shirts with "33455" on them. There are two kinds of people in America, those that play on Jupiter Island, and those that work for the people that play on Jupiter Island.
If Obama can't win by doing it the right way, he should walk away from the Democratic Party and do it the old-fashioned way, aligning with Bloomberg."

Oh, right, because Bloomberg is a populist with no connections with any of those people.

What the hell is wrong with you, fougasseu? Did you get arrested on Jupiter Island one night and tossed in jail with a 400-lb guy who told you you have purty lips? How many more topics are you going to post this gibberish on?

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | January 10, 2008 8:57 AM

MoeLarryAndJesus: Bloomberg has plenty of connections with "those people" - plutocrats and mobsters.
The Clinton family holds the DEM franchise with "those people" and the Bush family holds the GOP franchise. If Obama can't win without playing ball with "those people", where can he turn?
Bloomberg's bold plan is to open up a third franchise - guess he figures there's plenty of money to go around. Obama would be a nice front man. If "those people" can't be beat, I'd rather have Obama in the White House than a Clinton, or a Romney, or a Thompson.
That 400-lb. guy who got arrested? You may have me confused with Roger Ailes. How do you like Rove rooting for Hillary? Whatever it takes to stop a real populist, right?

Posted by fougasseu | January 10, 2008 9:24 AM