Monday, January 14, 2008

No-bama (2)

I still can't figure out what this guy is all about--either in terms of substance or voter appeal. As Bill Clinton said, he's a fairy. He spouts buckets of airy rhetoric with little real meat between the oratory. Edwards drives the bus, even though he's ranked third. I hope to hell, regardless of primaries, that he stays in because he keeps the others on track, particularly Hillary.

Now that everybody (except most of the Republican candidates) recognizes that our economy's in a melt-down and that something constructive has to be done, first Edwards and then Hillary stepped forward with genuine proposals for how to provide stimulus and, more importantly, aid during this time. As is often the case, even though Hillary takes longer to get her proposal out, she usually comes up with a more progressive policy than Edwards. (Maybe those votes to whom Edwards appeals but who actually vote for Hillary are onto something.) Typically, also, Obama waits till the eleventh hour and produces...a dud. As Paul Krugman noted in today's New York Times, "on Sunday Mr. Obama came out with a real stimulus plan. As was the case with his health care plan, which fell short of universal coverage, his stimulus proposal is similar to those of the other Democratic candidates, but tilted to the right."

This has been the case with every policy proposal he's put forward. His proposals are, from a genuinely progressive perspective, again in Krugman's word, "disreputable."

If you can't manage to hop on the Hillary bus, stick with Edwards to allow him the chance to keep prodding the others in something resembling the right direction, but avoid Obama. If this is progressive, then what's Huckabee or McCain?

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