Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Obama on Hardball



He's good. This performance was much better than he usually is in unscripted settings with small audiences.
Maybe the smashing win tonight in Mississippi was buoying his spirits. Or maybe he's just generally getting better at this.

3 comments:

bjkeefe said...

Yeah, pretty good clip. Thanks for posting.

One question: I still don't get what was "racist" about Hillary's "3AM" ad. I thought it was Rovian in its attempt to play on people's fears, but do you have any idea why it could be called racist?

jiminy jilliker said...

My best guess is that there's a general air of racially-tinged condescension about Clinton. Any "Obama's not good enough" sentiments she or her supporters express will be viewed through that lens. Of course, she has to say that she's better than Obama, but to say that he hasn't "crossed the threshold" while she and McCain have raises suspicions, especially with the environment as poisoned as it has been.
But on your specific point, I agree-I don't think there's anything inherently racist about the ad either. Just, you know, underhanded and scummy.

bjkeefe said...

I guess we agree. I suppose I should have done this first.

Patterson's piece, which appears to have started the debate, doesn't convince me, but I'm not a black man who has spent a career looking for the subtleties he has.