Is Obama Losing Web War?

When i saw this e-mail from Fineman/Newsweek

I thought of Osama bin ladin and the Iraq war - is that bad of me to think that?

He may be a great speaker and crowd pleaser, but maybe he should change his last name - his middle name won't work either. He should just go with Barack.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16905564/site/newsweek/?rf=nwnewsletter

It would only draw MORE attention from the RW who would say it was cowardly. He should be proud of his name and he is.

concerned at least enable you're user profile. Then lets talk.

I mean, it's only a year until the first primary, and anyone who hasn't gotten the nomination locked up by now is an irretrievable and irredeemable loser. Obama should get out of the race now, before he embarrasses himself any further. Clinton should get out, too, because whenever I see that name in a headline, I'm not sure if it's going to be a story about Bill or Hillary, and as a blond, that sort of confusion can fuck up my entire day (or weekend if it's a Friday).

We should just let Bush be president for another four years. I'm used to that, and I think a lot of other people are, too. New presidents confuse me a lot. And didn't they put in a new pope recently? Whatever happened to John Paul II? Seemed like a nice enough fellow.

Of all the times to have a name that rhymes with Osama and Hussein for a middle name. We saw in Tennessee that even a clean-cut, attractive, light-skinned, highly-qualified, religious, conservative man can't get elected to the Senate in the South if he's a Democrat and he's black. I am black, and I like Obama (tho I disagree with a lot of his Senate votes). But his name will haunt him thanks to the r/w racist media and the stupid idiots who believe what they say. He can't change his name without sending out all the wrong signals anyway. I hope he doesn't.

Edited because sometimes I type like a chimpanzee.

I've been trying to explain this to the board since I personally witnessed it in Tennessee, but I can't seem to get people here to understand it.

There is so much voting-booth racism and sexism in this country, that I don't think Hillary or Barak can win and I don't think Edwards has a chance if relations with Iran heat up to boiling because he's too "fluffy" in that category.

We need a dark horse: a Clark or a Gore.

I think that would be a killer ticket. Don't you?

I don't think Obama should change his name, either. And I don't think it's a good strategy in any event to pander to the racists and the idiots (wherever they are) even if we lose an election. Although a virulent strain in our society, the racist/idiot majority appears to be on the wane even in Tennessee, and with every passing day they slip a little further into the irretrievable and irrelevant minority. Harold Ford couldn't get elected in Tennessee in 2006; I don't know that that translates into an inevitable loss nationwide for Mr. Obama in 2008 (should he be the party nominee).

His first name Barack kinda rhymes with Iraq. Maybe he should go back to Barry as well.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in him, but its really ironic that the next great American hero has a name that is very similar sounding to our "enemies"

I'm a skeptic and i'm not convinced that the majority of Americans will want him to be president in 2008.

I want to see him succeed in the Senate first.

I couldn't imagine a more idiotic thing to do... change your name after you declared yourself setting up an exploratory Presidential run...

As for Obama "losing the web war", that's pretty ridiculous too...

I haven't read the other Biden stuff on the board, but is it bad to say that Obama is "articulate, well spoken, good speaker, etc." I think thats a compliment because there aren't that many people who are good speakers.

Deval Patrick was complimented for being a good speaker, compared to Tom Reilly, he was.
Al Gore was very stiff and wooden and boring in 2000.
Lieberman sounds like that whatever jon stewart imitates when he makes fun of him.
kerry is very long-winded.

Obama's a better speaker than Hillary, also.

"Al Gore was very stiff and wooden and boring in 2000." "Kerry is very long-winded."

These "assumptions" are purely distortions concocted by the lazy ass mainstream media for your consumption. It's very unfortunate that complex policy issues like universal healthcare, environmental reform, alternative energy policy, tactical and intelligent foreign policy, civil rights legislation and other issues have to get dumbed down for a goddamn eight-year-old with attention deficit disorder. Oh, it's so boring...can we make it a 5-second sound bite that every monkey and their uncle likes and can "understand"...

Gore and Kerry are very intelligent individuals that have done their homework on complicated issues. Calling them "wooden", "stiff" or "long-winded" makes me feel that the people saying that are generally dumber than a bag of rotten turnips. And that's precisely what the mainstream media wants to cater to.

Complicated issues require complicated answers. And just too much airtime or research for most reporters...

Yeah, but who is a better public speaker: Kerry, Gore, or Obama ?

my ADD only allows me to listen to soundbites and judge people on their looks.

I've seen Kerry speak live and have miles of video of him speaking. He's damn good. I only saw Gore speak once and he was very good. I've never seen Obama speak in person yet, but he is also quite good...

I can't say which one is "best". Each has their own style. I also couldn't tell you who my favorite band is either...

often used to describe intelligent black people that is not used to describe similarly situated whites - as if it is a given that whites are articulate, but a pleasant surprise worthy of comment when a black person turns out to be able speak clearly.

thats why such a big deal is made about public speaking and taking public speaking classes, not that many people can do it.

I suppose it can be an insult, but isn't something better than no compliment at all.

Most of this is primary politics, because the same thing was said about Deval Patrick and he took it as a compliment.

In fact, that was one of Deval's strengths that people/supporters kept bringing up, that he was a good speaker and got crowds on their feet.

He didn't have the govt experience compared to healy, and there wasn't much else that Deval ran on, other than being a democrat, charisma and momentum.

He was insulting African-Americans in general. He didn't say, Obama is "articulate". He said that Obama is "an African-American" who is "articulate".

It is a very well known stereotype that African-Americans are not articulate. You know that. And knowing that, why is it so difficult to understand that it is offensive making a statement which appears to be based on that stereotype?

And, again, Obama was not the explicit target of the offense; blacks in general were.