Obama has one big weakness/it ain't going away.

Barrack Hussein Obama.

The republicans will crucify him for it.
And he can't get away from it.

I wonder what Rudy's middle name is?

Rudolph Nine Eleven Giuliani.

Interesting.

I wouldn't be surprised if he started answering "9-11" when asked his name...

And Rudy will be crucified in kind if he wins the Republican nomination. On a national scale voters would not be as forgiving as New Yorkers have been.

have a President with a middle name associated with the man they think was behind 9/11, and a last name one letter off from that tall Arab man the White House will announce was killed next year shortly before the election to help the GOP?

Yea, that sounds about right.

he will have to embrace it. Steal their thunder. That is the only way to do it.

He will have to say his entire name, clearly and distinctly, in his nominating speech, and undercut them. He could talk about his entire name, the origins of each of its three parts, and his pride in his heritage. Then, he should laugh at those who would use his name against him.

I remember when everyone called the hippies names. They did not really call themselves hippies.* They called themselves freaks, and did so with pride.





*There might be a few exceptions. Recently, I saw a formerly freaky friend, after not seeing her for nearly thirty years. I hugged her and screamed, "Judy! You dirty god-damned hippie!"

If you don't think there are some bigots who vote D, look at the blue states that easily passed gay marriage bans.

I agree with you, Obama should embrace it and draw attention to it before the GOP does.

The kind of people who consider Obama to be a foreigner are people who will probably vote GOP no matter what. I think Stephen Colbert described them as the backwash.

I think Obama's middle name is a minor issue compared with the other candidates' baggage.

With Hillary it's the idea of 8 more years of Bill & Hill in the Whitehouse. That will be a major card for whoever gets the GOP nomination. Plus, let's be honest, some people find her kind of abrasive (even when she is not cackling ... sorry - chuckling)

With Edwards its various things like his voting record in the Senate and subsequent shifting positions, his hedge fund, his mansion, his haircut, his accent ....

I have been trying to keep an open mind until now. My dream ticket is BIDEN-OBAMA.

But if Biden can't break through then I will happily support Obama in 2008.

Furthermore, it's a double edged sword. And of course he can turn blatant bigotry on them. And if you think Rudy will get the nom, you haven't been paying attention.

Yeah I can totally see the Republicans winning by making a big deal about his middle name... if only he'd known such a thing before he started running...

I've about had enough of Republican presidents named 'George' and 'Ronald.'

and is touring churches. and wearing his religion on his sleeve.

can you blame him for it?

:P

P.S. Fuck the Repukes.

Nothing worse than a dem using repukes tactics

issues that are guaranteed to come up,"republican tactics"?

just mentioning it makes one suspect. The idea, I guess, is that repubs haven't noticed and maybe they won't notice if we don't talk about it. So everyone ignores the issue.

Yes, it's a little crazy, but there you have it.

Barack Hussein Obama. And, yes, repubs will bring it up at every turn. But, Shhhhhsh!, you can't say his middle name here. It provokes fake outrage.

It's a tiresome attack. I think people who might vote for Obama will get annoyed at such an attack once they get to know him.

The GOP will have "stuff" about all our candidates.
No need to help them out here.

But I do think its worth considering from our point of view.

Now, if he were a rich white guy with an Anglo name who had served honorably in Vietnam, they wouldn't be able to crucify him...

:eyes:

The real attack dogs aren't the people who will talk about his name. They aren't the Freeper babblers spouting nonsense. They aren't the Coulters, Limbaughs, Malkins, and the like; those people are just to keep the Republican base occupied while real work goes on. The Republican attack machine is on-target, focused, and brutal. They won't be talking about his name. The only people who give a shit about his name are the mouthbreathers looking to post crap photoshops on gun-enthusiast forums, and the "media personalities" who get rich by pandering to them.

No, the real enemies--the real attack machine--will have bigger fish to fry. They'll be talking about his inexperience, his out-of-touchness, his aloofness. They'll be painting him as a liberal ninny who spent his entire life sheltered from Real America, who's never had to hold a real job, who's never had any real responsibility, and who read a few books at UChicago and now thinks he can just waltz right in and charm us into giving him the reins of leadership in the middle of a war and an economic crisis. They'll try to destroy him. His name? Hardly worth mentioning.

I don't mean to imply that Sen. Obama is not a good choice; I think he's our best shot. But his name is not what he'll be attacked on. No sir.

and that is the fact about Barack that is not going away.

Plenty if your middle name is Hussein and last name is similar to the first name of the world's #1 most wanted terrorist. Coupled with the fact that he's half black and his father was a Muslim from Kenya. The conservative Repugs will vilify him. They're already insisting that he's not Christian nor even patriotic (the flag pin issue & hand not over his heart during the National Anthem). I honestly don't see him surpassing the kind of fear and hatred that his potential presidency would instill in some people.

Beacool - I am assuming from your avatar that you are a Hillary supporter.

In any case I don't agree that Obama's name makes him unelectable in America.

What could be more American than "You rock, Barack!" and "GOBAMA!"?

Certainly no reason why we should not vote for Obama in the primaries.

Most people can see that Obama believes 110% in the promise of America.

The few who won't vote for him would likely not vote for Hillary either.

I'm just pointing out that I think this country is still too racist to elect him as president, at least this time around. I'm not voting for him because the country is facing very difficult times and I want someone who has been around for a while and knows how to work the system to get things done. I don't think that his less than 3 years in the US senate qualify him to be president, I would have considered him in the future but not in '08.

Personally I am not confident that Hillary "knows how to work the system to get things done".

Over the next couple of months we will see who comes out on top.