December 20, 2007
Obama Lands Two NH Paper Endorsements
The Portsmouth Herald endorsed Barack Obama today, saying:
He has tapped into the hunger for change among the electorate, but has made no promises that he can't keep. He has framed the problems in the country not by blaming one person such as President Bush, but by calling for collective responsibility from Republican and Democratic politicians and voters alike. He has framed the solutions in the same manner to allow the country to move forward. We have been impressed by his campaign's tone of pragmatic hope and partisan reconciliation.
We have seen his evolution as a candidate throughout this primary season. Of all the Democratic candidates, we believe Obama has the best chance to break through the partisan gridlock that has dominated our national politics for the past 15 years.
The Valley News, meanwhile, also gave the nod to Obama ...
Ultimately, though, the case for Obama is not just what he proposes to do but how he proposes to do it. Voters who doubt Obama's leadership skills need only look at his well-run primary campaign, which has taken on the Hillary Clinton juggernaut. Clinton is a formidable candidate -- knowledgeable on the issues, a sharp debater, tenacious. She is more polished and more practiced than Obama. But she is less candid and less likely to create the working majority needed to govern effectively. She describes herself as battle-hardened, the candidate most able to beat back the Republicans. But that's precisely the problem: She is an armored warrior in a country weary of partisan and cultural warfare; Obama wears no armor. He seeks reconciliation -- at home and abroad — and steps forward, ready to speak a language of common understanding.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
Posted at 10:20 AM
Comments
Amen! Hillary would bring the whole party down with her. Obama is the real deal. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to choose greatness over tired, brittle calculation. Choose greatness, New Hampshire!
John | 12.20.07 11:27 AM
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Kudos to the Herald and Valley News for recognizing that Obama has the greatest potential to move the country forward. He's got incredible personal integrity. I trust him to act honorably in office.
Fred | 12.20.07 03:30 PM
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"We have been impressed by his campaign's tone of pragmatic hope and partisan reconciliation."
"Of all the Democratic candidates, we believe Obama has the best chance to break through the partisan gridlock that has dominated our national politics . . ."
Who cares how "impressed" they are? This is flagrant wishful thinking and sadly indicative of Obama's supporters (generally).
Obama is playing on the public's great weariness of the socio-political wars between left-right, demo-repub, liberal-conservative. That's all well and good, but the only trouble is that those holding the perspectives of conservative/fundie/fascists are absolutely NOT ready to concede anything! They may be weary, too, but they aren't about to magically become reasonable and contrite.
Just because you are sick to death of the conflict (as we all are) doesn't mean that nominating a conciliator running on "pragmatic hope" (on oxymoron if ever there was one) is going to make it go away. It's not going ANYWHERE.
As president with such a soft-shoe "ah, shucks, can't we all just work together?" approach, Obama will be pulverized by the right. At least until he accepted the fact that he'd have to face the same hardball conflict left over from Clinton and Bush. The simple fact is that Hillary is realistic enough to see all this coming from the start, and doesn't bother running her campaign on snake-oil called hope and weariness.
Personally I don't like Hillary and probably won't vote for her. Which puts me in the peculiar position of having constantly to defend her. If you people are going to end up choosing between the two, then grow up and look reality in the eye, instead of cowering behind illusions of what you want it to be. This fight is for the future of America, and it isn't over by a long shot. Get used to it.
michael | 12.20.07 04:50 PM
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Great news for Obama. Has the Concord Monitor endorsed yet? I bet they also go for Obama.
Carolyn Grace | 12.20.07 07:53 PM
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Personally I don't like Hillary and probably won't vote for her. Which puts me in the peculiar position of having constantly to defend her.
What a weird thing to say! Does it make any sense?
Zapatiotis | 12.20.07 11:30 PM
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michael: I think it's amazing that Obama supporters are consistently characterized as misguided fools based on fallacious assumptions that we're expecting Obama's election to cause Washington to join in a great chorus of Kumbaya. No one is advocating, or even believes, in such nonsense!
However, there is a belief that an individual expressing and demonstrating a desire to engage individuals from "the other side of the aisle" will help to actually get things done for the nation. Democrats can't do anything alone, neither can the Republicans. Washington will remain at a stalemate as long as the respective sides throw hyper-partisan candidates at the other side. Yes, there are ideological differences about how to deal with problems, and even whether or not some problems really exist, but there must also be common ground somewhere; let's at least try to find it.
The argument that "we can't expect things to change, because things will always be the same" is tautological irrationality at its worst. Change will only occur when the electorate decides to implement change. As such, many individuals rooting for change happen to believe that Obama, based on his personal and political experience, would be the most successful at making headway on the matter. Clinton embodies the status quo and the hyper-partisanship that has caused our nation to stall over the last 7 (going on 8) years of Bush's "leadership." Does it make sense to simply invert Democratic and Republican roles in the game of bitter partisanship, and hope it all miraculously works out?
People talk a lot about winning the White House back for Democrats, but I want some progress to actually be made in the nation; the lives of real Americans aren't a game. Our nation's wars, healthcare, Social Security, college costs, consumer debt, etc. are issues that are too dire to be placed on the shelf for 4-8, 12, 16 more years of this inane "Screw you! No, screw you!" type of politics.
TruthSeeker | 12.21.07 02:47 AM
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Michael, couldn't have said it better except that I will vote for her....I remember the " I'll bring integrity and honor to the White House" by Bush...also, if the repubs can rip a war hero like John Kerry apart, can you imagine what they will do Obama...
JAFO | 12.21.07 07:16 AM
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