Liberal complaint
So far, Sen. Barack Obama resembles Bill Clinton rather than a transformative figure such as Ronald Reagan, liberal columnist Paul Krugman complains in the New York Times.
“Like Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama portrays himself as transcending traditional divides. Near the end of last week’s ’unity’ event with Hillary Clinton, he declared that ’the choice in this election is not between left or right, it’s not between liberal or conservative, it’s between the past and the future.’ Oh-kay.
“Mr. Obama’s economic plan also looks remarkably like the Clinton 1992 plan: a mixture of higher taxes on the rich, tax breaks for the middle class and public investment (this time with a focus on alternative energy),” Mr. Krugman said.
“Sometimes the Clinton-Obama echoes are almost scary. During his speech accepting the nomination, Mr. Clinton led the audience in a chant of ’We can do it!’ Remind you of anything?
“Just to be clear, we could — and still might — do a lot worse than a rerun of the Clinton years. But Mr. Obama’s most fervent supporters expect much more.
“Progressive activists, in particular, overwhelmingly supported Mr. Obama during the Democratic primary even though his policy positions, particularly on health care, were often to the right of his rivals’. In effect, they convinced themselves that he was a transformational figure behind a centrist facade.
“They may have had it backward.”
Clark’s misstep
“The McCain campaign has found an opening not only to blast Barack Obama for Gen. Wesley Clark’s comments over the weekend, but it’s given them the opportunity to brag about McCain’s extensive military career,” reporter Stephen Dinan writes in his “On the Republicans” blog at www.washingtontimes.com.
“On CBS’s ’Face the Nation’ Sunday, Clark said McCain lacks executive experience, can’t evaluate risks and, when pushed on Obama’s own lack of wartime experience, said: ’Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.’
“So now the McCain folks are parading decorated veteran after decorated veteran out to attest to McCain’s experience, and to use words like ’courage’ and ’character’ and ’loyalty’ repeatedly,” Mr. Dinan said.
“It’s also given them a chance to talk about McCain’s postwar executive experience as commander of the Navy’s largest aviation squadron, VA-174, a training squadron based at Cecil Field in Florida.
“McCain says that squadron ’set a record for the longer flying hours without an accident,’ and under his command received its first Meritorious Unit Citation. …
“The Obama campaign, seeking to head off what could quickly become a fiasco, put out a statement that dismisses Clark in an afterthought: ’As he’s said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain’s service, and of course he rejects yesterday’s statement by General Clark.’ ”
Audacity of hope
“Maskirovka — the Soviet dark art of denial, deception and disguise — is alive and well in Pyongyang, years after the Soviet Union disappeared. Unfortunately, the Bush administration appears not to have gotten the word,” John R. Bolton writes in the Wall Street Journal.
“With much fanfare and choreography, but little substance, the administration has accepted a North Korean ’declaration’ about its nuclear program that is narrowly limited, incomplete and almost certainly dishonest in material respects. In exchange, President Bush personally declared that North Korea is no longer a state sponsor of terrorism or an enemy of the United States. In a final flourish, North Korea has undertaken a reverse Potemkin Village act, destroying the antiquated cooling tower of the antiquated Yongbyon reactor. In the waning days of American presidencies, this theater is the stuff of legacy,” said Mr. Bolton, who served as Mr. Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“North Korea has consecutively broken every major agreement with the U.S. since the North’s creation. The Bush administration provides no reason why this one will not be added to that long list except the audacity of hope. Where have we heard that recently? Barack Obama and John Kerry both announced support for the deal, and Mr. Obama said he intended to apply Bush’s policy to other rogue states, thus confirming the early start of the Obama administration.”
No fried foods
“So much for having a good time at the Democratic National Convention,” the New York Post says in an editorial.
“The party’s Denver confab has adopted a regimen of political correctness of the sort not seen since George McGovern was boycotting grapes,” the newspaper said.
“Organizers have laid down strict rules, The Wall Street Journal reports, aimed at producing the ’greenest convention in the history of the planet.’
“They include:
- “No fried foods. Whatsoever.
- “All meals must include ’at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple and white.’
- “At least 70 percent of all food must be organic and grown locally.
“And organizers have recruited 900 recycling enforcers to ensure that every scrap of trash goes into the proper bin.
“And to make sure that any balloons used are biodegradable, the convention’s director of greening (no kidding) has been burying samples in a compost heap.
“But full compliance is proving difficult. For example, a demand that the 15,000 fanny packs to be distributed to volunteers all be made in the U.S. of organic cotton by union labor turns out to be impossible: Such things don’t exist.
“Here’s an idea. Why not do the whole thing over the Internet?
“No color coordination required.”
Bill and Barack
The silence between Sen. Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton has been broken.
Mr. Obama’s campaign said the two men spoke by telephone Monday. It was their first conversation since the Democratic primary campaign ended with Mr. Obama defeating the former president’s wife, the Associated Press reports.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said they had a “terrific conversation” and that the Illinois senator looks forward to seeing the former president on the campaign trail.
Greg Pierce can be reached at 202/636-3285 or gpierce@washingtontimes.com.
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