The Obama drama: actor in search of a script

by: barrett kalellis | published: 07 22, 2008

According to biographer Robert Caro, young Lyndon Baines Johnson first honed his political skills while at college, learning to curry favor with conservative professors by wearing the mantle of a conservative. But when he wanted to impress his liberal elders, he pushed on the loud pedal about the wonders of FDR and the New Deal. Johnson was nothing if not devious and skilled in trying to play on both sides of the street.

In like fashion, Barack Obama is trying to juggle his far-left instincts with seemingly more nuanced, yet confused, positions that might appeal to more moderate voters -- needed to win the general election.

Thus, when utterances of his extremist friends like Jeremiah Wright or Father Pfleger are widely publicized, he tacks rightward by distancing himself from them. When faced with evidence that the surge of forces in Iraq has stabilized the ground situation, he makes mealy-mouthed statements about wanting to assess the situation again after meeting with the authorities over there.

After his hard-left supporters roundly and publicly chastise him for backtracking, he veers left again by insisting on his prior announcements about pulling forces out within 16 months, with the added bonus of getting encouragement and support from Prime Minister al-Maliki.

Since the mainstream press is all but in the tank for Obama, anything he says or does that appears favorable is trumpeted widely as "being presidential," along with thinly disguised attempts to credit him with far more experience than he actually has. Any embarrassing moments or gaffes are soft-pedaled or ignored. Big-shot, overpaid media anchors who signed up to join him in his Mideast tour are sure to give him favorable coverage night after night.

Poor John McCain seems only to make headlines when things go wrong, when there are shake-ups in his campaign staff, or when he is put on the defensive on whatever issues the media wish to carp about.

This farcical political campaign is nothing if not a never-ending audition for the lead role in a play that is to be decided the evening of November 4, with the production beginning on January 20, 2009. Barack Obama, the inexperienced, yet a gifted public speaker, small-town actor is trying to steal the part away from John McCain, the age-old veteran who has paid his thespian dues, and is looking for his last hurrah. McCain is training for the part by memorizing the script that he has been rehearsing for years: lower taxes, strong defense, a government spending crackdown, and knee-jerk positions on immigration reform, energy and environmental issues. Yet his on-stage demeanor is tedious and off-putting, and the audiences fall asleep. His responses to media challenges often make him appear startled and out-of-touch. Obama is making up his script as he goes.

With no clearly definable positions (since he is prone to change his mind when it suits him), he falls back on a murky mantra about "change," "new leadership," and the hoary, clichéd patois of 1960s liberal platitudes, which assume the patented Democrat Party enthusiasms for higher taxes and income redistribution, wasteful socialized government spending, more "new programs," class envy, and more private sector regulation.

Obama campaign advisors are keenly aware of the differences between their candidate and McCain, and their tactic is to make an implicit comparison between a young, fresh-faced, articulate fellow with "judgment" and "new ideas," and an old, tired and worn-out pol who looks to the past for his modus operandi.

The only stumbling block in this scenario is McCain's strong national defense experience, and they are chipping away at this industriously -- questioning his judgment and now upstaging his many trips to the Mideast.

In almost any company throughout the world, the CEO position would be awarded to someone with years of proven experience, judgment, character and insight.

At present, Barack Obama has really none of these. He has incipient qualities, but they have not been tested. In these perilous times, at war with declared enemies and a lackluster economy, do the American people want to elect a neophyte to the highest office in the land? One with no palpable experience other than union organizing?

One surrounded with questionable and extremist associates? One whose judgments will be heavily swayed and steered by socialist-minded engineers, since he has no administrative or economic experience to draw upon?

Are average Americans too dumbed down and ill-informed to entrust the security of their country to a person with no background in negotiating with dissembling foreign leaders and their minions who do not have the best interests of the U.S. at heart?

Or do they simply want the better actor on stage? An intelligent person would dread the thought of Barack Obama becoming President of the United States at this time, with all the consequences that will ensue.

Americans should understand that acting is only pretending.

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  Joseph P.

  All the world's a stage....

  
  

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