Joe Klein on Barack Obama and 2008

[Perky]

Suggest that Gore vs Hillary is heating up as a possibility, but suggest that is a boring topic until both get in. And even then it might still be boring.

He suggest something that I have to think about though. The conventional wisdom on Obama is that he is waaay to green to run for President. Two years in the Senate does not really qualify him for much. Point well taken, but here is JK's other point.

At 44 and fresh and articulate and smart as a whip< perhaps he is the perfect choice for the Dems who would otherwise trot out 2000 and 2004 retreads.[br />

An interesting theory. Could Barack be the next JFK? Young. energetic, well spoken and not much of a record to poke holes at? Could he capture the imagination of a pretty disinterested generation of young adults?

Smart young and articulate against Frist or Allen or any RWer? Could work well.

Running mate would be important and it would have to be someone who could deliver a state or two electorally and had serious gravitas.

It is however an issue for discussion

[saltpoint]

1. Our 2000 and 2004 candidates are well-tested, well-funded, and

ready to rumble. I don't think they'll be as easily dismissed on the count that they have already run for the job; in fact I think it will be a plus.

Which isn't to say that Senator Obama should be counted out. He has enormous appeal. I wouldn't have any trouble at all casting a vote for him.

But competition in 08 is going to be sturdy.

[Perky]

2. The progressives will flame me for this but

an Obama/Richardson ticket would be an electoral lock.

[saltpoint]

3. It would be an exciting ticket. Again, it would have my vote.

Do you believe Obama would take a draft to be on the ticket if the convention were locked?

Or maybe as vice president?

After the Republicans nominated Dan Quayle, they forfeited any criticism of any of our veep nominees for all eternity.

I could see one of our leading contenders get the nomination and then turn to Obama or Richardson as veep.

[Perky]

4. The problem is that Obama is "lights out" articulate

And would really outshine any other nominee. I don't think any candidate would want the media drawing attention to that...AND THEY WOULD.

I think if Obama thought the ticket would lose he would probably doit to set himself up for 2012 but that is just me being cynical

[saltpoint]

6. After the keynote address in Boston in 2004, Obama will be a

huge presence in any room he walks into, no matter where it is or who's in there already.

It is going to be a breath-taking pleasure to watch his career.

[theboss]

5. The idea of a Kerry/Clinton slugfest makes me want to cry

Obama would certainly shake up the race, which in of itself is not a bad thing.

[Brigid]

7. I would vote for Obama.

I look forward to voting for him one day, and as far as I am concerned, the sooner the better. He won me over with his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. However, if he feels he is not ready, then he will not run. Interesting that he wants to prepare himself to take on the responsibilities of the job before trying to get it.

[warrens]

8. Durbin is already promoting him

If he decides to run, he will wipe the floor with the competition and clean any Republican's clock that dares to run against him.

I interviewed him in the summer of 2004 and spent several days traveling with him. He really, really connects with audiences, and in many of these towns (we visited over 30) the crowd had a lot of Republicans sprinkled throughout, and they reacted well to his messages. He sticks to healthcare, the war, honest government and better schools, and he's very effective.

My sense is that he doesn't want to get into a too-much, too-soon situation. He's very calculating and very shrewd, and a lot more of lefty in private than in public. He has his eye on 2012, but if things keep going the way they're going, he may very well decide to go for it.

[milkyway]

9. Joe Klein is repulsive. Here's my letter/rant to Time about this column.

In your June 5 issue, Joe Klein says, "Gore has been curdled by anger over his loss in 2000." Klein gives no evidence to support this statement. Certainly, any human being in Al Gore's position after the disputed 2000 election would feel a range of emotions. But Klein is saying Gore has been permanently curdled, or hardened, by his anger over 2000, as if it is all-consuming and thus making him unfit for office.

Is Klein basing this statement on Gore's series of speeches he's given over the last few years? Gore did show anger in these speeches, but it wasn't anger over the result of 2000--it was anger over the policies of the Burn-the-Constitution-First crowd that's currently in power. What patriot wouldn't feel anger when he's constantly told by the Bush admininstration that the United States of America as constituted by the Founding Fathers is incapable of defending itself? That its citizens can't have both liberty and security--the United States is simply too weak to provide both (at least under the Bush administration).

Again, where is Klein's evidence for his harsh statement about Gore? Or is Klein doing what the mainstream media has done for years: create a caricature of a Democratic candidate, and then write stories in the future that fit their pre-ordained storyline, distorting or fabricating evidence as necessary? Will Klein, like Bush, come to his conclusion first, and then tailor the evidence to fit it?

Also, Klein's use of the word "curdled" is telling. It has a far stronger negative connotation than a word such as "hardened." It is an ugly-sounding word that people associate with being permanently spoiled, or ruined.

Then speaking of Hillary Clinton in the very next sentence, Klein gets just plain stupid. He says, "Clinton will always be known as the wife of that other Clinton." Oh, really? Does Klein really think that if Hillary were to become the first female President and have to deal with the enormous problems she will have inherited (see George, W.), that after four years, or eight, she would be known only as Bill Clinton's wife? No. She will be known as President Hillary Clinton, the first female President of the United Sates. And Bill Clinton will become known as Hillary Clinton's husband, who also served as President.

One more piece of idiocy from Klein: "We baby boomers have not proved very adept at running the show." There have been exactly two baby boomer presidents running the show: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. To lump the Clinton presidency in with the Bush, Jr. presidency is ludicrous. Under Clinton, government was competent, improved people's lives, and gave us relative peace and prosperity. It's not the baby boomers who have failed. It's the Bush administration and media sycophants like Joe Klein.

By the way, do the Time editors realize how ridiculous the magazine seems this week by placing the Klein column directly after the Al Gore article? Karen Tumulty's three-page Gore article is the first main news article, and it only discusses Gore and a potential presidential candidacy in 2008. Global warming was not discussed. Turning the page, we find Klein's article, "Barack Obama Isn't Not Running for President." Klein's first two sentences read: "It was the sort of week that drives serious politicians crazy. Both Al Gore and Hillary Clinton had important things to say about global warming and energy independence—and the chatterati spent most of their time ignoring the messages and gossiping about the messengers."

Klein uses the derisive word "chatterati" as if he, nor Time, is a part of it. Klein is way too serious a person for that kind of gossip! He then proceeds to spend his column chattering about Obama's chances in the horse race in 2008, which followed three pages of Karen Tumulty chattering about the horse race in 2008. Meanwhile, the Constitution burns.

P.S. I do wish to commend you not only for the report on the war in Congo, but also for the decision to give it the cover. Thank you.

[WI_DEM]

10. Too Green--sorry but JFK at least had 4 years in House and 8 years

in Senate when he ran.

Obama should run for Governor in 2010 and then seek the Democratic nomination in 2012 or 2016.

[bklyncowgirl]

11. Obama's a good man but way too green.

Bush has driven this country into the ground. We don't have time for on the job training.

Obama as a running mate for someone like Al Gore, I could definately see.

[blm]

12. This is Klein's way of baiting Dems to fight against themselves.

I doubt Obama will fall for it.

[Perky]

13. Kickety kick

[SmokingJacket]

14. Yes, it would be great.

I'm not sure what kind of president he would be (certainly better than what we have now), but he's a GREAT speaker, and his campaign would be refreshing and exciting....

Obama/Feingold -- or the other way around! Whatever!

ANYTHING but the same old stuff, please!