The media pushes the Obama - Clinton "fight". Americans fall for it

[mudesi]

John Edwards is now leading in the polls in Iowa. Fred Thomson, despite not being in the race yet, is also leading. Would anyone be surprised if the general election ended up being between two Southern, upper class, white men?

It never ends.

[Deep13]

1. Edwards is upper class?

I thought his Dad was a mill worker. I thought he was a plaintiff's injury lawyer. I'm inclined to classify him as upper-middle class.

[bryant69]

3. Edwards was a very successful attorney

He's certainly wealthy enough; that doesn't disqualify him in my mind though. In the absence of Gore, he's the strongest candidate in my mind

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Stuckinthebush]

10. He grew up lower middle

and is now considered upper class by virtue of his income and his position in society.

[Deep13]

17. I guess being a Senator does that. nt

[Stuckinthebush]

21. Indeed

Nice job if you can get it.

[Crankie Avalon]

2. Edwards is a self-made man. He may be wealthy, but at least he's not one of those clowns...

...who inherited every penny they have.

[ronnykmarshall]

4. and DU is falling for it as well.

[anniebelle]

6. Looks like, just sayin'. n/t

[zeemike]

5. It is a shame too because I would like a woman president

But the media wants Clinton so they can have a close race in 08. It seems that there goal is to keep us divided.
And a good fight will give a good reason for not having Obabma as VP.

[mmonk]

7. Is this the thing over foreign policy?

[bigwillq]

8. Yes

about what each said at the debate it regards to meeting with some leaders during their first year as president.

[mmonk]

11. I actually thought that part was good and legit.

I actually want a president that isn't afraid to talk to everybody in order to make a better world where the international community could get along better.

[bigwillq]

12. I had issue with the word 'promise"

on any subject....candidates all too freely make promises and then don't do anything to keep their promise. I liked HRC's answer to that question...it was, imo, her best statement in that debate.



on edit: The fight escalated when Obama called Hill "Bush Lite" in a stump speech yesterday. Not sure if you knew that part.

[mmonk]

14. I'm tired of being an international bully on the world stage.

It's sapping all our wealth and costs too many lives. That's why Richardson sparks my interest a little and Clark did when he ran. And of course, Dennis Kucinich. It's time to try a different approach and realize we can't control everybody's economy by force to our benefit.

[bigwillq]

15. Oh I agree that we need to do more

in the way of diplomacy but I did agree with HRC's answer that you need to take a look at each circumstance individually as to why you will meet with each leader. I don't think you just meet with those leaders just for the pure sake of meeting and a photo op but only if we really think something can be achieved from it.

[Old and In the Way]

18. I heard him say her policy position was Bush-lite.

I really don't like our candidates labeling each other with Bush tags, but he didn't call her Bush-lite. That said, I like his position on diplomacy a lot better...Hillary is buying into the Republican vision of how we deal with countries we don't get along with, and I'm not sure she really believes the position she is staking publicly is how she would actually run State. Certainly, our present relationship with Venezuela and Cuba has to change with positive engagement and mutual trust.

[bigwillq]

19. You're right

he did call her policies that and didn't specifically say "HIL is Bush-Lite" but her policies make up who she is as a candidate so essentially he did call her that.

[bigwillq]

20. dupe

[malaise]

9. Fugging diversion n/t

[Dinger]

13. I Was Just Going To Post On This

It appears like the media is trying to narrow the conversation, and instead of the THREE "top tier" (I hate that term) candidates, it's now TWO, and NAMES (publicity) are mentioned more easily ("Top Tier" is easier to say than "Clinton/Obama/Edwards"). NOW it's "Cinton/Obama" "Clinton/Obama" etc. We have GREAT candidates, and I wish we could hear equally from all of them. Yes, I know there are alot of them, but we do have time, right?
I'm rambling here, so I better stop, for now anyway.

[KharmaTrain]

16. Call It The "September Sweeps"

Remember, the corporate media has millions invested in manipulating the election process into a reality game show. They are partially responsible for turning the election process into a 24/7 operation and they're just playing out the script. As the primaries draw closer, they're gonna milk the conflicts of candidates (especially Democrats) to whip up interest. They'll also put Democrats up to old memes that are long since thread-bare as Democrats being "tax and spend" and weak on defense and dirty fuckin' hippies while the Repugnicans spin in the own reality show.

But something should be said for the campaigns themselves. The big bundlers have ante'd in and now it's a dash for the remaining cash. In this case, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Many of the lesser campaigns will soon have to fish or cut bait...where the vanity (money) runs out and the sanity kicks in. The lower tier in both parties will try to stay viable and to do so many will play into corporate media memes and churn up "controversies" that are just more filler material for the reality TV show.

Yes...it'll boil down to how things go in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina...but we still don't have a definitive schedule of where other states will line up. That said, the next phase of this show will be the "winning" of the nomination...for the Feburary sweeps. How conveeenient.

Yes, the corporate media wants to narrow the debate, but I sense the electors do as well. This game show debate format plays into soundbite positions on complex issues and it would be good to hear, at length, from the top candidates as the primaries approach. Right now, it's all nothing more than made-for-TV filler.

Cheers...