Obama: - Democratic Underground

JDPriestly

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Tue Feb-05-08 01:06 PM
Original message

Obama:

Obama is miffed that he goofed on his answer when asked about his greatest weakness in the debate a couple of weeks ago.

Remember: Russert asked each candidate: “What’s your biggest weakness?”

And Obama said, quite honestly: “Well, I’m always losing paper. And so I have to have somebody around me to help me file things and keep my desk clean.”

But Edwards said: “I sometimes have a very powerful emotional response to pain that I see around me.”

Apparently Obama thinks Edwards was just trying to make himself look good. And Obama thinks he should have answered that question differently.
***

As Jeff Zeleny noted on Jan. 17 in The New York Times, Obama did the same setup and then added: “If I had gone last, I would have known what the game was. I could have said, ‘Well, you know, I like to help old ladies across the street. Sometimes they don’t want to be helped. It’s terrible.’”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8321.html

Three comments:

First, "If I had gone last, I would have known what the game was."

Russert's question is a routine interview question. I hate it, but anyone who has ever had trouble getting a job and had to survive a series of job interviews has answered it numerous times. It's the question the interviewer asks when he or she is looking for an excuse not to hire you. You are supposed to prepare an answer to that question that makes you look good before you start passing out your resume.

If Obama had ever really had to struggle to get a job, if he had ever read an article or a book on how to make it through a job interview, he would have been prepared for that question. Where were his handlers on this one?

Second, I am troubled that Obama did not understand why Edwards considers his powerful response to pain to be a fault. I know what Edwards is talking about. Edwards becomes extremely angry at injustice. So do I. I think I was born being angry at injustice. I remember having the feeling of outrage at a very early age. What I feel is total wrath. It's like extreme heat and a thunder storm and an earthquake all at once. It is not a positive, balanced emotion. Mind you, I'm not talking about the kind of anger you feel about things that immediately affect you. I'm talking about how angry I got as a very small child when I first heard adults say disparaging things about one of my playmates who had a disability.

I certainly would never do anything violent because of my anger at injustice, but I can lose balance and explode verbally to the discomfort of those around me because of it. And that is a fault. It sometimes makes me less effective than I would otherwise be. It certainly makes my blood pressure go up.

The good news is that, just as Obama can hire someone to straighten his papers, folks like Edwards and me who get overly angry at injustice can take blood pressure medication and consciously try to keep our lives balanced. Edwards runs every day. So do I. I have to run the same way Obama has to have someone to straighten his papers -- because otherwise my life and my emotional feelings for the pain of others get out of control.

I am troubled that Obama does not understand what Edwards is talking about. I am also troubled that Obama seems to think Edwards answered the question in a better way. I think they were both very honest. Does Obama have some kind of inferiority complex? Does he think his failings are worse than those of others? Haven't we had enough of presidents with psychological problems.

Third, back to "If I had gone last, I would have known what the game was."
Is Obama admitting that he needs more experience? That's how I hear what he said.

Anyway, I know I'm going to be either placed on ignore or bombarded with hate posts by Obama folks. But, I am posting this because I have the fault of getting very angry at injustice and responding too emotionally to people in pain. That's my fault, and Obama's ridiculing me and others who have that fault and the fact that he has no sympathy for our pain irks me.

And besides, because, like Edwards, I have to speak out when I see injustice. And Obama's statements show a lack of judgment, experience or respect for the pain of others. So be it. And, so now you know the real reason I am voting for Edwards today: I feel the same pain he does at the injustice in our society.