New York Times: 'Mr. Obama's Profile in Courage'

[Bigleaf]

In response to Barack's speech in Philadelphia today, the New York Times just released the following editorial:


There are moments — increasingly rare in risk-abhorrent modern campaigns — when politicians are called upon to bare their fundamental beliefs. In the best of these moments, the speaker does not just salve the current political wound, but also illuminates larger, troubling issues that the nation is wrestling with.

Inaugural addresses by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt come to mind, as does John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religion, with its enduring vision of the separation between church and state. Senator Barack Obama, who has not faced such tests of character this year, faced one on Tuesday. It is hard to imagine how he could have handled it better.

Mr. Obama had to address race and religion, the two most toxic subjects in politics. He was as powerful and frank as Mitt Romney was weak and calculating earlier this year in his attempt to persuade the religious right that his Mormonism is Christian enough for them.

We can’t know how effective Mr. Obama’s words will be with those who will not draw the distinctions between faith and politics that he drew, or who will reject his frank talk about race. What is evident, though, is that he not only cleared the air over a particular controversy — he raised the discussion to a higher plane.



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/opinion/19wed1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[davidinalameda]

1. and that sound you hear

is the heads of the Hillary supporters exploding

[Tatiana]

2. Here also

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5146386

[Bigleaf]

11. Thanks Tatiana.

I didn't see this earlier pot.

[Tatiana]

58. Welcome!

:pals:

[jlake]

3. Bwahahahaha Obama is sooooo toast.

[Yes We Did]

8. that was the NEW YORK times.

just in case you missed that. Your own paper is glowing over him.

Face it, Hillary is done.

[jlake]

10. The NYT isn't my paper..... so not sure what you're talkin' bout..... the coverage here

in PA is not good for Obama.... we ain't buying his speechification..... if he believed his own words, he wouldn't have attended a radical, racist hate church for the past 20 years.

[Yes We Did]

14. Well, it sure as hell is Hillary's paper.

And they like Obama more than her.

And quite frankly, I'm not worried about PA. She has already lost 6 points; was at 19...now at 13.

You think this is bad, this whole Wright thing? Please. This was a blessing in disguise.

They can't call him a muslim anymore, and he'll pick up a bunch of those fire and brimstone types.

[jlake]

15. She's at an average of +21... some polls have her up 26....

check out www.realclearpolitics.com for all of the polls.

[Yes We Did]

21. Even if those numbers are correct...

That's not nearly enough. She has to win by at least 35% in EVERY contest. That is not going to happen.

AND! Pelosi has said that the supers are not going to overturn the will of the people.

You can have PA, by about 9% I will predict now. He's still going to take at least 6 of the remaining 9 after that.

It's over. Obama supporters are not going to let this change their votes, and at this point, he probably wasn't going to pick up that many more of Hillary's supporters.

The only way you can win is if the repugs ALL vote in the dem primaries, and there is already talk of closing the primaries so that can't happen.

[jlake]

23. I predict a 75/23 win for Hill in PA.... that will more than cut the delegate lead Obama has in half

She will be the nominee.

[RBInMaine]

28. Keep dreaming.

[Yes We Did]

30. He is too, and he fudged the poll numbers while he was at it.

Do they think we take anything they say to be true anymore?

I had to check out his link. And, as I suspected, he was being... less than honest.

[DerekJ]

49. The same way you predicted Mississippi will be for Hillary

Oh , pleaaasee :rofl:

[onenote]

54. so she's lost 6 points in your mind during the worst week of Obama's campaign...

A week ago you had her winning 81/17 -- then he has a bad week, but still is picking up ground. I hope you don't bet on the ponies.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=4922132#5035800

[jlake]

55. Hell, there's a good chance Obama won't be in the race in 5 weeks.....

[onenote]

56. nice non sequitur

its definitely one of your strengths. Much moreso than consistency and accuracy.

So how about that 81/17 prediction 6 days ago...what caused Hillary's slide?

[jlake]

57. You're right.... I'll stick with my original prediction..... or more.....

[cali]

63. You predicted she'd win handily in MISSISSIPPI

She'll win in PA but she won't win by 50 pts, duh. And she's done. Get the fork. Stick it in.

[jlake]

68. Pookabella, she's surging in the polls.... latest is +26 in PA..... and did you see gallup?

she now leads Obama nationally 49-42........ .. and she now trails in NC by just 1.........Hilly is going to end up with the popular vote lead and at least VERY close in pledged delegates......The fact is that they are basically split 50/50 in support, but the mo' has shifted to Hilly -- they should end their feud and work out a "dream ticket" now - despite their egos and what Nancy "impeachment is off the table" says.

[anamandujano]

52. So, Peloser is going to overturn the rules by which the supers have always

functioned. When is she going to do what we hired her for.

[jlake]

70. She's doing a swell job of protecting Bush. She was quick to take impeachment off the table.

And how's that swamp draining going, Nancy?

[Yes We Did]

27. Way to fabricate the numbers! That's not what those say!

The average is 17% lead; 2% less than she had one week ago.

Poll Date Sample Clinton Obama Spread
RCP Average 03/05 to 03/16 - 52.7% 35.7% Clinton +17%
PPP (D) 03/15 - 03/16 597 LV 56% 30% Clinton +26%
Quinnipiac 03/10 - 03/16 1304 LV 53% 41% Clinton +12%
Rasmussen 03/12 - 03/12 697 LV 51% 38% Clinton +13%
SurveyUSA 03/08 - 03/10 608 LV 55% 36% Clinton +19%
Susquehanna 03/05 - 03/10 500 LV 45% 31% Clinton +14%
Strat. Vis. 03/07 - 03/09 600 LV 56% 38% Clinton +18%

[marshall]

29. But that's just Pennsylvania

Good for Hillary that she can do well enough in Pennsylvania to save a little face. That will carry over to her next senate battle.

[jlake]

31. She'll net at least 60 delegates....

[Yes We Did]

She's ahead by 17%! That's not gonna get her there.

Nice try. Did you think I wouldn't go and check the link?

[jlake]

36. WTF are you talking about.... she's up by 26 in the nesest poll.... I predict she'll win

with 70%+ of the vote = net 60 delegates.... what's so hard to understand?

[loveangelc]

42. how disappointing you are:(

[jlake]

43. I am absolutely stoked!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[loveangelc]

50. about what?

[jlake]

51. The state of the race.

[loveangelc]

53. well I'm happy you're optimistic for your candidate.

I'm sure some people think you're crazy but I guess it's good your die hard for your candidate until the end.

I think you shouldn't be so incendiary, however.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

60. Full on batshit lunatic statements being made by jlake,

but they are only there to serve as bait to rile Obama supporters. He no more believes those predictions anymore than you or me.

[cali]

64. It'll be that much more fun

to watch you freak out. Hilly is toast.

[jlake]

71. Obama is going to be forced out of the race shortly after he loses NC.

[Yes We Did]

44. That is bullshit and you know it. I am looking at the head to head from YOUR link.

Poll Date Sample Clinton Obama Spread

RCP Average 03/05 to 03/16 - 52.7% 35.7% Clinton +17.0%

PPP (D) 03/15 - 03/16 597 LV 56% 30% Clinton +26%

Quinnipiac 03/10 - 03/16 1304 LV 53% 41% Clinton +12%

Rasmussen 03/12 - 03/12 697 LV 51% 38% Clinton +13%

SurveyUSA 03/08 - 03/10 608 LV 55% 36% Clinton +19%

Susquehanna 03/05 - 03/10 500 LV 45% 31% Clinton +14%

Strategic Vision (R) 03/07 - 03/09 600 LV 56% 38% Clinton +18%

You cannot take ONE out of SEVEN and say that it is correct. Not one other poll is even close the the 26% you are citing.

OH, and Obama leads by what... 150? Sixty delegates is not nearly enought to catch her up.

[jlake]

47. Look at the DATES the NEWEST ONE from 3/15-3/16 is the one where she is up

Are you disputing that her lead has GROWN?

[Firespirit]

61. Look at your numbers

There is not one poll where she breaks 56 percent. How in the hell is she going to get 20 more points? How is she going to get 15 more points?

The one with the 26% lead is because Obama's support is 7-10 points less than the others. So some PA voters were soft in their support for him.... MAYBE. (One poll proves nothing.) They didn't defect to Clinton. They went with "don't know." Obama's worst week of the primary is over, and that's all the damage it did. If you think Obama's speech will cause his PA support to drop to 25 percent, PLEASE, put down the bong.

Hillary will win PA in the range of 55-45. It won't be nearly enough.

[marshall]

39. Maybe those delegates will contribute to her senate re-election campaign

It's gonna be a doozy.

[appleannie1]

24. You must be in a different part of PA than where I live

Oh, by the way, that church you call racist, has more white people in it than black and the main officers of the entire church are 3 whites, on Philippine and one black.

[RBInMaine]

25. You're IGNORANT.

[jlake]

32. And you're far worse than that.

[Forkboy]

38. What's this "we" shit? Got a racist in your pocket?

[NDambi]

17. "Face it, Hillary is done."

Uh huh..stick a SPOON in her she's so done.

[Forkboy]

35. How that's search coming along?

[jlake]

37. Completed.

[Forkboy]

40. So let's see it.

[jlake]

45. Like I told you earlier, I will be posting it tomorrow when I have an OP to use.

[tishaLA]

41. "he raised the discussion to a higher plane"

and you lowered it.

[jlake]

48. What fucking spin. It was pure political damage control.

He didn't say anything I haven't heard before......and he didn't say ANYTHING until he got caught..... and if he believes what he said, he shouldn't have stayed in a church he doesn't believe in......

[theredpen]

46. Nice.

:yourock:

[writes3000]

4. I just re-read the speech. I'm stunned at its depth and insight.

Obama didn't just raise the discussion to a higher plane. He raised it higher by several planes.

[SpiralHawk]

5. BravObama! Well done.

[K Gardner]

6. K&R...I have to go rest on this. I don't think I've fully let it sink in, what has

happened today. I believe I have been waiting for four decades for this day. So its hard to believe it is here.

Sleep on it and pray it wasn't a Dream..

[Colobo]

7. We are proud of you, Obama!

[saltpoint]

9. Hear hear, and sustained praise.

The Gray Lady takes lots of hits from all sides in the political debate.

But this editorial gleams, folks.

[BeyondGeography]

12. Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy...Obama

Uh-huh.

[shayes51]

13. His time to show courage on this issue is past.

The candidate of change missed the opportunity to work for change in his own church with the man he calls his friend. Change begins inside each of us. Long ago, Obama could have voiced opposition to the views of Wright or he could have found another place to worship. He did neither. (In addition, he said some negative things about his grandmother that were unnecessary.)

[dailykoff]

18. No, what you don't understand is that Wright is a hero.

You're missing what he was actually talking about, which was social justice in a religious framework.

[shayes51]

65. I'm sorry. Did Obama say he was a hero?

[dailykoff]

16. He's got the perfect American accent -- not really regional, but distinctive

not hyper-correct or Anglo either. Very appealing.

[depakid]

19. Yet he can't pronounce "divisive"

I guess everyone has their flaws...;-)

[dailykoff]

20. I didn't catch it but that is a tricky word.

How did he pronounce it?

[Teaser]

22. a regional variant

.

[RBInMaine]

34. Both short "I" and long "I" are correct, as in the word "advertisement". Matter of inflection.

[gordianot]

26. I have listened to the speech twice and I am stunned at his brilliance and am fearful.

I remember what happens to Democrats who offer real hope. If you cannot drag them down in the mud, discredit, or ridicule them, they meet a tragic end. Barak Obama is real, I take back my disparaging comments, my doubts are gone. Please God keep him safe, I pray his Secret Service detail is also inspired.

Once again Republicans are running a candidate with mental health issues, clearly in the early stages of dementia. How will they compete against Barak Obama? Read your history and check out the rumours, look who benefits by tragedy.

I have not placed such hope in a candidate since Bobby Kennedy and Jerry Litton (who might have been).

[dailykoff]

33. Yeah I really worry about that too.

I don't think there's any doubt he can win the GE, but whether he actually makes it to the oval office is another question.

[donheld]

59. K & R

[FrenchieCat]

62. Loved it!

[workinclasszero]

66. 'Mr. Obama's Profile in Courage'

The haters are foaming at the mouth today!:)

GOBAMA!!!

[usregimechange]

67. Comparing to Romney! Thats a joke...

[AllexxisF1]

69. Wow

It is refreshing to hear from all venues just how proud they are of his speech.

[mythyc]

72. K&R: Missed this the first time around. thanks for posting . n/t