Obama’s Inevitability Issue
03 August 2008 8:00 pm by Taylor Marsh
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| photo: CBS/Allison Davis O’Keefe –more photos at link above– |
Okay, so I understand subliminal messaging, but being Irish-Scots this seems like a sure fire way to jinx things.
Hey, but it’s the only way I’d fly if I could. Obama can, so he is, but he’s going to take a hit for it. Cue up McCain’s next ad, because it’s coming.
Obama’s section of the plane rivals that of any first class. Recently the front cabin of the Boeing 757 was retrofitted to install four individual chairs that resemble La-Z-Boys. They are free-standing and made of plush leather with pockets on the sides. There is also a booth which seats four for a meeting or a meal.
His chair has his name and campaign logo embroidered on the back top — “Obama ‘08″ on one line and “President” underneath. To one side is a small table stacked with newspapers ready for the candidate’s arrival. The table of the booth is always covered in snacks and cheese and is where Obama spends most of his time during flights meeting with staff and sitting for the occasional interview.
Well. Well. Well.
This makes me chuckle.
Can’t wait to hear what Rachel Maddow is going to say about it. Last week she was “very
troubled by” McCain’s ads. According to her they were insinuating that “Obama doesn’t
really know his place.” That “he’s being presumptuous,” and that this is really revealing “prejudice” and not about the campaign
at all.
Hillary Clinton got creamed in the media and the blogosphere when Mark Penn and Co. ran an inevitability campaign. Let’s not forget how that turned out.
The only difference now is that since Obama is the presumptive nominee, a bunch
of writers find “presumptuous” a better literary tool than inevitable.
So now the same charge is being leveled at Barack, using the word “presumptuous”
instead of inevitable, but it all amounts to the same thing. But Rachel is insinuating
it’s racial in tone. “Obama doesn’t really know his place,” implying
that whitey doesn’t like a confident, brilliant black man. No doubt some knuckle
draggers don’t, but that’s not Obama’s problem right now.
Race isn’t the problem, though it’s certainly an issue, especially when Obama raises it himself. The issue is the inevitability aura that surrounds
everything Obama and his team orchestrates. Clinton paid a price for it when
her team tried to do it. If Obama doesn’t learn that lesson he will too.
Obama and his team need to come down to earth now. Or they’ll surely
crash land later.
