02/29/2008 (5:52 pm)
Obama Demagogues NAFTA — Update
Yesterday Canadian TV reported that while Obama was blasting NAFTA in front of Ohio audiences, a senior member of his campaign called the Candian Ambassador and assured him that it was just campaign rhetoric, and not to pay attention to it. Today, CTV is sticking with its story, and names the senior member as Austan Goolsbee, Professor of Economics at University of Chicago’s Graduate Business School and Obama’s lead economic advisor since his Illinois Senate campaign.
TalkLeft, from the Democrats’ side, finds the story credible, observing that:
…journalism does not require suspension of common sense… Goolsbee refuses to deny the meeting. It is pretty clear that it did occur. And good for Obama for that.
Personally, I find the Democrats’ ability to excuse appalling behavior frightening. TL thinks Obama is violating his public persona and pandering for votes with outright lies — and he finds it commendable that he’s warning the Canadians about it. This has the sound of a man catching his wife in bed with the neighbor, and saying “Maybe now I’ll get my lawnmower back;” he seems to have missed the point. I’m wondering when the author is going to notice that Obama is cynically lying through his teeth when he promises hope and change, and show disgust for the deficient character it displays, not to mention the deep-seated disdain for the voting public. Of course, TalkLeft bills itself as “Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news;” this isn’t crime, exactly, but I suppose it fits well enough.
Damozel at The Moderate Voice gets it, though:
If CTV’s report is accurate the question becomes: Did Obama’s campaign adviser mislead a Canadian official or did Obama mislead American voters who watched Tuesday’s debate?
A presidential candidate’s capacity for truthfulness is at stake.
RedState has a good analysis by Moe Lane and a newsreel containing a pretty complete summary, best summary I’ve seen yet. Captain Ed also covers it well at Hot Air, his new mooring.
Fairness demands that I note that Ms. Clinton’s campaign is also reported to have contacted the Canadians at a lower level, with the same message. However, this sort of cynicism would be nothing new for Ms. Clinton.
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2 Comments »
Comment by RM
I agree, this is the height of cyncicism. I’ve seen it in business a number of times, and it invariably involves posturing by or in front of government officials.
Am also very troubled by the ongoing hypocrisy of the Dems. Obama pilgrimages to the court of a lefties radical who is an unabashed, unrepentant violent bomber. That’s just fine, he was young, we were all idealistic, dreams die hard, etc. I saw this scenario in a favorite TV show of mine, ‘Numbers’, where the Dad proudly and edgily asserts that he is a former bonafide radical activist with no holds barred and proud of it, and don’t ask him to choose sides. As if it were comparable to saying, “Careful what you say, I am a Marine, and once a Marine, always a Marine.” What if a conservative said, “I used to be KKK and you know what that means, don’t push me too hard on these positions.”? What if a young, idealistic, promising Republican candidate were openly endorsed by David Duke and would not unequivocally reject it? What if he had visited and paid obligatory court to Trent Lott or Jesse Helms, let alone say, a former Klansmen?
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[...] he loses momentum quickly. Last week, both slipped: he got caught admitting to the Canadians that he was lying to the voters (or at least that’s how it seemed), reporters in Chicago treated him like a real candidate for [...]
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