"The basic Obama argument is that America can solve its problems, that the country can transcend partisan divides, that Washington can overcome gridlock and that he, as a new leader unbound by the debates of the past 20 years, is the one who can make all those things happen."
------------------------------------------------------------------ Will Obama Deliver the Beef? February 19, 2008; Page A2 WALL STREET JOURNAL The battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, between the established early favorite and the young upstart, was well under way when the upstart began confronting a nagging criticism: His smooth and futuristic talk of "new ideas," critics charged, wasn't backed up with a lot of policy heft. "Where's the beef?" the establishment candidate asked, a catchphrase that captured the critique that the challenger was more style than substance. A description of this year's struggle between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? No, it's a flashback to the 1984 nomination fight between former Vice President Walter Mondale and Sen. Gary Hart. Mr. Mondale, the party's more established leader, prevailed in that struggle, and his "Where's the beef?" line had a lot to do with his success. Now, Sen. Clinton is in the Mondale role, implying and sometimes asserting that Sen. Obama's almost poetic speeches about hope and inspiration are short on specifics. "Speeches don't put food on the table," she said the other day in Ohio. "Speeches don't fill up your [gas] tank, or fill your prescription, or do anything about that stack of bills that keeps you up at night." The current battle of words over words has taken a new twist, with videos circulating on the Internet showing that Sen. Obama's response to skeptics' "just words" critique is remarkably similar to a response given by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick back in 2006, when Gov. Patrick was the target of similar campaign criticism. The argument over style versus substance makes Sen. Clinton a little like the car dealer trying to persuade a buyer that the solid but somewhat staid sedan she offers is a better bet than the sexy but potentially unreliable sports car available down the street. More important, though, are the two serious issues that lie behind the tussle: whether Sen. Obama is offering only style, and whether that really matters. If you're willing to look, there's a substantial amount of substance behind that Obama style. For starters, explore the Obama campaign Web site, and you'll find the standard array of campaign-issue papers on the economy, health care, Iraq and foreign policy. And now, the Obama campaign managers are responding to Sen. Clinton's criticism by highlighting and, well, beefing up those position papers. The latest example came last week, when Sen. Obama gave a speech in Wisconsin on his economic positions, accompanied by a six-page, single-spaced summary. The Obama plan, much of which had been presented previously, includes a universal mortgage-interest credit, a $500 middle-class tax credit and $150 billion in spending over 10 years on alternative-energy research and development. The new, comprehensive presentation shows that the plan would cost more than $140 billion a year, paid for by ending the war in Iraq as well as many of the Bush administration's tax cuts. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says last week's speech was part of a process of "introducing" his candidate to new groups of voters. Sen. Obama also has a comprehensive health plan -- one that, unlike his opponent's, doesn't demand universal insurance coverage -- and an Iraq plan that will be controversial if he becomes the nominee because of its call for a 16-month deadline for withdrawing American troops. In addition, it is always instructive to look at the policy advisers behind a candidate. Mr. Burton says there are "literally hundreds of outside policy advisers." Among them are Tony Lake, a former national-security adviser under President Bill Clinton who comes from a part of the Democratic foreign-policy establishment that's slightly to the left and slightly more dovish on Iraq than those on Team Clinton; Austan Goolsbee, a center-left, generally pro-free-trade economist at the University of Chicago; and David Cutler, a Harvard health economist who has stressed that paying for quality is more important than paying for quantity in health care. Here's the rub: As anyone who has listened to Sen. Obama knows, the substance of policy positions takes a decided back seat to the more ephemeral ideas of hope and inspiration when he addresses voters. The basic Obama argument is that America can solve its problems, that the country can transcend partisan divides, that Washington can overcome gridlock and that he, as a new leader unbound by the debates of the past 20 years, is the one who can make all those things happen. The beauty of this Obama approach, aside from its presenter's impressive oratorical skills, is that it is so in tune with the mood of many Americans, who seem to want both to be inspired and to leap beyond partisanship. The risk, though, is that rhetoric that is light on substance might fail to unite voters in either party or the country behind specific, often difficult, steps a new president would have to take. Campaigns are for winning -- and for building a consensus on what is to be done after the victory. In this case, is Sen. Obama building a case for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, or for ending it? Is withdrawing troops from Iraq within 16 months a goal or a deadline? They are significant questions, and Sen. Obama's task is to be sure his campaign is shedding light on the answers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:254600 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
