Obama knows exactly what he's doing

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

That's what Marco Rubio repeated several times during the latest GOP debate, which earned him a lot of boos, and caused quite a sparring between him and Chris Christie and Donald Trump.

I think it's easy to understand why Rubio is betting on the "Obama is a cunning politician who's been skillfully leading the country along his agenda, and down a dangerous road", as opposed to Christie and Trump's "Obama is an incompetent politician who's failed as a leader, and has done lead the country to hell".

Obama ran as a candidate without any experience in governing positions, which is exactly where Rubio is right now. In the meantime, Christie has been governor for quite a while, and he's trying to make himself look competent (Obama is the easiest target in that respect). This is where this divide comes from. Rubio has to support the narrative that inexperienced newcomers are capable of governing - it's just that they have to have the right ideology.

One could argue that evidence supporting both theories could be found, if we look in the proper places and from the appropriate angle. For example, Obama's tenure saw the glitch-filled launch of HealthCare.gov, the continuous failure with the veterans, and the trouble with finding a coherent course in the Middle East. That could be interpreted as proof of Christie's narrative. But on a lot of other issues, like the crisis stimulus and the Iran nuclear deal, and the recovering economy, Obama has done pretty good on projects that were quite complicated. He even managed to outmaneuver his conservative opponents to push his (admittedly, liberal) agenda through.

That said, Rubio may be behaving like the front-runner a little bit these days, even if he really isn't. Again, the reason is simple: the GOP establishment hate both Trump and Cruz - for different reasons, granted, but they really do. They hate them in their guts, and they'd rather have Mr Sweatypants as their champion, the guy whose best quality is his ability to repeat memorized soundbites over and over again - than the unpredictable Trump, or worse (?), the despicable Cruz.

Choosing the lesser among several evils ain't the most inspiring motivation in an election as important as this, is it?

Comments

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

Nice pile-on by the three surviving governors on Rubio.

Won't work for them, though.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Well, it seems to be working on Rubio, and not in a good way.

[oportet.livejournal.com]

To say Rubio is the best speaker in the field - on either side - is sad. True, but sad.

I like Sanders 'frustrated old man' delivery, and Carsons 'two lortabs and a bottle of wine' delivery - but I understand that probably wouldn't appeal to most - especially in a general.

There is no Obama in this race, no W, no Bill Clinton. Nobody close. No one seems comfortable. Maybe I overestimate how important mic skills are, but it seems a candidate or two would recognize what everyone is lacking and maybe take a crash course or two on public speaking.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Wasn't Christie supposed to be a good orator? A straight-talker, so to speak.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Choosing the lesser among several evils ain't the most inspiring motivation in an election as important as this, is it?


It is always a choice between the bad, the worse, and the unthinkable. Always. If you think otherwise, you are kidding yourself.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Except when someone like Reagan wins most hearts and minds and beats their opponent in a landslide. Or when someone like Obama inspires a very large majority with a hollow populist slogan like Hope&Change. Then it's not about the lesser among several evils, or the "less worse" among several choices - it's about what the vast majority of people believe is a better choice - whether it really is, is another story.