Has Obama jumped the shark?

Posted on January 19, 2008
Filed Under Barak Obama

IÂ like Obama and have supported him thus far, so this post is a little difficult to write, but here we go… Â Barack Obama is history. Â Yes, he is still alive in South Carolina, and polling strong in Nevada, but his moment has passed; he might as well bring his adopted out of town nephew into his campaign, for he has jumped the shark. Â Maybe a talking dog? Â It’s Hillary Clinton or bust at this point. Â There is just a different feel in the wind right now, among Obama supporters, detracters, and the supposedly unaligned media. Â When did things turn? Â Was it the NH debate when he told Hillary she was “likable enough”, a peevish remark if ever there was one. Â How about Hillary’s moment of tears. Â Most figure those were the items that turned New Hampshire, stealing from Obama the knockout blow he so desperatly needed.Â The moments I believe were two: Â Bill Clinton’s reference to Obama’s Iraq policy as “a fairy tale”, and Hillary’s statements regarding Martin Luther King, Lyndon Johnson, and the how the latter deserved more credit for civil rights. Â At the time it had seemed it was the Clinton’s who had jumped the shark, but that was the moment Obama snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Â What had made Obama’s campaign endearing to that point was its refusal to make the campaign about race and to stoop to the sort of tactics of the Clintons, Bushes, and Washingtonions of whom the electorate had grown so tired, but the Obama response to both comments and the campaigns subtle dousing of the racial flames notified those supporters who were proudly voting for an African American candidate that race very much is an issue and one Obama will use to his advantage when possible.Let me state firmly that I am no fan of the Clintons. Â I didn’t like Bill, I really don’t like Hillary, and I thought much of the good work accomplished in the 90’s was a result of republican congressional gains in ‘94 that forced Clinton to triangulate. Â For all of their defects, one thing the Clintons are not is racist. Â That is just an absurd proposition, as there has never been one shred of evidence in either Clinton’s history to support such a notion. Â The fact that the Obama campaign is keeping alive the fairy tale and MLK comments in the hopes of perpetuating this Clinton/racist myth is simply appalling and a message that they will stoop to the manipulation of race using guilt against whites in order to gain any advantage, truth be damned. Â Once this concept becameÂ apparent,Â I believe Obama jumped the shark. Â It shows that his campaign is just smoke and mirrors and the more this uncomfortable whiff seeps through, the more Obama’s stock will decline, propelling Billary to the nomination. Â I suppose I’ll need to find another way to assuage my white guilt.Â