In this Newsweek op-ed, John Kerry declares that Sen. Obama is the "truly transformative" presidential candidate. What he forgot to say is that he's inept when it comes to putting together economic policies.
This year, Democrats know we have an embarrassment of riches—two terrific candidates. But one is truly transformative. Obama isn't just winning elections; he's exciting millions of new voters. In North Carolina, 165,000 people have registered this year alone, three quarters of them eligible to vote in the Democratic primary. Skeptics question whether Obama can win working-class voters, but in Virginia and Wisconsin, two states the party aims to carry in November, he romped through—winning every demographic group across the lines of education, religion, ethnicity, race and income. With critical Senate races in places like Colorado and New Mexico, Democratic leaders are excited that the "coattails" of an Obama campaign can win a new generation of Red State Democrats. Last February, Virginia's Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine was asked whether a Democratic candidate could carry Virginia for the first time since LBJ did it in 1964. "The right Democrat could," he replied. Two days later, he endorsed Obama.Statistically speaking, Sen. Kerry is right; Sen. Obama did carry working class voters. That was then, this is now. It isn't a stretch to think that Sen. Obama wouldn't have done well with working class Democrats had he made his bitter comments earlier in the cycle. Had voters known then what they know now, it's likely that this would've been a completely different race.
Sen. Kerry's statement that "the party aims to carry" Virginia this November is boilerplate stuff. I pointed out in this post, it appears as though Virginia, Missouri, Ohio and Florida are solidly in the Red column. Just because Democrats can "aim to carry" the state doesn't mean it's a done deal.
I'd finally say that the Democrats have an embarassment but it isn't an embarassment of riches. The Philadelphia Fiasco showed people that Hillary and Obama are clueless about economic issues, not to mention the fact that they've both got ethical skeletons in their closets that might disqualify them on that basis alone.
The Illinois senator is the strongest nominee because he has shown that he can learn from mistakes and respond to challenges with the best weapon America has: the truth. He has already had a presidential moment in this campaign. Faced with criticisms about his faith, Obama gave one of the most eloquent, brave and bracingly honest speeches I have ever heard a politician give. Instead of trying to say the right thing, he just tried to tell the truth, in all its unvarnished complexity. There is no greater sign of his respect for people everywhere than a refusal to insult their intelligence.With all due respect to Sen. Kerry, the speech Obama gave immediately after the Pastor J-Wright story broke was intended to change topics. While the elitist media praised it incessantly, the average Joe saw it for what it was. They knew immediately that it was an attempt to not talk about why Sen. Obama stayed in a church with a racist, anti-American pastor.
There's no denying that the speech was eloquent. There's also no denying that people were still asking why Sen. Obama stayed at Pastor J-Wright's church. Until he answers why he stayed, people will question his decisionmaking abilities.
The bad news for Sen. Obama is that that' just part of his problem. People still question why he had connections with Tony Rezko and William Ayers. Sen. Obama can whine all he wants about guilt by association isn't fair. The fact remains that John McCain doesn't have those types of skeletons in his closet.
