>On Nov 5, 2008, at 7:27 PM, shag wrote:
>
>>As with Clinton, what they were terrified of was the fact that he
>>stole their issues, like welfare reform. If Obama does the same
>>thing, steals their hobby horses, they will hate him as much and more.
>
>But what such issues are there? Welfare reform is a done deal (and I
>was pretty confused by Lenin's Tomb's reference to our welfare system,
>since we basically don't have one). The right is out of gas.
obama is the right. the right got what it wanted and then realized no one actually needs them anymore. that was the point of what I wrote in my reply. the right wants the whole country to move to the right, and when it does, it ends up losing its issues.
as obama told Rachel Maddow the other night, when she asked him why, with such momentum, he didn't attack conservatism as bad for the country he said that he doesn't think it is. he said that *bush* conservatives are bad for the country.
OBAMA: Well, I do think there's a difference between the parties, but here's my belief. That I'm talking to voters. And I think they're a lot of Republican voters out there, self-identified, who actually think that what the Bush administration has done, has been damaging to the country.
And, what I'm interested in, is how do we build a working majority for change? And if I start off with the premise that it's only self-identified Democrats who I'm speaking to, then I'm not going to get to where we need to go. If I can describe it as not a blanket indictment of the Republican Party, but instead describe it as the Republican Party having been kidnapped by a incompetent, highly ideological subset of the Republican Party, then that means I can still reach out to a whole bunch of Republican moderates who I think are hungry for change, as well.
MADDOW: Now, they do that to you the same way. When they talk -- when John McCain calls you a socialist --
OBAMA: Right.
MADDOW: This redistribute the wealth idea. He goe -- he calls you soft on national security.
OBAMA: Yes.
MADDOW: That's not just an anti-Barack Obama script.
OBAMA: No.
MADDOW: That is -- he's reading from an anti-Democrat, and specifically an anti-liberal stance.
OBAMA: Absolutely.
MADDOW: And so, you have the opportunity to say John McCain, George Bush, you're wrong. You also have the opportunity to say, conservatism has been bad for America. But, you haven't gone there either.
OBAMA: I tell you what though, Rachel. You notice, I think we're winning right now so --
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Maybe I'm doing something right. I know you've been cruising for a bruising for a while here, looking for a fight out there. But, I just think people are tired of that kind of back and forth, tit for tat, ideological approach to the problems.