The Last Fear Card

Freedom From Fear
Originally uploaded by lindes

When Lieberman lost in the primaries even after he Bilary when to bat for him. He had one more ace in his hole. His sonority. Without that in congress he and others said his state wont get the hands on any money for projects and pork.

So in goes mister yeah I promise to caucus with my fellow Democrats. so as long as get their acts together and go along with everything BushCo. says.

Now it's Obama's turn. If you don't go with Bilary, there will be no change because... He wont do the same old, same old.

Obama's argument is that he can mobilize a new coalition that will embrace his proclamation that "yes, we can" break out of the straitjacket. But for voters to feel confident that he can achieve this transformation should he become president, they would need evidence that he has fought and won similar battles. The record here, to put it mildly, is thin.

What I hear from politicians who have worked with Obama, both in Illinois state politics and here in Washington, gives me pause. They describe someone with an extraordinary ability to work across racial lines but not someone who has earned any profiles in courage for standing up to special interests or divisive party activists. Indeed, the trait people remember best about Obama, in addition to his intellect, is his ambition.

He's a smart go getter. That's all?

Obama has been running for president almost since he arrived in the U.S. Senate in 2005, so his Senate colleagues say it's hard to evaluate his record. But what stands out in his brief Senate career is his liberal voting record, not a history of fighting across party lines to get legislation passed. He wasn't part of the 2005 Gang of 14 bipartisan coalition that sought to break the logjam on judicial nominations, but neither were Clinton or other prominent Democrats. He did support the bipartisan effort to get an immigration bill last year, winning a plaudit from McCain. But he didn't work closely with the White House, as did Sen. Edward Kennedy.
[...]
"The authentic Barack Obama? We just don't know. The level of uncertainty is too high," one Democratic senator told me last week. He noted that Obama hasn't been involved in any "transformative battles" where he might anger any of the party's interest groups. "If his voting record in the past is the real Barack Obama, then there isn't going to be any bipartisanship," this senator cautioned.

I wonder what bad things he has to compromise on in order to show he can work across party lines. I mean it's not like everything the republicans do is bad right? Damn, I am so one sided.