Bye-Bye, Obama: A farewell from Wolf Blitzer's tawdry trick

At Thursday night's Democratic debate, CNN's Wolf Blitzer deployed a kind of populist-media Big Lie, and Barack Obama, showing his inexperience, walked right into his trap. Whether it was out of naiveté or just plain intellectual stubbornness, the senator hurt himself badly, and perhaps even mortally.

The issue on which Obama tripped, as you know, was that of issuing drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. Until Hillary fudged in Philadelphia, it was, as The Politico noted, "a marginal issue that has been abandoned even by most immigrant-rights groups." It was also a wholly state-oriented question; one that didn't lend itself to presidential decision making or presidential prerogative. And it was, as Hillary rightly noted in the city of Brotherly Love, a nationally obscure but nevertheless highly charged "gotcha" matter.

Given the two-week-old history of this dubious question of now-looming national urgency, it was indeed shocking that Obama hadn't readied himself for its Las Vegas resurrection with a slick soundbite signifying nothing -- just to move on, like swatting at a fly. Any concise emptiness would have done the job; any brief mumbo-jumbo that circumvented any perilous sign of thoughtfulness.

As one seasoned campaign operative -- "long lost to every decency" -- once told then-political reporter H.L. Mencken, "In politics, man must learn to rise above principle." Maybe the chief principle to be conquered by the successful pol is that of addressing complexity -- recognizing it, and admitting its inherent difficulties in the public arena.

This, Obama initially refused to do. Instead, he launched into a scramble of explanation on the drivers license issue, balancing this side against that.

As I sat and watched him digging his hole on this matter that Democrats are now nearly as negatively excited over as Republicans, a singular thought flashed across my mind: Bye-bye, Obama. It screamed a campaign-ending, George Romney "brainwashed" moment; an Ed Muskie tearful moment; a Walter Mondale "I'll raise your taxes" moment. Here was blithering "authenticity" on display, which, without calculation, can be as lethal as even more authentic foot-tapping in a men's room.

"I am not proposing that that's what we do," said Obama, trying to elbow some reason into the topical mess -- as Hillary and NY's governor had so unfortunately done before -- and merely proposing that the issue wasn't, in fact, amenable to tidy, 100-percent answers.

But it was Wolf Blitzer's interruption that disturbed as well, and perhaps even more. Interrupting Obama, Blitzer lashed out: "This is the kind of question that is sort of available for a yes or no answer."

No, Wolf, it isn't.

Spiffy yes or no answers and pithy demagoguery may make your job easier -- after all, a clean yes or no can relieve you of following up, as you found yourself so relieved by Hillary's curt "no" -- and their dumbed-down quintessence may appeal to a much wider cable-TV audience. But complex issues such as immigration are unresolved precisely because they're ... well, complex. Ultimately, decisions must be made, of course, and actions taken. But to corner a candidate into an unthoughtful absolute, just for absoluteness' sake, contributes nothing to the debate. Indeed, it inhibits it.

In a healthy democracy, cable outlets such as CNN would encourage complexity of thought and nuance of positions, since we happen to live in a complex and nuanced world. Scoffing at anything less than a black-and-white, yes or no answer to these complexities contributes nothing but better ratings.

Your scoff was a cheap sell-out, Wolf. And you know it. You suppressed the questioning of others on the issue (there are, in fact, related issues of national security and transportation safety involved), and instead demanded debate-ending simplicity -- in a debate.

Shame on you, Wolf. And woe to Obama, should he ever again feel like giving an honest answer to a complex question.

****

... to support p m carpenter's commentary, and thank you!

Comments

[Kevin Schmidt, Sterling VA]

It really doesn't matter what Obama says. His voting history in the Senate speaks louder than his empty rhetoric, and it says he is a man of THE man, not a man of the people.

But the same could be said of Hillary and of Edwards, the other two supposed leaders of the Democratic presidential race.

The only candidate that speaks and votes for the benefit of the majority of Americans is Dennis Kucinich who recently easily won one third of the 150,000 votes in a straw vote at DemocracyForAmerica.com. Al Gore came in second and Hillary came in a distant fifth, so what does that tell you about the MSM proclaimed leaders in the race?

But to be fair to Obama, Kucinich did not get a chance to put his foot in his mouth since he was only allowed six minutes to speak during the debate.

At least he made reference to the fact that only he voted correctly against the unconstitutonal U.S. Patriot Act, against the illegal war resolution, and against any funding for that illegal war. Plus, he also mentioned the fact that he is the only presidential candidate who is actively seeking impeachment.

I guess you can say a lot in six minutes when you actually have a record you can be proud of.

www.Dennis4President.com

[Nancy Kalapari]

If anything, I started to like Obama more after that debate, particularly after that answer. It showed that Obama can think grey, and he is not afraid of gray like his counterparts. Let me explain, when people are too lazy to think analytically, they prefer black and white answers, but when people think intellectually, they come to realize that the majority of important issues are too complex to be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." We should demand more than "yes" or "no!" Thus, with all due respecet to the writer above, you are absolutely wrong! It is not "bye bye Obama," if anything, it is "hello Obama...we need your intelligence more than ever today!"

[bluerose799]

Obama is promising us things that he doesn’t Have or and can’t Control.
He sounds so ridiculous that I’m thinking. Is this an Election or a COMEDY or CACOPHONY?
Maybe he thinks that Americans are Illiterate, Ignorant or Mentally Insane.

[xboy]

BYE BYE OBAMA

[maria]

i have thought from the begining obama was bad news. im just happy everyone else has finally seen it. lucky for us his colors shined now .lets get him out of office and into prison where he needs to be. we have had more grief than we should of. and its time for us to pay it forward.bye bye obama i agree obama has to go.

[willie]

well i knew oboma was bad news
when i heard him speak, he is
one of the biggest con artest i have heard, and i have heard many. but i figgured it was just politics because they all tell their little white lies. but then i read his plan !! now im convinced he is a terrorist planning to destroy this country,
that i take a little, no alot, personal. like joe the plumber, i am a nobody, and ive had my share of problems, but i love my country. and the thought of a terrorist, like obama to take over and tear it down with that joke of a plan he has is sickning. i am not against a black president, or a woman president, or any gender or color president for that matter, i am how ever against a terrorist president, and if you are voting for this jerk, you have not read his plan, or looked at his history. he is not for the american people, i believe we can make history without destroying our future with a terrorist president. please look at the whole picture, so our families can have a safe future and that means without a terrorist president. dont vote for making history, vote for what works for americans, and who can do the best job for safety and getting us out of this mess we are in, no matter what color or gender a person may be.
so bye bye obama