Thursday, February 14, 2008

Turning the oratory against Obama...

I, for one, have yet to buy into the kool-aid. Sen. Clinton had this today earlier:
Specifically, Mrs. Clinton is hoping to gain political mileage by turning one of Mr. Obama’s attributes — his oratory — against him. She is warning voters about politicians who give great speeches and make big promises but ultimately do not deliver on them.

“Speeches don’t put food on the table,” Mrs. Clinton said at a General Motors plant in Warren, Ohio, on Thursday morning. “Speeches don’t fill up your tank, or fill your prescription, or do anything about that stack of bills that keeps you up at night.”

“My opponent gives speeches,” she added. “I offer solutions.”

Mrs. Clinton has been also criticizing Mr. Obama with populist language, saying she would “take on” insurers and credit card companies and “go after” drug companies. She portrayed Mr. Obama as untested on the battlefield against special interests.[...]

At the same time, Clinton advisers say that the stakes are so high — in Ohio and Texas in particular — that Mrs. Clinton cannot afford to let Mr. Obama gain momentum. In Wisconsin, for instance, Mrs. Clinton is hoping to stave off a blowout — and perhaps even pull off a surprise — by blasting Mr. Obama for refusing to debate her there.

“The last time we debated was in California, and I convincingly won California, which may be why Senator Obama doesn’t want to have a debate in Wisconsin,” Mrs. Clinton said in a telephone conference call with reporters.

Mr. Carson, her spokesman, said she would keep the debate issue alive until Tuesday.

“A refusal to debate one’s primary opponent is always seen by regular voters as being chicken,” he said. ”And voters, especially Democratic voters hungry for a general election win, want a candidate who is tough and ready.”[...]

As Mrs. Clinton was delivering her criticism of Mr. Obama in Ohio, a similar argument was presented to Wisconsin voters by Mr. Clinton, who referred to Mr. Obama as “the excitement of the now.”

“It’s about whether you choose the power of solutions over the power of speeches,” Mr. Clinton told a small gathering of voters in Milwaukee, ticking through a list of his wife’s platforms and accomplishments.

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