A "rocky" reference by Obama
The quip fell flat anyway. But if Barack Obama and his brain trust had thoroughly thought through the subliminal message sent by the jest with which he opened Tuesday night's debate among the Democratic presidential candidates, we think they might have junked it.
Given that Obama had telegraphed that he planned to sharpen his criticism of Hillary Clinton, the entire political universe knew the debate would start with an invitation for him to take his best shot. Obama, however, decided to lower the temperature of the anticipated face-off. And, in light of the debate's Philadelphia setting, he sought to do that by referencing the film famously linked to the city.
"Well, first of all, I think some of this stuff gets overhyped," Obama said. "In fact, I think this has been the most hyped fight since Rocky fought Apollo Creed, although the amazing thing is I'm Rocky in this situation" (i.e. -- isn't it odd that I'm playing the white guy?).
He got a smattering of laughs. But here's what struck us -- Rocky lost his first fight with Apollo Creed. Indeed, as they clinched in the climatic scene, Creed growled in Rocky's ear, "Ain't gonna be no rematch." And the gallant, albeit defeated, challenger replied, "Don't want one."
Maybe Obama had in mind "Rocky II," in which Sylvester Stallone's character triumphs over Creed. Still, why confuse us (easy as it is to do)?
-- Don Frederick
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Give Obama some credit for doing is best to stay above the fray. At least if he got elected, he wouldn't give the country such a serious case of buyer's remorse.
Can we say the same about Hillary?
Posted by: Larry from Purdue | November 01, 2007 at 07:58 AM