Barack Obama updates a classic Ronald Reagan formulation

Barack Obama is on the record with a prime contender for sound bite of the day (an aspect of contemporary campaigning at which he does not routinely excel).

Headlining a rally in Indiana, one of those states that normally would have long since been conceded to the Republican presidential candidate but where this year the Democratic ticket appears competitive, Obama focused on the obvious issue: the economy. And here's the remark that drew a chuckle (though perhaps an apprehensive one) from his crowd:

You know, back in 1980, Ronald Reagan asked the electorate whether you were better off than you were four years ago. At the pace things are going right now, you’re going to have to ask whether you’re better off than you were four weeks ago.

The lines weren't part of the prepared text sent out by the Obama campaign. Whoever penned it deserves a raise (unless, of course, the candidate himself came up with it).

-- Don Frederick

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Comments

[Angellight]

Conservative David Brooks on Barack Obama -
"Obama has the great intellect. I was interviewing Obama a couple years ago, and I'm getting nowhere with the interview, it's late in the night, he's on the phone, walking off the Senate floor, he's cranky. Out of the blue I say, 'Ever read a guy named Reinhold Niebuhr?' And he says, 'Yeah.' So i say, 'What did Niebuhr mean to you?' For the next 20 minutes, he gave me a perfect description of Reinhold Niebuhr's thought, which is a very subtle thought process based on the idea that you have to use power while it corrupts you. And I was dazzled, I felt the tingle up my knee as Chris Matthews would say.

And the other thing that does separate Obama from just a pure intellectual: he has tremendous powers of social perception. And this is why he's a politician, not an academic. A couple of years ago, I was writing columns attacking the Republican congress for spending too much money. And I throw in a few sentences attacking the Democrats to make myself feel better. And one morning I get an email from Obama saying, 'David, if you wanna attack us, fine, but you're only throwing in those sentences to make yourself feel better.' And it was a perfect description of what was going through my mind. And everybody who knows Obama all have these stories to tell about his capacity for social perception.

Brooks predicted an Obama victory by nine points, and said that although he found Obama to be "a very mediocre senator," he was is surrounded by what Brooks called "by far the most impressive people in the Democratic party."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/08/david-brooks-sarah-palin_n_133001.html

[Steve Rhodes]

Obama is certainly capable of coming up with something like that (and it would be appropriate given Clinton's attacks on him for praising Regan's leadership though not his policies not to mention too many on the right trying to give Palin the Reagan mantle).

[Joey]

Intelligent yes.....good talker...yes.....good appearance...yes.....all that is great, but

He associates with folks you would not consider even for a moment.....years.....20 years and more.

Think about it.....would you knowingly let your son or daughter ( whom you loved ) sit and listen to that stuff in church that long, get married there and then have the grand kids criistianed there ?

Ayres got him in and then all that money that they funneled to CORN. Would you let your kids do that or even let them live next door to that kind of stuff.

Remember, this will all come to the surface in the last four weeks. Mc C is an old military guy that knows how to win a difficult battle.....he waits for the white of his eyes and not till then will he blast away....that will be the last debate next Wednesday.

Remember there are lots of smart people floating around....lawyer types too. I worked for a pack of Big Deal attorneys who owned a business I managed and they were lousy administrators....very lousy.....know it alls and even were smart enough to talk, talk, talk, and stay away from operations....ego really screws up operations.....don't let an attorney actually run things....let them think and talk and put in a gutsy guy that has courage rather than smooth talk.

They fired all us for operation opinions, took over and lost 40% of revenues in 2 years. Reminds me of Harry and Nancy P......in two years they did nothing and had the helm......W...too......Why do you hang onto loosers ?