State of the Union

Obama's Bad June

Before we begin July, let's recap the bad month that Barack Obama just had:

Obama Wheezes to Nomination, Losing Final Primary in SD

• New York Times: “In many ways, Mr. Obama is wheezing across the finish line after making a strong start” (6/1/08)
• Wall Street Journal: “South Dakota Symbolizes Obama's Lingering Woes” (6/4/08)
• The Hill: “Obama clinches nomination; Clinton does not concede” (6/03/08)

Tony Rezko convicted as Obama takes victory lap

• Washington Post: “Former Obama Fundraiser Convicted of Corruption” (6/5/08)
• AP: “Ill. scandal threatens to cast shadow on presidential race” (6/5/08)

Vetter scandal erupts as Obama begins VP search

• New York Times: “Obama: No Vetting the Vetters” (6/10/08)
• AP: “Johnson resigns from team vetting Obama veep” (6/11/08)

Obama ridiculed for new seal; broken promise

• ABC News: “The Audacity of Hype” (6/20/08)
• Jon Stewart: “You’re allowed to laugh at him” (6/24/08)

Obama reversals on FISA, guns, public finance compared to typical politician

• McClatchy: “Is Obama turning out to be just another politician?” (6/26/08)
• Politico: “Obama: Change agent goes conventional” (6/27/08)

Obama finishes month with brand damaged; disunity in party

• Huffington Post: “Obama undercuts his brand” (6/28/08)
• ABC News: “Disunity in Unity” (6/27/08)

Dayton Daily News Interviews McCain Supporter and Convention Delegate Tom Moe

Democrats are funny sometimes

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Barack Obama's radical anti-gun liberalism today, rejecting a longtime ban on handguns in the District of Columbia as unconstitutional.

Problem is Obama has been running around declaring his support for the gun ban and dissing on the NRA for opposing gun control.  Obama has a long history of opposing guns, even going as far as telling one academic researcher he doesn't believe people should own them.

Obama answered a survey in 1996 indicating his support for banning "the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns," and as recently as 2004 he ran for the U.S. Senate on a platform of supporting federal legislation to preempt state concealed carry laws.

Now here's the funny part:

• Obama's backtracking worse than a phony hunter:

Politico reports: The Obama campaign distanced itself Thursday from a statement made last year to the Chicago Tribune that "Obama believes the D.C. handgun law is constitutional." Spokesman Bill Burton said that the statement "was not worded as well as it could have been" and that Obama believes that generally the Constitution "doesn't prevent local and state governments from enacting their own gun laws."

• Ted Strickland claims he's a big supporter of the Second Amendment, yet now he's embracing Barack Obama, who's clearly one of its biggest opponents. 

• And the leftwing bloggers are breathlessly trying to suggest today's ruling "effectively takes the gun issue out of the fall campaign."  Blogger Taegan Goddard argues: "Republicans will now have a very hard time arguing that if you elect Democrats they will take away your guns." 

Uh, no, Republicans will have a very easy time arguing that if you elect Democrats, particularly Barack Obama, you'll get three more Supreme Court justices like Stevens, Ginsburg and Souter who will snatch those gun rights away again in a heartbeat.

Dr. No

Change You Can't Believe In

Associated Press reporter Liz Sidoti offers some analysis of Barack Obama's failure to keep his word on accepting spending limits during the general election campaign:

Barack Obama chose winning over his word.  ...

Obama blamed his decision in part on McCain and "the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups." But he failed to mention that the only outside groups running ads in earnest so far are those aligned with Obama — and running commercials against McCain.

So much for being a straight shooter. (AP)

Words do matter.

Obama sans prompter

John Podhoretz has a good point:

It is clear Obama’s path to victory is through the teleprompter. Let him give a big speech and he drives it like Tiger Woods hitting a fairway, as he did Sunday with his stunning sermon about the importance of fathers. But let him sit for an interview with a well-prepared reporter who isn’t interested in shilling for him and Obama makes mistake after mistake.

This is what happened the other day with ABC’s Jake Tapper, who got Obama to talk about how we need to treat terrorism as a law-enforcement matter — which is exactly what he should not be saying if he wants to solidify those less-liberal Democratic votes in the states where he was shellacked by Hillary Clinton — and how he opposes all forms of school choice — which works against his vague message that he is a vague agent of vague change.

Not hard to figure out why Obama keeps rejecting those informal town hall meetings with John McCain.  He can't hold up without someone feeding him his lines.

Grab your wallet

This Cincinnati Enquirer headline should tell you everything you need to know about Barack Obama's economic policy:

The loss of an icon

Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of former Ohioan Tim Russert, a news icon who set the standard for tough and thoughtful journalism that kept our political leaders accountable.  His unique contribution to the American political process is irreplaceable, and he will be greatly missed.

Obama's Ex-Friends

Here we go again with Barack Obama's judgment problems.

Obama had to remove Jim Johnson from his VP vetting team after it turned out Johnson, the former CEO of Fannie Mae, was getting "sweetheart deals" from Countrywide Financial - the same mortgage firm Obama says was responsible for the mortgage meltdown.  The Wall Street Journal writes today:

As for Mr. Obama, Mr. Johnson now joins an intriguing and growing list of Mr. Obama's ex-associates that includes the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, and former terrorist bomber William Ayers. We might call this list eclectic, except that there is a consistent pattern of bad judgment followed by an initial defense, then followed by rapid disassociation and regret that none of them were the men Mr. Obama "knew."

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