Obama had not been hit hard until this campaign; he sailed through his Senate race. Without Hillary, he never would have learned to be a good debater. He never would have understood how to robustly answer distorted and personal attacks. He never would have been warned about how harmful an unplugged spouse can be. He never would have realized how a luminous speech can be effective damage control....Wait, is she toughening him up or feminizing him? And is the feminine stuff nauseatingly stereotyped?
Hillary has clearly raised Obama’s consciousness about the importance of courting the ladies. Touring a manufacturing plant in Allentown, Pa., Tuesday, he was flirtatious, winking and grinning at the women working there, calling one “Sweetie,” telling another she was “beautiful,” and imitating his daughters’ dance moves by twirling around.
Later, at a Scranton town hall, he went up to Denise Mercuri, a pharmacist from Dunmore wearing a Hillary button. “What do I need to do? Do you want me on my knees?” he charmed, before promising: “I’ll give you a kiss.”...
At the Wilbur chocolate shop in Lititz Monday, he spent most of his time skittering away from chocolate goodies, as though he were a starlet obsessing on a svelte waistline.
“Oh, now,” the woman managing the shop told him with a frown, “you don’t worry about calories in a chocolate factory.”
Footnote: Lititz, Pennsylvania is the ancestral home of my paternal grandmother.
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35 comments:
Dowd said:
"Without Hillary, he never would have learned to be a good debater. He never would have understood how to robustly answer distorted and personal attacks. He never would have been warned about how harmful an unplugged spouse can be. He never would have realized how a luminous speech can be effective damage control...."
Note the passive voice assertions submerged in this: that Obama does now "underst[and] how to robustly answer distorted and personal attacks," that the speech (stipulating its luminosity for sake of argument) was "effective damage control," &c.
Let's hope that before the primary race is over, she helps him hone his ability to handle/answer questions on the fly. He's not so great at that one, as has become increasingly clear. (See, for one example, the "baby-as-punishment" post of yesterday.)
What Reader Iam said: Obama's main strength appears to be his ability to deliver a prepared speech. Given his recent press conferences in Chicago, even the incompetent Washington Press Corps would have him in knots. When he has to ad lib, he isnt very good. That will increasingly bite him as this interminable campaign wears on.
About the chocolate thing, though:
I have never skittered away from chocolate so quickly and wholeheartedly in my life as on the occasions when I've been in, or in the vicinity of, a chocolate factory. Talk about an overpowering, overwhelming and even nauseating smell. I swear I lost something like five pounds in the weeks after I first visited the Hershey Chocolate Factory on a field trip in middle school. Totally put me off chocolate for a while.
Of course, Obama may indeed simply be worrying about keeping his figure, especially if he's not smoking anymore.
BHO is like chocolate, he melts under heat..
Later, at a Scranton town hall, he [Obama] went up to Denise Mercuri, a pharmacist from Dunmore wearing a Hillary button. “What do I need to do? Do you want me on my knees?” he charmed, before promising: “I’ll give you a kiss.”
So what, is he a whore now?
Probably a good indicator of how his foreign policy is going to be.
Oh, I don't know, Hoosier. That line put me more in mind of this, which has been running through my mind since I read this post earlier.
(Isn't that just an awful rendition, by the way? Almost parody.)
Well, he was very close to Intercourse, PA.
Maureen Dowd is a good writer - but this is not her best work.
The impression that I get from the article is;
She is not a fan of Hillary and/or Slick Willie
She is getting very tired of Barack Wunderkind, who has been revealed as NOT all things for all people.
(Maybe, like some intelligent people, she continues to listen to what McCain says, and likes what she hears. I'd like to think so.)
Oh, I don't know, Hoosier. That line put me more in mind of this, which has been running through my mind since I read this post earlier.
Yes, that was a pretty horrid performance of a damn good song.
Anyway, if Obama is really begging for votes by offering kisses to the ladies, I think that goes to show how much he believes in his own swooning persona. WTF does he think he is, Fabio? I mean imagine if your husband or BF came up to you and said, 'Oh baby, I'll give you a kiss if you just do [insert favor]. Tell me honestly would you:
A) Break three of your ribs from hysterical laughter;
B) Kick him in the balls for being a grovelling weenie and go find a real man or;
C) Both
Men on the other hand have just one word for that kind of guy and it's synomomous with cat.
Ruth Anne: Given my first-hand, long-time familiarity with that area, I'm so not going there.
Let someone else else bring the obvious old joke out of the cedar chest.
; )
I hope this nomination contest ends soon, so Dowd is forced to write about something else.
Re John Taylor's comment: Dowd could write about how difficult it is for a bright, sexy op ed columnist from the NYT to find a decent guy.....oh wait.
To a certain extent, he did not have to learn very much. She also sailed through her Senate races and Bill is about as harmful and unplugged as a spouse can get.
Roger said...
"Dowd could write about how difficult it is for a bright, sexy op ed columnist from the NYT to find a decent guy.....oh wait."
It's just the environment she's in.
Dowd could write about how difficult it is for a bright, sexy op ed columnist from the NYT to find a decent guy.....oh wait.
Not certain I can process Dowd and bright in the same sentence.
I'm wondering if she still looks as good as her NYT stock photo.
Footnote: Lititz, Pennsylvania is the ancestral home of my paternal grandmother.
is Ann Pennsylvania Dutch? That would explain the anglicized spelling of Althaus.
Althouse is definitely Althaus and Pennsylvania Dutch, but of course the name is from my paternal grandfather. My paternal grandmother has roots in Pennsylvania too. Those people were Moravian, which isn't "Dutch" (i.e., German). Lititz was a Moravian settlement.
I would like to do a little dutch with Althouse if you know what I mean.
Dowd is feminizing him as usual and hating Hilary and Bill as usual. It's the same thing in every editorial of hers.
I am looking forward to this election for many reasons, least of which is Dowd.
I just don't give a shit anymore.
Let's talk about hog.
of course the name is from my paternal grandfather
Right; I was guessing that your father's parents would have met in Pennsylvania.
Speaking of Moravians, their settlement in Salem, North Carolina is wonderfully preserved as Old Salem. Artisans work the old crafts, like tinsmithing, pottery, and making the famous Pennsylvania/Kentucky rifle. You can buy candle holders for your Christmas tree, or paper thin Moravian gingersnaps. The Wachovia Bank was founded in Salem, and was named after the Moravians' Piedmont territory.
Ah, the Wilbur Chocolate Shop. One of the highlights of visiting my grandparents, who spent their last years in Lititz.
I came to appreciate the Moravians later, when I taught at Moravian Academy in Bethlehem. Wonderful builders, the Moravians.
Do they still make mousetraps in Lititz? Seems that would be a nice photo op for a politician.
Here is a site by some Democrats who really don't like Obama.
Stop Barack Obama.
The post is by a Black. Other posters on the site include a Jew, a Hispanic, and a person of Chinese origin.
I think there is a joke in there.
Hoosier Daddy said...
"I'm wondering if she still looks as good as her NYT stock photo."
I've never met her, but I've seen her in fairly recent photos taken at events she's attended, and she looks pretty good in those.
My brother had a summer job in Lititz in the 70s, and I will echo reader's 9:24 comment.
Nice of you to mention Lititz and Wilbur Chocolate. I was born and raised a block away from "The Chocolate", as we called the factory--a sweet-smelling part of town. Can you really be the granddaughter of my 5th-grade schoolteacher?
All these Lititz people coming out of the woodwork! My husband hails from there - grew up right across the street from the Moravian church next to the little pretzel factory - and it's a wonderful town.
But PLEASE don't claim it's Dutch or Amish as I mistakenly did! He gets really mad. It's MORAVIAN, as was his pastor grandfather and missionary great-grandfather.
What I wanted to say was - Wilbur Buds! Wilbur. Buds. The dark chocolate ones. Ahhhhhhhhh . . .
if Barry O skittered away from some of those wonderful things, I might have reconsider my vote.
I think Bambi needs to check up on that Australian woman who just won a sexual harrassment case for $2 million dollars. One of the big hits was for talking like he did to some of those women. If they are old line feminists they might just resent being treated that way and sue.
"Without Hillary, he never would have learned to be a good debater. He never would have understood how to robustly answer distorted and personal attacks. He never would have been warned about how harmful an unplugged spouse can be. He never would have realized how a luminous speech can be effective damage control...."
Hmm. Let's see, where have we heard a self-serving rationalization like this before? Oh yeah!
The Lititz connections are really fascinating.
Wait, so toughening someone up/putting them on the defensive is now a way of feminizing them? That's an, uh, interesting perspective you guys are coming from.
One of my best bosses ever, from back in the '80s, hailed from Lititz. That's not why I'm so familiar with the area, but it's yet another connection, of sorts.
Neither Obama nor Hillary has had to run a hard campaign before now. For Obama's Senate run, the Democrats torpedoed Jack Ryan by digging up dirt (admittedly true) from his sealed divorce records, and Alan Keyes was no real competition. Hillary won without too much of a fight after Giuliani withdrew because of his health.
They both have rough edges that a hard campaign would have polished off before now and/or convinced them to scale down their immediate political goals.
Titus, would you cram a sock (or something) in it?
When you "flirt" with the divine Ms. Althouse you are just grossing her out. Unlike you, I actually do desire her and such as may be my modest charms, they are not accentuated by the mood created by your dutch/salsa rantings.
You can't even decide what you are. You're a top, so you tell us, what do you care about their hogs anyway? Please stop "hog-blocking" those of us who might theoretically still be in play.
....OTOH I was glad to learn that "clumbers" are actually a breed of spaniel and not some other anatomical reference.
I have to hand it to you, Lititzus, you admirably accomplish your objective of making normal people's skin crawl.
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