December 2, 2008 8:36:11 PM CST
(Newser) – Barack Obama has lost his “gut connection” with the American people, and he’ll need a change we can believe in if he wants to get it back, Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times. “If you as a politician connect with voters on a gut level, they will follow you anywhere and not fret about the details.” But Obama, who's gone from "cool to cold," isn’t “making the sale.”
Obama made it this far by running as “the agent of change”—the need for which Americans recognized in their guts. But John McCain has managed to move in on that turf, despite “running with the exact same policies as the party that has been in power.” And so, Friedman writes, "Obama will need to find another way to connect his ideas—clearly, crisply, and passionately."
Source New York Times
Nov 23, 08 12:00 PM CST Joe Lieberman told Meet the Press today that he regrets "some things I said in the heat of the campaign that I wish I'd said more clearly," and hopes Barack Obama will put, er, "country first" by leading in a bipartisan fashion. Lieberman said he called Obama during the campaign, but, oddly, never heard back from him, Politico reports. In other talk shows:
Nov 19, 08 1:55 PM CST Missouri, the last state up for grabs, looks to have gone Republican by less than a 1% margin, leaving John McCain with 173 electoral votes to Barack Obama’s 365, the Kansas City Star reports. There are still 3,000 uncounted provisional ballots, but McCain’s margin is large enough to declare him the winner of the state’s 11 electoral votes. More »
Nov 19, 08 11:45 AM CST Democrats everywhere, even in the Senate, are still furious with Joe Lieberman for campaigning against Barack Obama. So pushing to allow him to stay in the Democratic caucus, and continue as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, was a savvy political move on Obama's part, Time reports: Lieberman will owe the new president big time, and there'll be plenty of opportunities for Obama to collect. More »
Nov 18, 08 3:36 AM CST Senate Democrats are likely to allow Joe Lieberman to retain chairmanship of the powerful Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee despite his vocal support for John McCain and repeated attacks on Barack Obama during the election, Politico reports. The Connecticut independent has threatened to leave the Democratic caucus and join the Republicans if punished for his opposition. More »
Nov 17, 08 4:45 PM CST Sarah Palin made such a splash in American politics this year that she deserves consideration for Time magazine Person of the Year, Kathryn Jean Lopez writes for the National Review. “They’ve probably long picked The One,” Lopez writes, referring to Barack Obama. But “like Obama, all you had to do was look at her to see that she offered something different on a national ticket.” More »
When you say Obama’s name today and ask people for their first impression—a quick, flash, gut, first impression—no single word or phrase or policy comes to mind. - Thomas Friedman
(Palin) is connecting at a gut level. So does McCain—and, therefore, they don’t need to give their constituents many details. - Thomas Friedman
I like much of what (Obama) has to say, especially about energy, but I don’t think people are feeling it in their guts, and I am a big believer that voters don’t listen through their ears. They listen through their stomachs. - Thomas Friedman
Barack Obama • John McCain • Thomas Friedman • change election
