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FirmhandKY -> RE: Clinton-Obama Impromptu Press Conference (12/11/2010 11:07:45 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tazzygirl
I, personally, have no problem with a leader facing a problem and looking for brains to pick who have "been there, done that".
Neither do I. However, sometimes Marshall McLuhan's "The medium is the message" needs to be considered.
It is apparent that this event was an unscripted, seat-of-the-pants event, conceived of during their 90 minute talk just prior to the event.
Again, no problem with that, other than combined with the execution (primarily by Obama's giving Clinton the "control" of the message) and absenting himself from the event. This seems to reinforce some of the claims of Obama's tendency to vote "present": an propensity to avoid direct responsibility. This propensity was also seen in how Obama basically turned over the responsibility of directly drafting laws to advance his agenda to his Congressional supporters.
Again, you can make the argument that this only makes sense, but it seems to be a pattern, and a pattern that can be argued isn't one that we wish our President to have.
As well, he left because (apparently) he didn't want "to make his wife mad" by his absence. Now, I love my wife, and I do not wish to make her mad, either. But as an American citizen, when his responsibilities to the citizens of the country are weighted against the desires of his wife: I want the wife to lose. He belongs to the American people first, while he holds the office. I have not offered criticism to him other times when it seemed that he had placed his wife above his duties, because it can sometimes be debated either way. But he does seem to do this much more than I would consider "responsible" in the world's most powerful leader.
Another reason that I believe it wasn't prudent to simply absent himself is that it makes him appear weak in planning department, and in anticipating how his actions may be seen by others: a poor sense of the the affects of his actions in other words. Not very political astute, and a bit "tone deaf" to political realities. Clinton, on the other hand, was and is a master in these two areas.
Dunno. Perhaps we see what our positions and biases lead us to believe, but I'm not sure that this event will be overall helpful to Obama's future or his creditability.
Firm
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