BARACK OBAMA'S IMAGE "PROBLEM"

Not only does his name rhyme with "Osama" (shock, horror), his casual no-tie dress sense reminds some people of the equally laid-back President Ahmadinejad. While I assume Jeff Greenfield had his tongue firmly in his cheek in that report, it just goes to show how obsessive we've become about every irrelevant detail.

Stop press: one of the Plank's commenters uncovers even more dirt:

...Obama published an autobiographical work while in his mid 30s full of reflections on race and race relations. You know who else did that? Ever hear of "Mein Kampf"?!?!

UPDATE: George Will explains why Obama should run in 2008:

He has, in Hillary Clinton, the optimal opponent. The contrast is stark: He is soothing; she is not. Many Democrats who are desperate to win are queasy about depending on her. For a nation with jangled nerves, and repelled by political snarling, he offers a tone of sweet reasonableness.

Comments

[lc]

I hope he runs, and wins, and that he succeeds in the project described in this review in the NYRB, even though I think the civic ideal is being undermined even more by the American left at present than by the American right. (Last night I saw David Duke on the television saying stuff that sounds an awful lot like what I've hearing from my "progressive" friends in recent years.)

[lc]

hey, where's my link? here it is:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19651

[Frank Lee]

I already dread being told that, if I don't vote for Obama, I must be a racist.

[Andrew Zalotocky]

A more serious concern about Obama is his lack of experience. He's a first-term Senator, so is he really ready for a shot at the top job?

[lc]

I'm not sure what amount of experience would ever really qualify anybody for that job. I might find Obama's lack of experience more of a concern if I saw an appealing alternative on the horizon in possession of more substantial experience. But I don't. John McCain is the Howard Dean of the Republican party: not altogether on an even keel, mentally. Moreover, he's got a TR complex, and I don't think that's what we need right now. Giuliani might do okay but Obama is more substantial and thoughtful as a person. I shudder at the prospect of the Clinton machine being back in the executive. Heaven help us if it's Kerry. Who else is there? Gore? Romney? Edwards? Santorum?

And I think that in one of the most important aspects, Obama is the most experienced of the lot. We have a serious problem when neither the political class nor the public have any kind of real sense of how their country looks from the outside. Obama, with his childhood years in Indonesia and his African roots, has an enormous edge in attaining the insider-outsider's perspective that would be invaluable at a time like the present.

A lot would depend, of course, on who various powers would be delegated to. An Obama administration with Sam Nunn as VP, Richard Haass as Secretary of State, and Walter Russell Mead (who is a Democrat) as NSA would be pretty solid on the foreign policy front. Not sure how possible choices like that would be, though, given the influence of the crazed Netroots and MoveOn crowds.

[mikek]

lc, the Netroots and MoveOn crowd would be easy to handle. All you have to do is focus their attention on people they hate. They don't actually believe in anything, it's all hate. Create the impression that "neo-cons", some sort of Israeli group or Karl Rove (or all three as part of a much larger conspiracy) is attacking Obama for being Muslim. I'm not certain that Obama is muslim, but I believe his dad is and that he spent years in Indonesia so he is probably a muslim. The nutroots have to defend anything he does if the right people criticize him.

[Sean C.]

Obama is no Muslim, certainly not of the present day. It would be huge news if there were a Muslim in the U.S. senate. The first Muslim congressman was just elected this past November. I forget which Protestant denomination Obama identifies with, but it is a Protestant denomination to be sure.

I've believed for a long time that the first black U.S. president -- as also the first female U.S. president -- would be a conservative, and a Republican. Despite all this incredibly early advance buzz about the '08 race, I see no reason to revise my belief on that score.

[joyceharvellbarney]

barak obama would be refreshing change in being elected president

[joyceharvellbarney]

barak obama would be refreshing change in being elected president