Office of the Independent Blogger

The UK Times is noting that Barack Obama is hinting at a Chuck Hagel Defense Secretary as well as a Richard Lugar Secretary of State. It is believed that these men would boost support for him among Republicans once he’s been elected President. One question, however: will they endorse him during the race? Probably not. Would they take his Cabinet positions? Certainly, but that’s not announced until after the election and they’re unlikely to campaign for him. Even then, I doubt most Americans will jump into Obama’s arms because of them, even if they do endorse him, since John McCain is regarded for his independence and voters don’t make such decisions unless there’s a greater emphasis on it. Asking Texans to vote for Kennedy because Lyndon Baines Johnson is on the ticket is one thing: asking Nebraskans, Indianans or Southernors is another.

A different Obama note: the smear campaign against Barack Obama has reached Ohio. People are asking whether or not he knows the National Anthem and they claim he’s a Muslim. It’s starting to get ugly in the primaries, with generally liberal people. It’ll ruin politics for another generation of idealists when the Republican Attack Machine gets a hold of him. In a lot of ways, it’ll be a damn shame voters vote on such matters and candidates/parties run using such tactics, but then it’s also a shame when you think that there are people who will quit on politics because of such denigration.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 at 9:19 pm and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs).