Not landing the punch

I've noticed that every time Obama is attacked, he finds a way to turn that attack around. The Clintons' attacks that Obama's stance on Iraq was a fairytale or that he brings false hope have been co-opted by Obama. Now he uses those charges in his speeches for major applause.

For the last couple of days, Bill and Hillary are using the line that the Democrats need to nominate a candidate with solutions, not speeches. They've been repeating this basic concept enough to try and magnify a real issue in some people's mind.

I will bet you that we will soon find this "solutions, not speeches" idea coming back at the Clintons with a vengeance. Obama knows how to use a line like that.

And the funny thing is, almost all the time the candidates speak, they could be accused of giving us speeches, not solutions. Unless they want the crowd to fall asleep, no one gives a speech filled with policy details.

Obama's just so much better at giving a speech than any of the candidates this primary season, his opponents just have to try and turn his strength against him.

Watching Clinton stumbling around trying to land a punch in this campaign, I feel like I'm watching Sonny Liston versus Muhammad Ali (okay, I know he was Cassius Clay at the time).

Hillary's Scorched Earth Tendencies

Hillary's scorched earth tendencies.

Many have known that Hillary has that unique ability to heal the fractures in the GOP. David Frum made that point in the NYT's today. We've seen the poll data that shows how close a general election would be between Hillary and McCain or Romney.

What I never realized until recently is how Hillary is able to divide the Democrats. Over this last week, she and Bill have done a tremendous job of polarizing the Democrats' primary.

We've watched her and Bill lie about Obama's positions, lie about his past associations and so forth. This act has alienated many Democrats and Independents and is red meat for the Republicans.

So the key question is: can Hillary actually win in November with a divided Democrat Party up against a united Republican Party?

If she was running against W, I'd say she could win, but I don't think she can beat McCain or Romney if she continues to destroy her own party.

She needs to get Bill to be an advocate for her and not an attack dog. The former president doesn't need to be playing the role of James Carville. They have James Carville and others for that job. He needs to keep the message positive.

Why must Clinton lie?

We all like to joke about the lying nature of politicians, but I still get angry when they lie to me.

I didn't like Clinton when he ran in 1992 because I did believe there was some truth to the rumors of his infidelities. I felt that if someone would risk his career, lie to his family and get others to cover up his lies for him, then there was no way I should be surprised he would lie to me.

I was right.

But I will say that the Clinton lies we are aware of pale in comparison to the lies the current administration tells. We're looking at misdemeanors versus felonies. Lies yes, but the scale is very different.

If I need to start to list Bush's lies for you, chances are you are a Bush supporter and have been able to dodge reality so far so I'm not going to waste time right now trying to enlighten you.

But what got me riled up of late is Clinton is back in the news with his lying ways. The man should realize that we have the Internet available to us. I don't need his smarmy misstatements to tell me about what Obama said about Reagan. I watched what Obama said and it is very different than what Clinton was trying to tell us.

It's strange enough to have a former president campaigning heavily for a candidate in the party's primary, but no one would expect him to do otherwise in this election. But why does he feel the need to lie to us about Obama?

I watched Obama and can see the large gap between reality and what Clinton said, so I'm supposed to believe anything else that Clinton says? He has a history of being a liar. He has a history of manipulating language to be deceitful. But this in your face lie that anyone can see for themselves is over the top.

Clinton is making it hard for me to even consider Hillary. She says he is an asset to her campaign and I think he has been at times, but right now he is doing nothing but reminding voters like me about what I didn't like about the Clintons during the '90's.

McCain and Obama might not be perfect, but they don't seem to be so shameless in their behavior.