Monday, October 27, 2008

Today's notable endorsement for Obama

The Financial Times comes out for Obama. They're not without some criticism of him, but basically it's a solid thumbs up for Barack. Money grafs:
Nonetheless, a campaign is a test of leadership. Mr Obama ran his superbly; Mr McCain’s has often looked a shambles. After eight years of George W. Bush, the steady competence of the Obama operation commands respect.

Nor should one disdain Mr Obama’s way with a crowd. Good presidents engage the country’s attention; great ones inspire. Mr McCain, on form, is an adequate speaker but no more. Mr Obama, on form, is as fine a political orator as the country has heard in decades. Put to the right purposes, this is no mere decoration but a priceless asset. [...]

In responding to the economic emergency, Mr Obama has again impressed – not by advancing solutions of his own, but in displaying a calm and methodical disposition, and in seeking the best advice. Mr McCain’s hasty half-baked interventions were unnerving when they were not beside the point. [...]

On foreign policy, where the candidates have often conspired to exaggerate their differences, this contrast in temperaments seems crucial. For all his experience, Mr McCain has seemed too much guided by an instinct for peremptory action, an exaggerated sense of certainty, and a reluctance to see shades of grey.

He has offered risk-taking almost as his chief qualification, but gambles do not always pay off. His choice of Sarah Palin as running mate, widely acknowledged to have been a mistake, is an obtrusive case in point. Rashness is not a virtue in a president. The cautious and deliberate Mr Obama is altogether a less alarming prospect.
That's really what it comes down to in the end. The choice is between cautious and deliberate or reckless and impulsive. The latter describes the last eight years pretty well. The only question that really remains, given the stark differences, is how could anyone still be undecided?

[More posts daily at The Newshoggers and The Detroit News.]

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4 Comments:

Blogger (O)CT(O)PUS said...

how could anyone still be undecided?

That scares me too. They also say GWB's approval rating is at an all time low of somewhere around 25%. It is the 25% that scares me. Who ARE these people?

Take all the mental disorders listed in the DSM-IV, and add up all the incidence rates for the entire catalogue of mental illnesses, and I think you got that infernal 25%. Damn scary when you consider that the mentally ill represents a sizable block of voters.

Now I know what you are about to say, Libby. That I harbor some prejudice against the mentally ill. NOT TRUE! Some of my best friends have anxiety and dissociative disorders ... especially when Republicans get elected.

Republican Psychotic Disorder is what I am talking about ... the delusional thinking, the paranoid ideation, with shades of Munchausen. That's what I'm talking about.

3:27:00 AM  
Blogger Capt. Fogg said...

Those remaining Bush supporters must all live here. The usual explanation is that "I'm from a military family" or "I'm retired military" as though no further explanation were needed.

By the way, I saw W (the movie) last night. Most of the audience was elderly - it being a Monday night - and all seemed confused by it and left muttering to themselves about not liking it.

I thought it was too kind to Bush because it hinted that he might have a conscience.

9:12:00 AM  
Blogger Libby Spencer said...

LOL Octo. Love your new gravatar.

Fogg, so is it worth going to see?

9:28:00 AM  
Blogger Capt. Fogg said...

I dunno - I found it amusing but frustrating since nobody is ever convinced by looking at the truth and of course, to those who are inclined to do so, all unfavorable glimpses into the decider can be brushed away by counting the beads and chanting Liberaliberaliberal.

All in all, I chuckled but came away depressed.

4:56:00 PM  

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