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Why Are Republicans So Worried About Debating Obama?
It’s not as though Obama is a particularly adept debater. But the subject comes up constantly on the Republican side, or so Maureen Dowd believes.
They seem to have forgotten that, while Obama has had dazzling moments of strength in executing Osama and in swashbuckling derring-do against Somali pirates — if not in dealing with Congress — he was no Abe Lincoln in debates. He did not like debating, and Michelle urged him to be more visceral. He often faded onstage because he stubbornly refused to accept debates as alpha combat rather than beta seminars. He disdained anything he saw as superficial politics, from sound bites to macho put-downs.
If Obama continues to resist the gladiatorial subtext, while Romney embraces it, the debates could be more evenly matched than the Republicans dare to dream. …Maureen Dowd, NYT
Actually, is it the Republicans who fear Obama in debates or the press who turn politics into a bloody conflict because that sells better than democracy? Whatever. Meanwhile, Dowd says Obama is getting into the habit of indulging in telling women off on the tarmac.
Usually, tarmacs are for joyous welcomes or teary goodbyes. But No Drama Obama saves his rare tempests for the runway. …Dowd
All two tempests. One in a set-to with Hillary during the campaign. The other with Arizona’s unattractive governor who felt “threatened.” She probably felt rejected. Face it: Obama is a powerful man and one who’s attractive to women. She thought she could win this one, but no. He was telling her off, in profile and in public, and Fox had to work hard to buck Brewer up.
Both of Obama’s tarmac tiffs worked in his favor. After his encounter with Hillary, he told advisers that it was the first time he knew he could beat her because he saw fear in her eyes.
After his brouhaha with Brewer, dubbed “the dust-up in the desert,” he became a hero to the Hispanics he had gone West to court. They loved seeing their Cruella de Vil get dressed down.
Everything is breaking Barry’s way, as Mitt and Newt rip into each other in vicious ads and debates like alligators going after house pets. …Dowd
So go ahead, Mitt. Tell him off. Aggravate him. Snipe at him. Wear flame-red suits and use new eye make-up. Hey, try tears if nothing else works!
Cross posted from Prairie Weather.
27 Responses to “Why Are Republicans So Worried About Debating Obama?”
IMHO, the debates (too few as Newt contends), will be so boring that most people may turn to Dancing With Anyone or even old tapes of Leave it to Beaver.
These are two “elite” guys who may be too polite or squeamish about getting down in the dirt. Mitt is getting some practice now while Newt is still around, although he will have to ration the low blows to look more presidential.
Obama needs to practice a lot and is lucky there are only two debates. Perhaps he can get Bill Maher and Jon Stewart to at least feed him some good retorts to: you don’t know how to fix our economy and that is why you keep looking for Seal Team 6 to bail you out.
“and that is why you keep looking for Seal Team 6 to bail you out”
That is a truly cheap shot duck. I think most of us realize that had Seal Team 6 had been acting at the bequest of a republican president, rightwingers would be sporting Seal Team 6 T-shirts and bumper stickers with ubiquitous abandon by now. Instead they choose to pretend Obama had nothing to do with those accomplishments. It’s kind of disgusting actually.
As to Obama/Romney debates, I suppose it would be too much to expect debates based primarily on substance, but maybe with these two candidates we’ll see a little bit more of that than usual – that is, unless the GOP handlers figure out a way to morph Romney into the sort of propaganda wielding revisionist historian they seem to like best. We’ll see…
I stand by my HO.
The reason the Republicans are worried about debating President Obama is pretty simple… the VAST MAJORITY of the American People reject current Republican priorities and their obstructive actions.
Right now OUR country needs OUR leaders to act in behalf of Americans and ALL Americans but the Republican Party has sold out to the ‘One Percent.’
The Republicans have no chance of defeating President Obama and there’s a good chance their majority in the lower house will be significantly decreased… If not lost.
Something tells me that freshman Senator Obama and incumbent President Obama are two completely different people…and debaters. We have to keep in mind that Obama was utterly clueless through most of the process and his first year.
Obama is now a seasoned politician…not a deer in the headlights.
He is still a dear to the headlights of a few Dems.
I’m not seeing a lot of concern by the GOP about debating Obama, where is it coming from?
What’s the deal calling Brewer “unattractive” and saying she felt rejected? Do you mean Obama called out Hillary and Brewer because they were unattractive? Both of them are pretty normal-looking as far as I’m concerned.
“Right now OUR country needs OUR leaders to act in behalf of Americans and ALL Americans but the Republican Party has sold out to the ‘One Percent.’” – SteveK
Bingo. If the R’s haven’t sold out to the one percenters they’re sure doing a good imitation. Change will come – either the easy way… or the hard way. When I look at all the young people around today and try to imagine the sort of futures they will have, it’s hard to believe the sh!t isn’t going to hit the fan if the status quo continues much longer…
Well, thank goodness for the Dems, cause they sure as hell wouldn’t sell out to the “1%ers”.
They are also too busy selling cradle to grave big government policy, to the 100%.
dduck didn’t you know Obama raised his one billion dollar campaign war chest purely from schoolchildren sending in pennies?
So now he is channeling Lincoln, Teddy and Reagan weren’t enough.
Dd, dems aren’t knights in shining armor, but they actually try to institute policies which would bring more fairness to the working class – even things as simple as tax code. Of course that makes the right whine and moan, even though our 10 percent has hever had it so good. As for your big govt concerns? Think quality not quantity.
BJ, if they aren’t worried, then they are fools.
Z, said: “even things as simple as tax code.”
Stop right there. The tax code needs to be simplified, it is not simple at all and the Dems are even less inclined than the Reps to “simplify” it. They just want to layer on higher taxes on the 2%ers.
There is nothing wrong with that if the rest of the code really was flattened and simplified.
Obama, had the nerve, the other day I forgot where, to blame the ignoring of Simpson-Bowles on the Reps.
The 1% paid over 90% taxes until 1963, paid 70% in the 70′s, and 50% in the 80′s. They did just fine and this country was doing quite well. Repealing the Bush Tax cuts isn’t going to screw the economy or job creation.
Take a look: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=213
While the dems may have sold out as well, the GOP seems to actually think its sound economic policy. That’s the part that scares me.
And yea the GOP should be afraid to debate Obama. He is a far better speaker than any of the GOP candidates, knows more, and in case you haven’t been listening to his recent style, the gloves are off. He is no longer the conciliatory lets meet in the middle President. Whoever shows up to debate him better bring their A game.
Speeches are not the same as debates. I’m not afraid of Mitt debating Obama, I’m afraid that there won’t be enough of the debates to truly cover enough topics.
“There is nothing wrong with that if the rest of the code really was flattened and simplified”
There’s a big difference between “flattened” and “simplified”.
And really? Seal Team 6 “bailing him out”? What does that even mean? Part of leading is making sure you have the right people with the proper training doing the right things according to a well-laid-out plan. Perhaps you’d feel better if Obama himself were the one pulling the trigger? Is it a big bummer that Bin Laden is dead because the team that did it was well-trained and deployed according to correct intelligence by the president? Would it have been more authentic and to your liking if it had been a bunch of rag-tag privates ready to break all the rules lead by a cowboy-boot-wearing Rambo-type? Think a little before you say dumb things, dduck. Or perhaps you’re a passivist now?
Uh, oh, better get an Oreo it will improve your temperment.
Hahaha! Mr Whiney pants is talking about *my* temperment? That’s rich, dduck. Seriously, read your own comments on this thread. I know it’s difficult for you when people call you on the stupid or poorly-thought-out things you say, but the twisted knickers response is a bit childish for someone your age.
ETA: and you still refuse to look up the correct usage of the cookie expression. That’s like 5 misuses in the last year or so. If you want to appear clever (and let’s admit: you really really do), at least get your insults straight, eh?
Ok, you win have a Milano.
So pithy…too bad there’s no actual pith. Just sarcasm bomb followed by whiney butthurt retreat.
LOL…………………………
Agree with roro and slamfu. None of this becomes complicated until partisan nonsense rears it’s ugly head. Too much disingenuous response, not enough learning from history (or even the indication of a desire to learn).
Roro, please inform me when I have reached the legal limit on the misuse of cookie insults. (They have rules for everything these days, is there a new Federal Regulatory body set up yet?.)
Oh, you’re legally allowed to say any stupid thing you want, dduck, and you use that right quite liberally. You (and, for some reason, the mod of the site) seem to place an exceptional amount of value on you being clever in your insults. Let’s just call it personal preference that the constant poorly-thought-out snarks against me at least make rhetorical sense. You know?
Of course, it would be super cool if you could actually address some of the issues brought up with the content of your drive-by snipes, but I do understand that’s just a starry-eyed dream of mine.
Thanks for the permission, roro.
See? You continue to say stupid things. Good on ya, for really taking advantage of your right to do so, dduck.
Have a good day.