
 |
|
May 20, 2013
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
April 28, 2008
/ 23 Nissan 5768
The man behind the curtain
By
Jack Kelly
| >
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
No sooner had Sen. Hillary Clinton won a near landslide victory in the Pennsylvania primary than major media figures were renewing their calls for her to drop out of the race. But there is a whiff of panic about them now.
In an editorial Wednesday, The New York Times called Mrs. Clinton's 9.2-percentage-point victory in the nation's sixth largest state "inconclusive," and described the campaign that preceded it as "even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it."
Mrs. Clinton is mostly responsible for the negative tone of the campaign, according to the Times, which had endorsed her in the New York primary. She should stop criticizing Sen. Barack Obama: "If she is ever to have a hope of persuading [superdelegates] to come back to her side, let alone win over the larger body of voters, she has to call off the dogs," the Times said.
Hmm. Fifty-five percent seems like "the larger body of voters." The Clinton campaign reported she raked in nearly $10 million in contributions over the Internet in the 24 hours following her Pennsylvania win. That suggests some Democrats aren't put off by her criticisms of Mr. Obama.
"None of the voters want this race to end," said pollster Frank Luntz. "The people who want the race to end are the pundits."
It would seem to be against the professional interest of journalists to pine for a premature end to the most exciting Democratic race since 1980. But many think it more important to protect Barack Obama from scrutiny than to follow a good story. Like the Wizard of Oz, they don't want you to peer behind the curtain lest you be unimpressed by what you see. The longer the contest goes on, the higher the curtain is raised.
Mr. Obama is hiding from a girl. That's the Clinton spin on his decision to back out of a debate before the primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.
As a matter of political tactics, his decision is sound. Mr. Obama is the front runner. He's got nothing to gain from another debate. And though it's unlikely he'll ever again be as awful as he was in the Philadelphia debate on April 16 potentially much to lose. He doesn't want to answer any more questions about his relationship with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, or with former Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers (and most journalists don't want to ask them). But his refusal to debate supports Mrs. Clinton's insinuation he doesn't have what it takes to be president.
Those pundits who haven't declared Mrs. Clinton's campaign hopeless say she faces a must-win primary in Indiana May 6. That's true.
But Mr. Obama also faces a must-win primary that day in North Carolina. If he does as poorly among blue-collar whites there as he did in Pennsylvania, doubts about his viability as a general election candidate will be intensified.
Mrs. Clinton clearly is the better general election candidate. A higher proportion of her supporters than of Obama supporters say they'll bolt if their candidate loses the nomination. (In exit polls in Pennsylvania, 15 percent of Clinton supporters said they'd vote for Sen. John McCain; 10 percent said they'd stay home. Ten percent of Obama supporters said they'd vote for Mr. McCain; 7 percent said they'd stay home.)
Disaffected Clinton supporters are more likely to mean what they say. They are unsettled by Mr. Obama's ties to a racist preacher, and are offended by his condescension towards rural whites. Obama supporters who are upset with Mrs. Clinton are upset mostly because she is an obstacle in the path of the Anointed One. That's easier to get over before it's time to vote in November.
In most current polls, Mr. Obama runs slightly better than does Mrs. Clinton in head-to-head matchups with Mr. McCain. But Mrs. Clinton runs more strongly in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida states Democrats must carry in order to win the election.
Mrs. Clinton is never going to be more unpopular than she is right now. Republicans have never liked her, and many Obama supporters are mad at her. But that antipathy is likely to fade if she is the nominee.
Mr. Obama, on the other hand, never will be more popular than he is right now. His press coverage has been hagiographic, and we didn't know much about him until recently. When he spoke about hope and change, we could imagine he would make the changes we were hoping for. But as we see more of the man behind the curtain, it's harder to sustain those illusions.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a
deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan
administration. Comment by clicking here.
Jack Kelly Archives
© 2008, Jack Kelly
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|