Reply #12: I hate to quibble at the end of such a nicely thought out piece, [View All]

but that quote you put up at the top is soooo brief:

"I don't want to go into the next election starting off with half the country already not wanting to vote for Democrats -- we've done that in 2004, 2000.”

What was the context of that one sentence? I can read it two ways -- the way you did, or maybe more simply, without naming names or pointing fingers, as a simple statement of recognition, an admission of the fact that American politics have become more highly charged, and we're split evenly along red-state/blue-state/NASCAR Dad/Soccer Mom lines. Nothing more than that.

In either case, though, I think Obama has some really, really difficult choices to make. The second he starts putting a harder edge on some of his comments, the sooner he's going to find himself lumped together with Rev.'s Al and Jessie. In the 2004 debates, Rev. Al was by far the least reluctant to step up to the plate and swing for the fences -- and he hit quite a few out of the park, but what did it get him? Media jeers and let's-get-this-brotha-out-of-here dismissal, from the whole rat pack of mainstream pundits.

I think Obama recognizes that basic reality, and he's just taking a hard look at some of the problems he'll be facing, this time around.