Andrew Sullivan re: Obama..."The only way past this is through it."

[ourbluenation]

So many readers seem to be feeling it. I have too. But remember what we're dealing with here: last fall, no one gave Obama a chance. It was always a very long shot. When I wrote that Obama piece, Clinton was ahead by at least 20 points and it wasn't budging a jot. Every pundit also expected the classic Clinton-Giuliani set-up for 2008: the perfect boomer red-blue battle. It didn't happen. The Republicans, from a smaller and demoralized base, gave us McCain. And the Clintons have lost the mathematical chance of winning the nomination by any fair means. The change has already happened.

Obama is a freshman senator; he is 46 years old; he is African-American; he is a liberal - even if he is very gifted in talking to conservatives. He has taken on the biggest brand and machine in American politics, the Clintons, and won. If you didn't think this would be an uphill struggle, you've been deluded. Of course, race will not go away; it will come back again and again and again. Of course, generational resistance will not go away: Obama is a big leap for the over 50s for all sorts of reasons. Of course, the usual Rovian tactics will be used against him - brutally. He does represent real change - culturally, politically, and in terms of global politics. Politicians who represent real change do not win easily; they usually require a real crisis to rise. That's how RFK and MLK emerged - in crisis, after being smeared (sometimes with a grain of truth) and finally assassinated. That's how Reagan and Thatcher emerged. We forget how their chances were considered flimsy for so long.

Obama is still in this; and the Wright fiasco gives him a chance to remove this cloud and address it again. He has the most votes, the most states, the most money, the most new voters and the most delegates and the most Senators on his side. This is no time for a failure of nerve - on the part of the Obama team or his supporters.

The only way past this is through it. And it's not just up to Obama; it's up to those of us who see him as a vehicle for real change.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/04/fighting-despai.html

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. yes he is winning and Clintons can't get used to it

like he has stolen her ball

[tyne]

2. Exactly Andrew....

"It's not going to be easy".

"If it were easy...it'd already be done".

[ourbluenation]

3. "And it's not just up to Obama; it's up to those of us who see him as a vehicle for real change."

[Yael]

10. That caught my eye too. Is Sullivan supporting Obama?

[nsd]

15. Yes. Sullivan has written movingly about the potential he sees in an Obama presidency.

[housewolf]

16. Yes, he is supporting Obama

The Repub luster has worn thin even for Andrew Sullivan. He supported Kerry in 2004. Oh, he's still a conservative at heart, but isn't a do-or-die Repub at this point.

[mopinko]

11. get used to it, people. that is the way he will run the country.

he is well aware of the shit storm that will accompany him to the white house. we need to get used to the fact that we the people have our work cut out for us. he needs us, and he knows it.

[BeyondGeography]

4. Obama has already made his statement

“He does not speak for me,” Mr. Obama said. “He does not speak for the campaign. He may make statements in the future that don’t reflect my values or concerns.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/us/politics/29wright....

[cliffordu]

5. Yep. Andrew has this one right. In spite of being a shill

for the republicans for some time, specifically over the war, he's actually had a reasonable view the last couple times I've seen him talk.

Odd that. Good but odd. Conversion to Democrat??

[ourbluenation]

7. He voted for Kerry. He's independant.

[cliffordu]

9. His stance on the war was pure Bush.

[ourbluenation]

21. I thought it was a good thing when people come around to seeing the light. Don't dismiss Sullivan.

He's one of the most read bloggers out there and has been all over the torture issue, christianists, etc...He was wrong about Iraq and has said as such many times.

[beachmom]

28. And now he says he was wrong. Are you rejecting Independents voting Dem? That is an

extremist approach that will lose us a lot of elections.

[Cha]

33. I disliked him a lot when I use to see him on tv

back in the day when he was shilling for bush and excoriating Gore..but he has since repudiated bush and the war On Iraq.

And anyone who got sucked into that has their own demons to deal with.

[struggle4progress]

31. That's really odd, as he is a British citizen. Why isn't he in jail for election fraud?

[varun]

6. Sullivan was wrong on Iraq, Bush....

...and he's wrong on Obama.

Hillary's gonna win this one.

[ShockediSay]

8. An amazingly realistic assessment fom a right winger &

fed-up-with-the-Clintons individual

K&R

[ourbluenation]

22. He voted for Kerry in 04 and HATES the Clintons. He's independant

who's fiscally conservative but not so much that he thinks any government spending is bad. I read his blog everyday. He has come around on a lot of issues, and has confessed that his view of liberals as the big government spenders was passe. Much of that was Obama-driven.

[beachmom]

26. He's from the Libertarian wing, and has rejected neoconservatism.

He has admitted where he was wrong on Iraq, and has condemned the torture since we found out about it at Abu Ghraib. Is he a liberal? No. But he is not of or from the Authoritarian Right.

[MindMatter]

12. He has his chess pieces lined up

This campaign has been frustrating for some folks because there have been many moments where it seemed like Obama should have been able to deal a knockout punch to Clinton. Switching from a boxing metaphor to a chess one, he is playing this like a grand master. He has approached this campaign with the utmost respect for his opponent and what the system could deal him. He has avoided trying to "capture the queen" in a spectacular high-risk gambit.

Instead he has concentrated on creating the overwhelming advantage, taking away her options one by one until the only way he can lose now is with a spectacular blunder. And I don't expect he will make that blunder.

While the MSM keeps stirring the pot to try to make themselves appear relevant, the fact is that with each passing contest, Clinton is getting deeper and deeper into the corner that allows no escape.

With a convincing victory with OH/TX/RI/VT/DC she would have had a very good possibility of counter-attack. But that skirmish ended up essentially in a draw.

That meant that PA, being the largest remaining pot, and one most favorable to Clinton, had to be won by 20 points or more.

That didn't happen. Deeper into the corner she goes with fewer and fewer pieces to protect her. Now come IN and NC. There no longer are any options to get her to a majority of pledged delegates. So now her only remaining hope is a spectacular showing that demonstrates Obama is dead meat. But that isn't in the cards. It looks like Obama will come out of the next round with at least as many new pledged delegates as Clinton gets, if not more.

That leaves her with places like KY to make a stand. It really is a lost cause for her. If she had lots of money and a whole bunch of friends behind the scenes, that would be a hope, but she's going to get nothing from Dean because he needs to align with Obama in order to share in the funding machine that Obama controls.

So while it is frustrating that Obama hasn't pushed for the quick checkmate, it is clear how this match ends up. The only question is how long she wants to delay it.

[americanstranger]

14. Great post!

You nailed it. Good job.

- as

[gaspee]

13. LOL

Sullivan's a DU hero now?

How times change!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[NNN0LHI]

17. Kind of unreal isn't it?

The Andrew Sullivan I know of would do anything to assure his war criminal buddies don't lose power.

I wonder why his change of heart all of a sudden?

He is scared. I can smell fear.

Don

[nsd]

19. Sullivan has been strongly critical of Bush and the Republican party for over four years.

He endorsed Kerry in 2004. He's written repeatedly and convincingly about how Bush's torture regime stains American honor, about the incompetence of the Bush administration in Iraq, and about the malign influence of Rove-Cheney-Robertson-etcetera on American political life.

This is no sudden change of heart. I don't agree with Sullivan on a lot of things, but I respect him. He's an honest person; he's not reacting because of political calculation.

It seems to me that one of the great things about Obama is his willingness to listen to the other side, to understand where they're coming from even when he doesn't agree. I think DU should do that with Sullivan too. He's got a lot of interesting things to say.

[NNN0LHI]

20. Sullivan reluctantly decided to support John Kerry. He currently supports John McCain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan

Sullivan reluctantly decided to support John Kerry's presidential campaign, due to his dissatisfaction with the handling of the postwar situation in Iraq by the Bush administration, their views on gay rights, and their fiscal policy. Sullivan is a supporter of John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger and other like-minded Republicans. Sullivan has also blogged sympathetically about Republican candidate Ron Paul, endorsing him for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

[ourbluenation]

23. He is a strong supporter of Obama in the dem primary and is leaning

that way in the general.

[beachmom]

24. Andrew Sullivan is an Independent and has been an Obama supporter for a year.

He also endorsed Kerry in '04. He is not with us on many issues, but he is with us on Obama.

[ourbluenation]

25. He's pro gay marriage, anto war, anti terror, anti christianist. On some issues he leans left.

so pick your ass up off the floor. closed-minded extremism is really not that funny.

[underpants]

27. Sullivan is just trying to pile on like the rest of MSM Corp.

they think they finally got them the way to get rid of the black guy without really talking about him directly

[ourbluenation]

29. you couldn't be more wrong about sullivan. he's been a big obama supporter for quite some time.

and the post above in the OP was entitled "fighting Dispair".

Geezus.

[redqueen]

18. Wow.

I so rarely agree with AS. :P

[Tinksrival]

30. Done!

Let's move on!

[Cha]

32. Boy, ol' Andrew has a

real handle on his analysis of Obama and his struggle to the top(so far).

Will this help steel anyone whose nerves are shakey?

I so didn't use to like him but some people change for the better.