Endless Obama

George Will on Obama, thinks he should run, but observes:

What people see in him reveals more about them than about him. Some of his public utterances have the sponginess of Polonius' bromides for Laertes (''neither a borrower nor a lender be . . . to thine own self be true''). In 2005, the liberal Americans for Democratic Action and the AFL-CIO rated his voting record a perfect 100. The nonpartisan National Journal gave him an 82.5 liberalism rating, making him more liberal than Clinton (79.8). He dutifully decries ''ideological'' politics, but just as dutifully conforms to most of liberalism's catechism, from ''universal'' health care, whatever that might mean, to combatting global warming, whatever that might involve, and including the sacred injunction Thou Shalt Execrate Wal-Mart -- an obligatory genuflection to organized labor.

Tribune on his fundraising:

Through Nov. 27, Hopefund raised more than $2.5 million this year, of which more than $1 million was donated by people who contributed less than $200 in total to the PAC, according to the Federal Election Commission. During the most recent reporting period, Oct. 19 through Nov. 27, Hopefund raised $218,000, of which slightly more than $165,000 came from small-dollar donors.

The PAC raised more money in 2006 from low-dollar donors than did any of the other PACs run by potential presidential candidates, except for McCain's Straight Talk America, which raised more than $1.2 million in contributions under $200. Clinton concentrated fundraising efforts on her Senate campaign.

Bet the Hopefund has Hillary doubly steamed---the man from Hope echoed by the Hopefund man. I went back a bit, since we are now all being forced to deal with Hillary and the first Dem candidate since Bill with his charisma, Obama the phenomena. Here's how Bill pitched The Hope, Jonah Goldberg, NRO in 2000:

Perhaps it is his ability to over-dramatize any inconvenience in his life; to transform it into a heroic triumph. For example, Bill Clinton campaigned on his "troubled" childhood. In "The Man From Hope" campaign video, Bill Clinton is portrayed as an incredible success story, overcoming the hardship of an abusive alcoholic father — as if no president has had such a childhood. The reality of course is that compared to the childhood trials of Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and even Gerald Ford, Clinton’s boyhood was unremarkable, though certainly not ideal (see G-File 8/3/99).

It is what Bill Clinton learned from his childhood that is significant. President Clinton is a man who wallows in self-pity. There is nothing wrong with turning defeats into victories — all great politicians do that, and Clinton is no exception. But Clinton enjoys being the victim, he seems to savor it. His body language and rhetoric are always tinged with a profoundly manipulative "poor me" attitude. While Ronald Reagan rarely spoke about his alcoholic father, Bill Clinton bragged about his. Franklin Roosevelt strove to conceal his polio, allowing only two pictures of him in a wheelchair to survive. JFK hid his poor health and constant back pain. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton made a bigger deal about his sprained knee than John McCain did about the fact he couldn’t lift his arms above his shoulders because they were broken so many times by the Viet Cong. And how did Bill Clinton hurt his knee? We’re still not sure, but it seems that after years of practice, Bill still hasn’t learned how to navigate a flight of stairs with his pants around his ankles.

There is something distinctly baby-boomer in everything he does, but most of all in his eagerness to be a victim. Baby-boomers — as a generalization — have an overweening sense of entitlement. Maybe it was the fluoride in the water, or maybe it was the lessons of Dr. Spock, but liberal baby boomers seem utterly convinced that they are extremely special. Anytime they do something they do not enjoy they seem to expect a merit badge. Bill Clinton is the poster boy of such self-indulgence.

Obama doesn't portray himself as a victim, but has a fair bit of self-indulgence, deliberately stretching to suggest an underprivileged background, when he was firmly middle class and Second Generation Harvard. And he may not be a boomer, but he embraces liberal boomers' policy prescriptions stuck in the 60's and their tired pieties---he is just soooo diverse (link here)! This may all make Hillary feel a bit grim, but she may emerge with a bit more gravitas in comparison.

But the Senator in the Straight Talk Express may just roll on by.

UPDATE: WaPo has weighed in now. Howard Kurtz on Obama's feet stuck in that Rezko (and Cook County) mud. Hat tip Marathon Pundit.

UPDATE: Larry Kudlow, Townhall, goes through Obama's very liberal record.

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