No more Democratic debates

By Libby

I was thinking this when I got home this evening, before I read Obama's comments.

Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday suggested he doesn't see any point in having another debate with Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton.

They want to set one up in Raleigh for the 27th I think. Obama had agreed to an earlier date that Clinton refused to accomodate. No doubt, Obama's refusal for the later date will be framed as some kind of avoidance but he's right. We've seen 21 debates already and after yesterday's debacle, it's clear that they serve no purpose other than to give our idiotic major media a chance to keep their phony horserace scandals alive so the lazy effers don't have to do any actual research on positions. That would be too much like work. It struck me today that Charlie and Georgie didn't ask any substantive questions because they're as clueless about policy as McCain is, themselves.

Obama has been running as the underdog all this time and if you think of it dispassionately, in terms of the political machine, he has been the underdog. To the extent that any of them are removed from the CW Beltway machinations, Obama is most outside the system. The GOP has their own machine that they're loaning to McCain. Clinton has her own machine that includes by association the DLC machine. The media have a machine. They are all built from the top down. Obama is building his own machine as he goes from the bottom up and coming this far with it is a testament to his tenacity, his organizational finesse and his grasp of modern technology.

He'll remain the underdog in the circles of power but I think its time for him to start running like a winner. He should refuse to do any more debates, and not apologize for it, on the grounds that he would rather spend time talking with the people. Let the chattering classes cluck as they will. The single party debates are pointless this far into the process. They only feed the media sloth.

Comments

[zenpundit]

"To the extent that any of them are removed from the CW Beltway machinations, Obama is most outside the system"

Only if the Daley machine can be considered "outside the system".

No, Obama hasn't been totally turned into a K Street luncher yet but let's be realistic, he had to play by the rules of Illinois politics to get where he is today. Obama's predecessor (Fitzgerald) was a genuine outsider - and mysteriously did not get renominated after bringing a real Federal prosecutor to Illinois.

[Eric]

Hillary questioned Barrack Obama about his ties to his former paster whose inflammatory words he has denounced. What about her ties to former President Bill Clinton and his sexcapades in the White House. Is she endorsing illicit sex by her refusal to condemn him and to distance herself from him?

[Libby]

Zen, that's why I said to the extent... I'm not saying he's totally outside the machine, but by dint of his time in the system, he's still the least beholden.

Eric, more importantly, McCain's dubious associations are never questioned in this manner.