Letters to the Editor
Asher Steinberg
Published Letters: 224 Editor's Choice: 12
-
Ahem
[Read the article: Clinton wins Ohio]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whatever you think of Hillary, you're simply delusional or ignorant if you think Republicans somehow won her Ohio or are winning her Texas. Obama did better among Republicans than Democrats in every state. In Ohio, Hillary won Dems 58-40. Obama won Republicans 50-49. In Texas, Hillary won Dems 52-47. Obama won Republicans 53-46. If it weren't for Republican voters, Obama wouldn't have nearly the delegate lead he does.
-
The Jim, She Wins Because...
[Read the article: Clinton wins Ohio]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]a, a Democrat is just fated to win this election. I'm a Republican and I'm resigned to it. When the incumbent is this unpopular, there's no way that his party wins. B, her wedge issue is this. She wants to leave Iraq; he doesn't. She's for subsidized healthcare; he's not. He wants to make Bush's unpopular tax cuts permanent; she'll roll them back. Mostly though, the debate will be over Iraq. Any time you have an unpopular war, the candidate who says they're for getting out wins. Regardless of how they voted in the Senate when it was initially proposed. A majority of Americans were for it at the time too. They'll understand.
-
Actually
[Read the article: Obama insists losses change nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I thought that when Obama started talking about how the world was watching, he was trying to argue that the world wants Obama. That's the meaning I took it from it, anyway. Also, is it true that he has nearly the same delegate lead that he had before? So far it looks like Hillary's up 26, and she's up to a three point lead in Texas. I guess it depends on the meaning of nearly.
-
Right, Hutman
[Read the article: Obama insists losses change nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The gutter of talking about your opponent's top economic adviser going off to the Canadian consulate without his boss's say-so to explain that his boss didn't really mean anything he was saying. What's gutter about that? And about that whole mess, what bothers me isn't that Obama isn't really for pulling out of NAFTA, that's a good thing, or that he was a little dishonest with the voters, because that's what you have to do to win over stupid Ohio Democrats, or even that he lied about it after the fact, because I think he was just misinformed. The problem I have is that it speaks to his management skills. How am I supposed to trust a guy who hasn't impressed upon his professor-advisers that they're not to go off to other countries' diplomats and undermine his public positions? It's a bit of a problem. But once you do screw up like that, you have to fire the guy. And he didn't do that. Instead he sequestered him from the press. So no, I don't see anything 'gutter' about pressing this very real issue. As long as something is (a) true, and (b) doesn't pertain to a candidate's personal life, it can't be gutter.
-
Yeah, This Is Why I Don't Watch MSNBC
[Read the article: Howard Fineman, mind reader]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]See above. And as for the claim that, if Obama was asked whether Hillary was lesbian, he would have said something less qualified than what Hillary said about his religion, I don't think so. Seriously, think about it. Suppose you were Obama and someone asked you if you thought Hillary might be gay. You couldn't say, "no, she's not," because you don't really know. You'd really just be guessing. The only honest answer you could give is that, as far as you knew, she wasn't and that there's no reason you know of to think otherwise. Similarly, we don't really know how Obama spent his time in Indonesia, whether as a child his mother read him the Koran just a little, as his sister claims*, no doubt at the behest of the campaign, or a lot - none of that information is available to us, so all one can say is that there's no reason to think he's a Muslim. To make a categorical denial would be dishonest.
* NYT: Your mom has been described as an atheist.
Obama's Sister: I wouldn’t have called her an atheist. She was an agnostic. She basically gave us all the good books — the Bible, the Hindu Upanishads and the Buddhist scripture, the Tao Te Ching — and wanted us to recognize that everyone has something beautiful to contribute.
NYT: You didn’t mention the Koran in that list, although Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world.
Obama's Sister: I should have mentioned the Koran. Mom didn’t really emphasize the Koran, but we read little parts of it. We did listen to morning prayers in Indonesia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/magazine/20wwln-Q4-t.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=all
-
So?
[Read the article: New Clinton camp spin contradicts old Clinton camp spin]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm sure back then Obama's people were emphasizing their momentum. Now it's all about the delegate lead. Consultants are paid to prevaricate. Fortunately they're not the ones running for election.
-
Hutman, Obama's A Pretty Serious Christian
[Read the article: Howard Fineman, mind reader]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Before he even ran for office, he wrote a book where he details his conversion experience. It's very much like Bush's born-again story, except Obama's pastor was an Afrocentrist, or, as he puts it, a black liberation theologian.
-
Eh
[Read the article: With Obama on the offensive, the Democratic campaigns trade attacks]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't think they're going to be able to make hay out of this. Tax returns aren't a very juicy story. The media can't really do much with that. I also think going negative on her is risky. She seems to do best when voters start sympathizing with her. When she attacks most voters don't seem to mind; if he starts attacking he could be perceived as mean.
-
Kcm:
[Read the article: New Clinton camp spin contradicts old Clinton camp spin]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Obama's always led in pledged delegates but for quite a long time he trailed overall because of her edge in superdelegates. Because of that, his campaign didn't make nearly as much of the delegate count as they're doing now.
-
P.S.
[Read the article: With Obama on the offensive, the Democratic campaigns trade attacks]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Also, 4/15, when she says she'll release them, is prior to the next real primary, so what can his complaint possibly be? The voters will get a chance to see her returns if they're so inclined before making their decision.