The Young Turks

Time and again throughout this campaign we have seen Obama make the right winning move when we doubted him. First of all his overall strategy in the primaries was completely brilliant building his base of support and activists which allowed him to win Iowa and then ride that wave with his grassroots activists through all the early primaries and caucuses. His original map of expected wins and margins turned out to be almost exactly match the final tally. Knocked off course by the Wright issue and bittergate he managed to ride out those storms and win the nomination. He was careful never personally to the low road against Clinton and proved that was the best move despite all of us saying he should.

Then as McCain attacked through the last month people again began to think he was not prepared to fight. Again he proved them wrong and came out all guns blazing with 40 million Americans watching but his guns blazed with grace not muck. He had allowed McCain to punch himself flat and commit to a whole host of lines of attack and then was able to shoot those lines down with the widest possible audience while laying out a substantive and coherent plan.  When McCain picked Palin the left knee jerk reaction was to attack instantly but Obama again said back off realizing that inevitably they would play the victim card. Once there was substance to attack he attacks.

Next he negotiates with Fox and goes on O'rielly EXACTY at the time McCain chickens from going on LARRY KING?????? But most interesting of all to me is Fisa. It is extremely interesting that the telecoms immunity provision in the final bill is against private lawsuits only it is not immunity from criminal prosecution.  Both Obama and now Biden have confirmed that if there is any legal wrongdoing on the bush admin part they will pursue it. They have to be exceptionally careful here because if those at risk including big telecoms really start to think that that might happen Obama's chances of avoiding a bullet become even slimmer. Horrible to think of but it has to be said. Especially when the Bush Doj literally plan to send an actual assassination team home with a slap on the wrist.

The more I see Obama work the more I feel the same as when I watch grandmaster play chess. Time and again you think "Why did he not take that pawn" or Why did he let that knight get caught and then as the game unfolds with the opponent in an ever deeper bind you see why he is a grandmaster.