on O'Reilly tonight; being called Robin Hood by O'Reilly is probably a good thing, after all Robin Hood was a hero.  He should wear that label with a badge of honor.

'How many times do you have to be hit over the head until you figure out who's hitting you?'

Is the quote to build a campaign ad around.  NO, it's the quote to build a whole friggin campaign around.

They've hit you in the head repeated with gas prices, food prices, subprime mortgages, job losses ... when will you figure out who's hitting you!!!

Obama is apparently still aloof.

There is no way Obama can get away with being branded as angry. He has to be very measured in the passion he can display.

If Obama is seen as being angry, he loses in a landslide.

I grant you Obama has reason to be angry, and Americans have many reasons to be angry after the last 8 years, but I don't think angry gets much done. Maybe it would help him win votes to act more angry (I'm not convinced it would), but I'm a pragmatist and just think, look there are people that lie, and as long as they have been legally elected we still have to find some way to work with them while they're in office

Getting angry has also lost some of its meaning through overuse -- like when the Republicans absurdly held a convention where they act angry about the way our country is going despite the fact that they are largely responsible.

If most Americans really do want a guy who voted with Bush and a VP whose policy ideas are to the right of most of them just because she's a tough talking mom then that's what they'll get no matter how angry we are. I'm not saying we can't do anything about it - we work in the field on voter registration and phone banking and donating. We can do lots of things about it. But I personally do not need Obama to act outraged to prove to me that he cares deeply about what's going on in this country and what's been said by the other campaign. I actually admire the fact that there's someone in politics who can keep his cool when people are being awful to him, and I think he does it because he knows the problems we face are so big that we can't get caught up yelling at each other - we have to keep to the issues.

I'm torn.  I never supported Hillary, always Barack, and always felt like he was the better pick.

And part of me still does.

But damn it, I do want him to fight!  Be tough.

But maybe some of you are right - a black man can not come across as angry or we lose.

So I am confused.  Don't know what to do.

I wish we had a Mousilini/strong man type who would be out there waving his fists and taking it straight to these Republicans

But I doubt Barack should be that guy.  He needs a surrogate to be that guy and MSNBC is demoting the  progressives

I place a lot of hope in Bill Clinton getting more involved.  He could get out there and wave his finger and get angry for Barack.  I think thats what we need, at this point, to win.

Have Bill go all around Florida and Ohio and Pennsylvania and let Barack be in places like New Mexico, Colorado and Michigan.

Obama and Bill in 08!

Barack is a young black man up against an old white guy and a younger, attractive white woman. Do we need to spell out the underlying historical dynamics there, and all the various problems they pose?

Barack can shout "enough" in the proper context, and he can get passionate at the stump. But to come across as the "angry black man" on TV is just too dangerous. Even though he's seriously threatening the status quo, he can't afford to appear threatening to seniors and moms, who'll fall back on the responses in which our culture has trained them.

The left wants him to pump his fist. I thought his chuckle was perfect, and the smile was even better. It says he's bringing change, but don't be afraid: it's the real change we really need, and it's gonna be great.

Whether he is going to get angry or not, a national television interview is not the place to say so. He has been ramping things up on the stump, and I think he's always planned to. But if he came out and said, "Yeah, we're going to try and use much angrier language to play off people's emotions", it would have come across the wrong way.

Instead of angry, which can really backfire in an election with the first black candidate, he should push the phrase he used last week.  He must show the American people that falling for McCain/Palin spin is simply stupid, without calling any part of the electorate stupid.

I have the feeling that he is trusting the organization and advisors that brought him this far. Despite national polls, state polling must give him confidence that the bottom hasn't fallen out just yet. We still have two long months until the polls open in November. While I don't think he's ever going to panic, or sound panicked, I do think it's time to sound a little more serious.

Something they should have learned something from the last months of the primary campaign, is that you can not underestimate the desire of his opponent to become POTUS, or the lengths they will go achieve that end! He should be, if not angry, then intense and focused at every campaign event, in every conversation and media interview. He should streamline or craft his responses so that his every utterance communicates something. Enough with the thoughtful stammer. Hell, risk sounding a little canned.

Sorry Obama did not express the proper level of urgency at the precise moment you deemed appropriate. But do you honestly believe that Obama who has been putting in 16 hour days (sometimes more) everyday for the last 2 years does not have a sense of urgency? Beeten is usually OK but this post is ridiculous and petty.

make sure you say something like: To quote Harry Truman,
"How many times do you have to be hit over the head until you figure out who's hitting you?"

Barack and Joe both need to use this line.

We need to use this line!

The surrogates for Obama and Biden need to use this line!

Progressive radio needs to use this line!

This IS what the repugs do, they ALL get on board with one or two talking points. Usually they are lies, half truths, etc.
We can do it with the TRUTH!

Progressive Blue

I get where you are coming from, but here's what it is, in a nutshell...

Angry black men might get us fired up and validate our feelings, but they do not win the Presidency.

Period.

As to the comment, "I have confidence in the American people", again, I agree with your sentiment, but can he really say the alternative "Don't you idiots realize that my opponent will destroy this country further?"

I somehow don't think that would fly, either.

"For most of us, if the last eight years have taught us anything it's that the American people can not be trusted to vote in their own self-interest or that of the country."

This is true, but if he says anything remotely like this it'll be over.

More importantly, how can you ever accomplish anything with that kind of attitude? How much real change can be accomplished without people taking an active role? Calling people short sighted certainly doesn't work no matter how true it is, or how good it feels, not without wrapping it in something. And to be honest I can kind of understand--I believe we've reached the point where incremental changes will do us no good (that is one reason why I did not back HRC) and without people getting actively engaged we're doomed. So we need the American People.

Frankly I don't know if this is Obama's reasoning but it is mine.

the point is not to get angry at the Republicans or their candidates.  and it's completely non-productive and narcissitic to get angry over the other sides lies and rhetoric.  That's all chuckle territory.

What Obama needs to get angry about is what the average American is angry about -- the list is long but the talking points are simple.  

Everytime he appears to treat this campaign like an amusing exercise in running for president the rest of us feel just a little bit more insignificant and unseen.  

There's quite a bit of wiggle room between easy goin' Obama and H. Rap Brown.  Did some Poli Sci textbook do a page on this or something?  Beware of the "angry black man persona"?  Where TF is this even coming from?

"if the last eight years have taught us anything it's that the American people can not be trusted to vote in their own self-interest or that of the country."
Exactly, Todd! And, like Paul at OpenLeft said, many voters are tron between the issues and their instincts, and the instincs have the stronger pull. Obama is making a serious mistake by believing that voters will act rational. They won't. He has to appeal to their instincts, too, simply presenting the arguments isn't good enough. He has to make it an emotional case. After all, that's how he won the primary. Why the sudden shift in tone, now that he has to battle the real enemy?

Really, it's not that McCain has suddenly become a stronger candidate, it's Obama becoming increasingly arrogant and aloof from the voters he has to reach.

I agree that showing passion - which would convey "I feel your pain" - would be good. But anger? I don't think that it would be wise for Obama to express anger in a scripted way, lest it come off as disingenuous or, as others have mentioned, off-putting. Keep in mind the "Dean scream" that sank Howard Dean (I know there are other reasons why Dean actually lost, but most people remember that one single moment). An outburst on the campaign trail would probably be covered as - "With his poll numbers slipping, the usually cool and collected Barack Obama lost his composure today..."

in a landslide.  Biden can be the one who gets angry and he does.

Although Obama did NOT look like he had the "fearce urgency of now" in his demeanor with Olberman, I think the camp itself has it but will not show it outwardly.

Obama does know that Americans may NOT vote their interests and instead vote on other things.  Remember his infamous "bitter" comments.  Obama basically said that in his comments.  I just think that Obama may not say it outwardly but the campaign knows that.

when I find out that my reaction is very close to or even identical to another's.  I watched Obama's response and thought 2 things.  He uses too many words to describe a simple principle.  By the time he has finished his thought, he has lost his audience.  The republicans are masters of boiling it all down to simple jingoistic terms.  It's the simple 'enough' that sticks, not all the nuances.  

My second thought is this: Why in the world does he have to be so polite.  He doesn't have to be mean per se.  But why can't he be a little cutting.  As Palin has proved lately, it's the little cutting remarks delivered with a smile that stick.  I could think of a few remarks that would work better.

As soon as the interview was over, my son called me and asked me if I saw it.  He wanted to know why he doesn't go after palin and McCain and why he has to be so easy on them.  He wanted to know when Obama will get tough!  

I hope Obama is watching the reactions and takes note that people want him to be tough on the repubs.

This election always was going to turn on the stupid economy.  Clinton made her late surge in the primary because she connected with the economic voters.  Economic voters have never been sold on Obama.  Obama talks too much about tax cuts which is a Republican non-solution.  Obama does not talk enough about jobs and how he will create them.  

Palin is a blank slate and many economic voters are looking at Palin as one of them, a fighter and hope that she would fight for their interests.  The Palin factor has very little to do with the fact that she is female.  Palin is being sold as middle class Mom angry at government corruption.  Contrast that with 2 Democratic Senators from a Congress that gets very low approval ratings and is not seen to be in touch with voters.

Attacking Palin helps McCain because it takes the focus off the same old government that people are angry about and that McCain is a Republican Senator (who are even more unpopular than Democrats) from an unpopular Congress.

Gore ran behind in 2000 until he started delivering a populist economic message.  That is exactly where Obama needs to attack McCain.  Its the stupid economy.

Obama doesn't always have the dial cranked up to 10, that's true, but I've noticed that he does during integral moments of the campaign.  He uses his anger sparingly, but effectively.  Back in his prime, Bill Clinton was the same way.

Barack is never going to go Howard Dean on us 24/7.  That's just not who he is.  He's stable, safe, and reassuring--and he rarely over-reacts, gets flustered, or loses his cool.  To be honest, that's what I like best about him.

The dude is level headed and cool.  He can't become somthing he's not.

Personally, I am more on the hot tempered, passionate side.  I admire people like Obama, but I cannot be that way.  You are who you are.

The good thing about Obama's temperment is that he never seems shaken by questions or attacks.  He always responds cooly and sensibly and stays on message.

We might as well get used to that fact and plan our own actions accordingly.

Barack Obama got where he is NOT by going on the attack - perhaps the campaign slid a knife in the lower back here and there, and they should continue to do so - but Obama himself plays best when he's hitting back, not when he's throwing the first punch.

The first attempt at hitting first - the final 3 way debate - was a debacle.  

Throwing the first punch just doesn't work for him.  It doesn't fit his style.  As much as it runs counter to seemingly everything we've all discussed for the last 4 years - it is what it is.

Either you're gonna trust that the Obama campaign knows what they're doing - and they're playing to Obama's strengths... or you don't.

Let me speak some truth to this topic.  As a black man I understand Obama's reactions to Keith's request for anger.  However, you can not rely on the poor people in Appalachia to see things the way Obama sees them.  If people didn't vote against their interest the GOP would have become a thing of the pass a long time ago. Finally, I have a question for anyone in Ohio. I saw a Rassmussen poll yesterday that had McCain up by 7.  If this poll is an indicator, is it over for our chances in the buckeye state?

Obama is running Kerry's campaign with a charisma injection, and that's not going to get it done.

I am currently experiencing buyer's remorse as pertains to Obama, because I know that Hillary would be kicking the crap out of McCain right now.

Credit where it is due the Clintons and their friends treat politics as a contact sport. I cringed at how she went after Obama. I thought her campaign did some "dog whistling", played some of the manufactured outrage game and even made questionable (false) assertions.

Oh, how I would love to see them doing that right now. The economy is in the tank. The Republicans just held a 3-day hatefest. Their convention and McCain's speech was bereft of good ideas. And then there is all the scandal and radicalism surrounding Palin.  After all this, Obama is now trailing among independents and is in danger of losing Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

What gives? What happened? Why doesn't Obama seem serious? What the hell is he chuckling about?

What's more, is I don't see any potential game changers left. The debates? What? Nothing of note happens in the debates.

I know this: Obama's "confidence in the American people" is the same attitude that Dukakis and Kerry had.