"Thinner," the 1984 novel by horror novelist Stephen King, published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman, is about a fat guy who wrongs a gypsy and winds up cursed to grow progressively thinner. At first the change is gratifying, but as he transforms into a haggard bone rack, he begins to realize that he's going to die if he doesn't do something. Thus, his quest to have the curse lifted ensues.
Political pollsters would like us to believe they've got a bead on voter preference for Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain with regard to who is likely to win the presidency in November's general election; this sort of thing is, of course, their stock in trade. The fact remains that the 4 to 10-point leads polls have been reporting for the last month or so don't mean anything with respect to the election, and are far enough within the margins for error to give pause at this stage of the game.
Acknowledging this, even the overwhelmingly pro-Obama establishment press has had no choice in reporting that not only has Sen. McCain surged forward in the polls, but Sen. Obama has lost some ground. Concomitant with what seems an apparent effort on the part of McCain last week to relate sincerely to the electorate was a rather clumsy but telling gaffe on the part of his opponent.
In response to a McCain campaign ad weighing Obama against two celebrities generally considered to be vapid and shallow, with a demonstrative flourish Obama whipped out the race card (which the McCain campaign later claimed he dealt "from the bottom of the deck," whatever that means). Intimating that McCain – or at least his surrogates – were racists, he accused the McCain campaign of trying to frighten voters due to his race.
One did not have to possess a particularly dazzling intellect to discern that comparing Obama, a black man, to two young white women didn't quite cut it as a hate crime. Obama's on-camera reaction smacked of anxiousness and was seen by the public juxtaposed against McCain directly (if tentatively) speaking to issues. No doubt it was perceived that Obama had injected race into the issue of the campaign ad to avoid discussing said issues. Both candidates have been accused of having failed to sufficiently articulate their positions on many voter concerns, but with one making overtures to do so and one making wild accusations, the former tends to appear more credible.
It also appears – and I tend to believe this based on reader mail – that some savvy individuals who had leaned toward Obama actually decided to do some cursory research on the candidate. Some apparently did not like what they found. While a great many who rely on the establishment press and the Obama campaign are obviously clueless, there is a wealth of information from other reliable sources which gives insight into the pre-candidacy Barack Obama.
That he is not what he seems has indeed become apparent to some likely voters. To these, he is becoming more transparent.
One might say, substantively thinner.
On March 1, 2007, Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, responded publicly to my television appearance of the previous evening in which I reported for the first time nationally on Chicago's Trinity United Church and the malignant precepts of Black Liberation Theology. Wright, ever the narcissistic boor, found it necessary to expound upon the works and worthiness of Dr. James Cone, the founder of this odious, cultish movement.
This seems to have been a rash move, as some began delving into Dr. Cone's writings. Some were shocked and disgusted. As this columnist has maintained since February 2007, it is an impossibility that Sen. Obama attended Trinity United for 20 years and was spared the racist, anti-American vitriol to which he denies having been exposed there. The dogma is so laden with it that Obama's claim would be laughable had it not been so universally accepted.
If every Obama supporter were to read Dr. Cone's "A Black Theology of Liberation," the senator's campaign would be finished, leaving him with only rabid black nationalists and the most radical leftists supporting him on Election Day. Another potential threat lies in the recent release of well-researched volumes published on the candidate, among them Dr. Jerome Corsi's "Obama Nation."
While all of this may engender hope amongst those who are thoroughly familiar with the candidate, there is still significant education yet to be imparted before the majority of likely voters attain a pragmatic overview of Barack Obama, as opposed to the fraudulent, grandiose contrivance with which they are currently familiar.
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