Barack Obama: spoke at a rally in Birmingham earlier this year. Obama has won the past ten Democratic presidential primaries, including Alabama’s. Taylor Hill / PHOTO STAFF
Sen. Barack Obama has won the past 10 consecutive Democratic presidential primaries, totaling 26 of 37 contests thus far.
In light of his success, the senator is fielding some criticism against touting ambiguous “change.” Opponents argue he spends little time explaining any concrete policy ideas he may have.
Many think Obama is an effective speaker and successful fundraiser, but is he capable of implementing any change?
By now, such charges are common for Obama.
In October 2006, he published “The Audacity of Hope,” his memoir-meets-political philosophy expo. The next month, Time Magazine reported that while the work had reached the top spot on the New York Times bestsellers list, there was “nothing audacious about ‘The Audacity of Hope.’”
Similar criticism has continued since that point.
Book critic Michael Tomasky explained the reasoning: “The book’s most interesting aspect is the author’s deep ambivalence about contemporary American politics.”
Tomasky predicted Obama will “need to demonstrate more courage than he has; he will need audacity not only of hope, but of action.”
Sen. John McCain has recently referred to Obama as “an eloquent but empty call for change.”
As jabs against the candidate’s lack of feasible policy ideas continue, The Plainsman has briefed an assortment of his proposals from the Obama Blueprint for Change. Ungrounded or legitimate? You decide.
Lobbying Reform: “Obama will create a centralized Internet database of lobbying reports, ethics records and campaign finance filings in a searchable, sortable and downloadable format.”
Predatory Credit Card Practices: “Obama will create a Credit Card Bill of Rights to protect consumers. The Obama plan will ban unilateral changes, apply interest rate increases only to future debt, prohibit interest on fees, prohibit “universal defaults” and require prompt and fair crediting of cardholder payments.”
No Child Left Behind: “Obama believes that the goal of No Child Left Behind was the right one, but that it was written and implemented poorly and it has demoralized our educators and broken its promise to our children. Obama will fund No Child Left Behind and improve its assessments and accountability systems.”
Government Spending: “Obama will ensure that federal contracts over $25,000 are competitively bid. Obama will also increase the efficiency of government programs through better use of technology, stronger management that demands accountability and by leveraging the government’s high-volume purchasing power to get lower prices.”
Energy Investment: “Obama will invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial-scale renewable energy, invest in low-emissions coal plants and begin the transition to a new digital electricity grid.”
Governmental Spending Disclosure: “Obama believes that spending that cannot withstand public scrutiny cannot be justified. Obama will slash earmarks to no greater than what they were in 2001 and ensure all spending decisions are open to the public.”
