Obama's "ProfessorGATES" political damage meter......

[The Vorlon]

The events with Professor Gates and Obama's comments there to...

Political impact?

Ready, set, pontificate!!!!

[Marokai Backbeat]

Blip that will go away soon, I see no reason how this has any substantial impact either way.

Also, "ProfessorGATES?" Seriously? Wow.

[The Vorlon]

Blip that will go away soon, I see no reason how this has any substantial impact either way.

Also, "ProfessorGATES?" Seriously? Wow.

A play on words....

We have had Watergate, whitewatergate, thisgate, thatgate, pick a scandal and drop "gate" on it...

 so the GATES part was a bit of fun at the expense of the media and the talking heads...

[Alcon]

A small, mostly negative blip with very little lasting impact, although the lasting impact that there will be, will likely be heavily on the negative side.

[ilikeverin]

A small, mostly negative blip with very little lasting impact, although the lasting impact that there will be, will likely be heavily on the negative side.

Not sure this is necessarily the case.  It provides a good "yes, I have made a mistake during my first term in office" anecdote to dodge that question during interviews in 2012

[Alcon]

A small, mostly negative blip with very little lasting impact, although the lasting impact that there will be, will likely be heavily on the negative side.

Not sure this is necessarily the case.  It provides a good "yes, I have made a mistake during my first term in office" anecdote to dodge that question during interviews in 2012

That's interesting but Obama seems to take a Bushian approach to that sort of thing, at least so far.

[paul718]

Blip that will go away soon, I see no reason how this has any substantial impact either way.

I agree.  Though I'm sure some moron will bring it up in 2012, but nobody will care.

And the correct term is "Gatesgate", Vorlon. 

[J. J.]

A small, mostly negative blip with very little lasting impact, although the lasting impact that there will be, will likely be heavily on the negative side.

A small amount of negative damage, but lasting.  This damage:

1.  Makes Obama look anti-law and order.

2.  Makes Obama look like he's backing Gates because Gates is black (He isn't, but it's left that perception).

3.  It make Obama like he's engaged in elitist engaged in cronyism. 

Bad timing short term.

[War on Want]

It is a blip, anyone who says otherwise isn't very smart.

[Rowan]

Impeachable offense, DUH.

[Torie]

My choice seems to be the consensus.  OK, he was inartful with words, which was typical for his predecessor, but unusual for him. Maybe sitting in the Oval Office dumbs you down or something.

[The Vorlon]

The "correct" answer is a small bit of lasting damage.

Obama needed the headlines coming out of his news conference to be about his (embattled) health care bill - they clearly were not.

His reaction also undermines his message of hope and reconciliation and makes this appear to be (racial) politics as usual.

I am sure the GOP has had a good week fund raising.

Not a crippling event by any means, but a small bit of lasting hurt.

[Lincoln Republican]

The President should not become involved in matters such as this.

It was stupid in the extreme, in particular in view of the fact that Obama did not bother to get the full story before commenting.

Racial profiling, absolute nonsense.

[Nym90]

I disagree with the idea the headlines "clearly" were about this and not his news conference. Maybe I just looked at the political websites at the wrong time, but all the ones I saw (CNN, MSNBC, etc.) were talking about the conference, not this.

Granted, I didn't check Fox News.....

[War on Want]

The "correct" answer is a small bit of lasting damage.

Obama needed the headlines coming out of his news conference to be about his (embattled) health care bill - they clearly were not.

His reaction also undermines his message of hope and reconciliation and makes this appear to be (racial) politics as usual.

I am sure the GOP has had a good week fund raising.

Not a crippling event by any means, but a small bit of lasting hurt.

bla bla bla, this will be forgotten in a few weeks. Obama changed his views on this enough so it won't affect him long term.

[Mechaman]

Now the story may be different on Fox News, but on most of the newstations I've listened to so far I've heard like 15 seconds on this story and it usually is about the officer and the professor, never about Obama's comments on the incident. With that said, this is an epic little blip that will be gone by next week. Mark my words.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Completely insignificant. Obama certainly conducted himself better than either Gates or Crowley.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It's a small distraction that killed the small chance that the House would pass health care before the recess, which may prove a good hing for Obama depending on what happens to it during the recess.

[Ronnie]

The "correct" answer is a small bit of lasting damage.

Obama needed the headlines coming out of his news conference to be about his (embattled) health care bill - they clearly were not.

His reaction also undermines his message of hope and reconciliation and makes this appear to be (racial) politics as usual.

I am sure the GOP has had a good week fund raising.

Not a crippling event by any means, but a small bit of lasting hurt.

bla bla bla, this will be forgotten in a few weeks days. Obama changed his views on this enough so it won't affect him long term.

Fixed

[angus]

The events with Professor Gates and Obama's comments there to...

Political impact?

Ready, set, pontificate!!!!

The only ones who are reading into this are--and I respctfully submit the following--you and those who share your long-held and hotly-brewing animosity of the president.

Seriously, how much whiter could have you expected him to be?  The man backpedaled about as fast as anyone could.  Far faster than the connecticut-born WASP president he succeded.  He has already said that they both overreacted.  A guy who is the president can't actually come out and say that he thought that they were both assholes.  But he did say, "Gates is a friend of mine, so I might be biased..."  If you don't understand that as, "Look, I recognize that he's a shoulder chip-wielding asshole, but..." then you're a fool. 

I hear that lots of folks are reading much into this, but the folks who are reading too much into this are the same folks who'd read much into Joe Biden's comment about how hot Ukranian women are, and the same folks take too much notice of how good Corey Haim looks when he's sporting a kick-ass mullet.  Democrats who like mullets will always like mullets.  Same for Republicans.  But they'll forget their mullets as soon as you pass them the crack pipe.  This is why they wear mullets in the first place.  Business in the front, party in the back.  If they had 70s arena-rock haircuts they'd burn the front part off as soon as they lit the pipe, and end up with a mullet anyway.  Especially if they're black. 'Cause that shit catches fire very easily.  Know what I mean?

We watched Madagascar II tonight with my son.  It's a subtle metaphor, dealing with a number of societal ills, some of which have been addressed in this forum of late.  You should check it out.  You could use your aluminum foil hat to reserve the seat next to you, if you should find someone who might want to watch the show with you.

[Aizen]

The "correct" answer is a small bit of lasting damage.

No, that would be the incorrect answer. I will personally tell you what the correct answer here is so listen closely.

There will be no "damage" from this seeing as how this stupid fiasco will be completely forgotten in a months time. I really would advise against getting giddy over pathetic things like this.

[Eraserhead]

Almost nobody cares about this. Sorry.

[J. J.]

The "correct" answer is a small bit of lasting damage.

No, that would be the incorrect answer. I will personally tell you what the correct answer here so listen closely.

There will be no "damage" from this seeing as how this stupid fiasco will be completely forgotten in a months time. I really would advise against getting giddy over stupid things like this.

It changes public perception of Obama, and not in a good way.  That will last.

[Person Man]

The "correct" answer is a small bit of lasting damage.

No, that would be the incorrect answer. I will personally tell you what the correct answer here so listen closely.

There will be no "damage" from this seeing as how this stupid fiasco will be completely forgotten in a months time. I really would advise against getting giddy over stupid things like this.

It changes public perception of Obama, and not in a good way.  That will last.

Reverend Wright was suppose to torpedo Obama....umm... his "guns and religion" remark was suppose to shipwreck him...and somehow this will when those did not? Maybe you are right, but it would a change..

[Eraserhead]

The "correct" answer is a small bit of lasting damage.

No, that would be the incorrect answer. I will personally tell you what the correct answer here so listen closely.

There will be no "damage" from this seeing as how this stupid fiasco will be completely forgotten in a months time. I really would advise against getting giddy over stupid things like this.

It changes public perception of Obama, and not in a good way.  That will last.

Reverend Wright was suppose to torpedo Obama....umm... his "guns and religion" remark was suppose to shipwreck him...and somehow this will when those did not? Maybe you are right, but it would a change..

No, he's not right, not even close. It's okay to come out and say it.