Obama Dogged By Praise From America’s Foes

[phk]

In a presidential race in which unwanted, damaging endorsements seem far more plentiful than endorsements that actually could help, Barack Obama has had the unfortunate distinction of being a magnet for such well-wishers.

The latest unsought praise for the Democratic front-runner came from Fidel Castro, who wrote in a column for Cuba’s Granma newspaper Monday that Obama is “the most progressive candidate to the U.S. presidency.”

Never mind that the column was used to criticize Obama for wanting to uphold the U.S. trade embargo. The Florida GOP seized on it, posting an article about it on their Web site and blasting out an e-mail titled, “Fidel Castro Endorses Obama.”

The reaction underscored the problems Obama continues to face as he talks up his desire to hold high-levels discussions with leaders of diplomatically black-listed countries, without preconditions.

His critics argue that the friendlier foreign policies he’s proposing toward countries like Iran and Cuba are in turn inviting kudos from those countries’ leaders or allies.

“That’s really the question we’re posing to the voters: In an era where we’re actively engaged in fighting the global war on terror, why is he receiving these compliments from groups who are against everything we stand for?” said Florida GOP spokeswoman Katie Gordon.

“He’s agreed to meet with Ahmadinejad with no preconditions. He’s also agreed to meet with Castro. … It hits home for a lot of people here.”

Few can argue a hearty thumbs-up from a Castro is good for poll numbers. Even Castro acknowledged this in his column, writing “Were I to defend (Obama), I would do his adversaries an enormous favor.”

But in calling Obama “progressive,” and praising his “great intelligence” and “debating skills” and “work ethic,” Castro gave those adversaries more fodder.

Here’s a rundown of the latest comments from the world stage that have caused or could cause problems for Obama, if he becomes the Democratic nominee:

– In mid-April, Hamas adviser Ahmed Yousef told WorldNetDaily that “We like Mr. Obama, and we hope that he will win the elections.

“I hope Mr. Obama and the Democrats will change the political discourse,” he said. “I do believe [Obama] is like John Kennedy, a great man with a great principle.”

The John McCain campaign had much fun with the published remark.

A spokesman said the apparent Hamas support is a “legitimate issue” for voters to think about, and even referenced the comments in a fundraising letter. The campaign said Hamas was clearly opening up to Obama because of his willingness to meet with Iran.

McCain proudly stated Hamas would never support him and that he would be “Hamas’ worst nightmare.”

The Obama campaign responded that it already had rejected Hamas’ legitimacy. Obama has said he would not negotiate with Hamas unless the group renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist and holds to other agreements.

– On March 25, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told foreign correspondents that relations with Washington, D.C, would worsen if McCain were elected.

“Sometimes one says, ‘worse than Bush is impossible,’ but we don’t know,” Chavez said, according to an article in Reuters. “McCain also seems to be a man of war.”

He did not mention either Obama or Hillary Clinton but seemed to indicate that he pined for the days when a Democrat was in the White House.

“Independently of who wins the elections, we are hopeful and it is within our plans to enter an era of better relations with the U.S. government,” he said. “At the least one would hope for the level of relations we had with ex-President Clinton.”

– Also in March, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Spain’s El Pais newspaper he didn’t believe Obama would be elected, but that he wouldn’t have a problem meeting with him if he were. “For us, there is no difference in who wins,” Ahmadinejad told the newspaper. Tehran-based PressTV reported that Ahmadinejad afterward insisted he “never voiced support for Barack Obama.”

But that didn’t matter in the blogosphere. A headline linking to a posting about the story on Digg.com declared: “Barack Obama Gets Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Coveted Endorsement.”

Obama also has struggled to shake off positive words from the New Black Panther Party and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Those controversies popped and fizzled during the Democratic primary. But Obama is moving ever closer to clinching the Democratic nomination, and several Democratic strategists have said these controversies, like the one over Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright Jr., would be used against him more vigorously in a general election than a primary.

Gordon said her local party would not hesitate to “push that point” with voters if Obama continues to receive “accolades” from Castro.

But Democratic strategist Dan Gerstein, an Obama supporter, said when it comes to unsought compliments from far away, the damage is negligible.

“There’s a very small universe of people that are going to be swayed by whether someone in Cuba said something nice about him,” he said, adding that those voters probably wouldn’t vote for Obama anyway.

Still, Gerstein said the campaign will need to push back hard against attempts to exploit compliments or endorsements that could speak to his broader judgment.

“In a vacuum, the Wright controversy and some of these other things can take a toll if there’s not a competing and truer narrative the Obama campaign puts out,” he said. “I’m confident they will (fight back).”

Democrats also historically don’t discount the ability of foreign factors to sway domestic elections.

Former Democratic nominee John Kerry privately complained after his 2004 loss to President Bush that the Usama bin Laden video that surfaced days before cost him the election.

In the video, bin Laden told Americans “your security is not in the hands of Kerry of Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands.”

It revived a security issue that Bush tried to make his strong suit.

Obama, of course, is not the only candidate batting back endorsements. McCain and Texas pastor John Hagee recently parted ways after the GOP candidate was dogged for weeks by stories about Hagee’s anti-Catholic remarks. McCain finally rejected Hagee’s endorsement after a report surfaced that he once said the Holocaust was part of God’s plan to expedite the re-establishment of the Jewish state of Israel.

[Iosif is a COTHO]

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Wow! Hold the Bus! He's practically allied with them!

And a Hamas advisor too! I'm going to seriously think about this!

[Joe Republic]

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/28/obama-dogged-by-praise-from-americas-foes/

You're welcome.

[Sbane]

The jihadists will be dancing in the streets if Obama is elected.

At least they wont be burning the american flag.

[opebo]

Haha - "america's foes"!

[tik 🪀✨]

Good heavens, if America's "foes" are on friendly relations with our leaders, they might not be our enemies! They might even stop seeking to cause us harm! Who are we supposed to hate, then? Who can we rally around killing? Oh, the humanity

[JSojourner]

I'm hoping Republicans can come up with more salient talking points in the general election than Obama rhymes with Osama.  But so far, I'm just hearing that.  Plus a lot of stuff about flag pins. 

Of course, given the load of hooey the American electorate fell for in 2004 -- I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility that they could fall for it again.

[Sam Spade]

The jihadists will be dancing in the streets if Obama is elected.

At least they wont be burning the american flag.

I'm sure they will.  Will probably happen on the American streets too.

[Sbane]

The jihadists will be dancing in the streets if Obama is elected.

At least they wont be burning the american flag.

I'm sure they will.  Will probably happen on the American streets too.

HUH? Jihadists will burn American flags on American streets? Too much juice? It is still pretty early in the day man.

[Sam Spade]

The jihadists will be dancing in the streets if Obama is elected.

At least they wont be burning the american flag.

I'm sure they will.  Will probably happen on the American streets too.

HUH? Jihadists will burn American flags on American streets? Too much juice? It is still pretty early in the day man.

No, just the burning of American flags bit.

[War on Want]

McCain is an idiot for trying to spin this. He has no honor. Hamas also complimented John Kennedy too, so why isn't McCain going after him?

[Sbane]

The jihadists will be dancing in the streets if Obama is elected.

At least they wont be burning the american flag.

I'm sure they will.  Will probably happen on the American streets too.

HUH? Jihadists will burn American flags on American streets? Too much juice? It is still pretty early in the day man.

No, just the burning of American flags bit.

Well they definitely wont be burning american flags if Obama becomes president. Of course it is very likely he or the american government will piss them off in some fashion during the term and the American flags and gasoline will be on its way out again.

[Stranger in a strange land]

What exactly does the US gain by not talking to Cuba and Iran?

Iran I could maybe understand, but Cuba no. We do business with governments who are as bad or worse.

[JSojourner]

McCain is an idiot for trying to spin this. He has no honor. Hamas also complimented John Kennedy too, so why isn't McCain going after him?

John McCain has honor in spades.  He's a great man.  It's just that where we most see his honor is in what he suffered and survived on behalf of the rest of us.

While this ridiculous attempt to morph Obama into Osama (or whatever rogue you wish) is certainly dishonorable...I don't think McCain is the one doing it.

[War on Want]

What exactly does the US gain by not talking to Cuba and Iran?

Iran I could maybe understand, but Cuba no. We do business with governments who are as bad or worse.

Exactly, we have also propped up many governments in central america that were brutal dictatorships, only because they were friendly to American corporations. This is a major part of american history there that is left untouched, but a large reason why we have many central american immigrants, is because of our policy there, which caused a good deal of strife.

[War on Want]

McCain is an idiot for trying to spin this. He has no honor. Hamas also complimented John Kennedy too, so why isn't McCain going after him?

John McCain has honor in spades.  He's a great man.  It's just that where we most see his honor is in what he suffered and survived on behalf of the rest of us.

While this ridiculous attempt to morph Obama into Osama (or whatever rogue you wish) is certainly dishonorable...I don't think McCain is the one doing it.

Noticed I said idiot for trying to spin this. I still admire the man for his stuff in Vietnam but I feel he is pandering lately, and I wonder if the Republicans are trying to control him. The McCain we are seeing now doesn't seem to be real...

[The Mikado]

Quick, someone get Vladimir Putin (no one knows who Medvedev is) and Hu Jintao to endorse McCain!