Obama won't go "hardball" and he won't lose

From Huffington Post:

So Obama should keep up with the Vision Thing. Words do count, and good ones are often remembered long after the political season is over.

But to get elected, you have to play politics, and in hardball, that sometimes means sliding into second with your cleats up. Because make no mistake, the other guys are going to do it to you.

This is probably the #1 thing analysts, commentators and pundits get wrong about the Obama campaign. I remember numerous posts from Paul Krugman, who chose to play the role of Clinton flak during the primaries, sayin how Obama wasn't tough enough, was too naive, etc. This line of thought confuses toughness with the ugly, kitchen-sink, take-no-prisoners style of doing politics that worked to elect Nixon, Reagan and two Bushes.

But notice who it helped and what they did to our country. All four of those presidents brought ruin to the economy, expanded American militarism, and violated the Constitution. Perhaps there's a connection? The willingness to play politics as "hardball" as possible and the willingness to break the law for partisan aims?

Anyone who doubted Obama's toughness should have put that fear to rest long ago. Not only is he one of the smartest politicians to come along in ages, he's also able to stand up to every attack, not panic, and respond both effectively and without compromising his own standards. What keeps leading people to demand he play hardball politics is the fact that candidates like Barack Obama are passing rare. We have so little experience with a candidate who can play it both smart and clean, and especially at the national level, that we disbelieve anyone can.

Well, Obama can, has and will. He won't go hardball, won't throw out the kitchen sink and he won't be knocked off-course by the crap that is coming his way. The same people who demand he go hardball are also the ones who still wonder how he got to this point anyway. Perhaps the time has come for them to put two and two together and realize what they are actually seeing.

The medium is the message.