Update 2/19: As if on cue, Ben and Jerry has come out with their new flavor of ice cream supporting Obama, “Cherries for Change.”

It’s easier to listen to Ashy Larry talk than it is to read about his policy. In Wisconsin, which has its primary coming up, we’ve been inundated with Barack Obama’s “pro-Good Things” TV ads.As far as I can tell, Obama supports world peace and more jobs, and probably rainbows and sunshine. Hey! He’s so generic and vague, even I agree with some of his commercials.

For Democrats, it makes sense. If you support policies as unappealing as the “right to choose” killing babies or taxing the people to send more foreign aid overseas, then it would be hard to get a lot of votes by espousing your actual policies.

By the way, how much can Obama be for American jobs if he’d rather see more money Americans earned from those jobs go overseas? I digress.

Consider the following. Obama supports Roe v. Wade and partial birth abortion - a 100% anti-Life candidate rating by NARAL. He wants a Credit Card customer Bill of Rights to “protect consumers,” because you’re too dumb to use credit cards properly. He wanted to add welfare for Seniors and the unemployed on the Stimulus. He wants to add 25,000 teachers in “high need areas.” He wants them to have more money, as if summers off isn’t enough. He wants more “transition assistance for displaced workers,” i.e., unemployment. He wants to enforce our hoax-believing environmental regulations on free trade. He wants to distribute condoms, because people automatically use condoms if they don’t have to pay twenty cents per. Universal healthcare. Consistently votes to raise minimum wage. Higher payroll tax for the wealthy. Wants a reduction in the Bush tax cuts to pay for health care.

It’s no surprise Democrats haven’t embraced their old frontrunner when they have a pure, honey-from-the-comb liberal to get behind.

Interestingly, you won’t see Obama and Clinton duke it out over who is “more liberal” the way conservatives do about their policies - instead, they argue about who can better bring “change.” The whole debate has about as much meaning as a Miss America answer.

But they get by. And all of the Americans who decide their votes by determining which candidate they “like more”, which is many, don’t mind these “change” cliches. In fact, they embrace them - that’s why politicians keep doing it.

How much has it taken root? Go ask an Obama supporter, if you know any, why they support him. Expect to get a cliche. You’ll probably get one of the following.

Barack Obama supporter cliches ‘08:

-He provides hope!
-He’ll bring change!
-He wants to keep jobs at home!
-I’m not racist, so I can vote for a black guy!
-Did I mention change?!

The only Obama policy slightly palatable enough for them to actually use as a reason to vote for him is that he’s against the war in Iraq. Even if he wouldn’t pledge to have troops out by 2012 and he’s a surge denyer. For crying out loud, even liberals should disagree with that.

The irony is that most of the people reading this blog post are either regular readers who are somewhat-to-much politically minded or new people who came to this site because they were politically-minded. The people this is targeted at - the Obama sheep - don’t read blogs like this.

On a recent TV segment, a reporter asked a voter who she was voting for. What do you think she said, “Barack,” “Clinton,” “Hillary,” or “Obama?”

No. She said “Oback,” which is a Presidentical candidate that doesn’t exist. Then she collected herself and got it right. See? Even getting the name right on camera is putting voters at full capacity - how can we expect they’ll remember anything more than “he’s for hope”? I like her name for Obama better than mine, though.

So the policy is lost on many Americans who, like a DVR, have a limit as to how much “The Moment of Truth” and “American Idol” they can hold before they have to delete some other memory.

Really, Oback just supports more of the same post-FDR, post-LBJ hibbitybub. War on poverty, Medicaid - heck, when you consider Ted Kennedy’s endorsement, he could have been JFK’s vice president. An Obama administration be more big government programs that fail to solve the problems they were created to, well, solve. There’s nothing “new” or “hopeful” about Obama’s message, unless you think it’s 1931.

Ronald Reagan could energize people with policies because conservatism believes in the power of independent spirit and of individuals. Conservatism serves them by getting out of their way, allowing them to make mistakes crucial to their education and growth as individuals, and prosper once they’ve achieved success. This is a universal message of courage and self-confidence that we can always espouse.

Liberals don’t think *you* are enough. They want to solve your problems for you. They want to protect you by using your money to do it. Even if they do it with the best intentions, the implicit reality of their ideals is that they don’t trust the free community of citizens to solve anything for you.

That’s why Republicans can openly talk about their policies (heck, we just ended half a year of candidates trying to be appear the “most conservative” and trying to prove it) and Democrats only speak in cliches, arguing about whether being new or experienced makes you better equipped to bring “change.” That’s why Democrats are afraid to go on Fox News but Republicans are everywhere - NBC, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, running the gamut from “totally liberal” to “kind of moderate.”

Sure, both sides are more than a little childish that we debate these one-upsmanship things (”I was for the surge before you!”) and not the policies themselves. But a candidate can’t represent you well if his policies aren’t yours. You should also find out what they stand for.

And when you look at that, Obama is a post-LBJ liberal in ashy flashy packaging. What’s so different about that?

Visit the BPN Political Discussion Boards

Did you like this post? Subscribe to the BipolarNation feed.

You can also receive the latest BipolarNation.com posts delivered to your e-mail inbox! Subscribe here.