UNKIND ASSESSMENT

Posted at 7:07 a.m. ET

The New York Sun, a small, but influential, and decidedly neo-conservative paper, has not taken kindly to the proceedings in Denver, and feelings are not hidden in today's editorial, which is far more harsh than my own appraisal:

You heard it here first: The Democratic Convention in Denver will go down as a disaster the likes of which have not been seen since Patrick Buchanan's 1992 speech to Republicans in Houston. It's hard to know what Senator Obama was thinking. After returning from speaking to a large outdoor rally in Germany, he headed to Hawaii for a vacation. Meanwhile, the candidate of "change" somehow managed to allow the first night of his convention to be dominated by Senator Kennedy, who ran for president in 1980 and who has been in the Senate since 1962.

Mr. Obama allowed the second night to be dominated by the candidate he defeated for the nomination, Senator Clinton, who has been on the national stage since her husband was elected president in 1992. He allowed the third night to be dominated by President Clinton, who has been on the national stage since he gave the convention speech nominating Michael Dukakis in 1988.

Bubba comes in for some tough words:

Mr. Clinton's rousing conclusion was to tell voters that back in 1992, Republicans tried to paint him as "too young and too inexperienced to be commander in chief." "Sound familiar?" Mr. Clinton asked. The suggestion that Mr. Obama might be another Bill Clinton might be appealing to Mr. Clinton — for the Clintons, it is all about them — but it's totally out of tune with Mr. Obama's theme of "change." As out of tune as Mr. Obama's selection of a running mate, in Senator Biden, who has been a senator for 35 years. Mr. Biden was serving as a senator back when Senator McCain was still a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

And...

What's more, there are Clinton-like elements of Mr. Obama that voters may yet find unattractive. Where Mr. Clinton had a real estate deal with felon Jim McDougal, Mr. Obama had one with Tony Rezko. Mr. Clinton stressed that "a President Obama will choose diplomacy first," but Mr. Clinton's aversion to the use of military force allowed Al Qaeda to gather strength to attack America.

Did you feel the knife go in?

Mr. Clinton assured the crowd last night about Mr. Obama that "When he cannot convert adversaries into partners he will stand up to them."

That line got a pathetic response from the leftist crowd that is the party's base.  Standing up to dictators isn't their specialty.

Mr. Obama clearly couldn't stand up to the Clintons. Even after he clinched the nomination, he allowed them to dominate the convention. If he can't stand up to the Clintons, how is he going to handle America's enemies around the world? And if he can't run a successful political convention, how can he run the country?

If I were Barack Obama, I wouldn't count on The Sun's endorsement.  They seem to be leaning the other way.

August 28, 2008.