I was reading the news about all of the "flip-flopping" Obama is doing on requesting the release of the photos be put on hold for now. But after listening to his reasoning, and doing a little refreshing on his early acts/statements as President, I'm thinking this actually might work in his favor, as well as the favor of his party.
As any good comedian or salesman will tell you, there are two tricks to being successful in any trade. The first is confidence (which as we all know, Obama has in spades). The second, and often overlooked trick, is
timing.
Obama may not be the world's greatest comedian, but he is a great salesman. He's confident, efficient, and walked into the PotUS position at the right time. And he understands that releasing the photos will come, but there's a better time for it; one that is far more efficient and profitable for him and his party. I would say, perhaps, September 2010?
Let's look at the timeline. Earlier this year, Obama announced his plan to
greatly reduce troops from Iraq by August 2010. His comments this past week about the photos also involve the troops, namely that revealing the photos at this time would give the Taliban/Militants in the middle east more fodder to ignite their anger and thus, put the troops in more danger. As such, it would seem wiser to reveal these photos after most of these soliders have been brought home.
This works out rather conveniently, as this puts the ideal time to reveal the photos a
mere two months before the Nov. 2010 congress elections, where many Republican seats are currently being contested. If the photos come out then, the Democrats will have tons of new fodder with which to label the Republicans as the party that "allowed these inhumane crimes against humanity to happen. Crimes that have turned the entire world against the United States". And two months might not be enough time for those Republicans to wade through the PR mess to reverse that tide, which could swing many independents to vote against them. It will be much easier for Obama to push his plans and projects through congress if he has a defining majority (59/60 is technically a majority, but as we've all seen it's not quite enough to make the process smooth). If that number were to increase to say, 70, the Republicans would be all but powerless, and no amount of "No" votes would help them.
If this is the President's line of thinking, all I can say is... that's a pretty efficient way to get rid of the clogs in pushing his ideas through. Whether this is a good thing or not, well, that's a personal opinion.
