Getting ahead of himself?

This is a non-story. There's nothing wrong with thinking about it in advance, and no one is going to find it "presumptuous." If Hillary Clinton had planned ahead, she'd probably be the presumptive nominee right now. If McCain had planned ahead, he'd have an actual platform right now instead of a series of pathetic attacks and unconvincing gimmicks.

God forbid someone planning to run the government is planning ahead. Unbelievably presumptuous. It's much better to look at models like Bush, who didn't plan ahead more than three weeks after invading Iraq, or Hillary Clinton who didn't plan a single day past Feb 5.

What is wrong with Obama, PLANNING for a successful future when he should just expect one to drop in his lap?!

If you are going to lead the greatest nation in a world as complex and with as many problems as we have, both potential presidents better be planning their first days in office now. There is so much that must be done leading up to taking over the oval office.

I am surprised that John McCain and his people are so short sited that they are not making plans for their possible transition.

Obama is a pompous putz!!

All of you have to be kidding me! If John McCain was "planning ahead" you would be calling him all sorts of awful things. Oh, but but Obama--he can do no wrong.

President Barack Obama: Ready to lead from Day One.

Oh wait, now that's a bad thing?

First McCain's campaign criticizes Obama for having lots of enthusiastic supporters. Now they're criticizing him for planning ahead. What next -- will they criticize him because he hasn't dumped his wife in favor of a younger and richer woman?

What a pompous presumptive person.. He could at least wait until he is appointed Leader in Germany –
His speech there as a “private citizen” was a joke – he trotted out the goat header and his mothers middle American experience.. are people buying this tripe?

Perhaps Foon Rhee would be seen as presenting a balanced view if the artilcle included the last 2 paragraphs of the Atlantic article:

"“Given the myriad challenges that will face the next president, Barack would encourage Sen. McCain to begin to undertake a similar process,” the adviser said.

A McCain spokesperson said the campaign would not discuss the subject with reporters."

In the 80's it was said by competing foreign interests that the proper approach is long term planning and short term implementation while it was then said about Americans that we spent too few months planning and many years implementing - I think the last eight years have proven that to be a great failure -

An enthusiastic high five with a fist bump to Obama and his team!! You go!!!

It really depends on how much time, effort, and resources are put into it as well as the detail. Senator Obama is still an Illinois Congressman, so those duties as well as the campaign itself, should come first.

McCain does have a platform. Your being unaware of it, speaks more of your lackings then his.
Perhaps planning for a transition durning a rough primary would not have been a wise move for either Obama or Clinton, it shows nothing.

Attacks on other candidates by Obama supporters only show that Obama really has nothing to offer on his own.

Dear God! What have we become? A nation of cultists who are so disparate that we let this guy Obama walk all over our symbols, our cultures and wants us to treat him as God?? How tryly far we have sunk as a people and a nation..The majority no longer have minds of their own and are willing to be led thru the nose by Obama and his Hollywood campaign. MOVE OVER JIM JONES!!! HERE COMES OBAMA!!!

The US has become a joke the rest of the world laughs at. Of course, a smart person would begin planning a transition five months before it may happen even if it doesn't.

So what is wrong with being prepared? Should he wait 3 years after being elected to figure out what it would take to do the job? This is one of the stupidest pieces of "news" I have ever read!! I would hope anyone running for president would have started planning BEFORE ENTERING THE RACE! Seriously, WTF?!?!

Five months away from at minimum a 50% chance of taking over the most important and powerful job on Earth and he's already started planning? How presumptuous of him! He should wait to start planning until he actually has his hand on that Bible so we can all know in our hearts that he isn't too sure of himself!

Today is the tomorrow you didn't plan for yesterday.
What's wrong with panning?

McCain need to do the same. It's called project management.

Bush and Cheney planned the Iraq war before they stole the election in 2000. Yet our mainstream media do not discuss this fact, and knowing that readers have a short memory span, instead assist the Republican gangs on focusing on any possible minutiae that could be spun against Senator Obama. Shameful.

Putting forth a Communist government in a Constitutional Republic like the US is hard work!

Obama needs to put as many Kommisars in place early.

Yes, this is premature. What in the world would make Obama think that he is going to win this campaign yet? There has not even been one debate, town hall meeting and there are over a 100 days left. I wonder what else he has planned such as taking down the flat screen in the Lincoln Bedroom. The way this guy thinks is scary. He barely got elected to the senate, albeit with some sleazy tactics, what makes him think the American public are going to elect him. The polls have the race very close. Amazing.

At first glance, it does seem silly to be planning for the Presidency before winning the election. But Obama is a different kind of candidate. Never before was there a candidate as inexperienced and unfamiliar in government as Obama. That means he NEEDS a lot more preparation than the normal presidential candidates. For people like McCain and Hillary Clinton, they've been working in the President's circle for years, so there is not much planning that needs to be done. Like Hillary said, "I'll be ready on Day One," In fact, she's ready when she announced her candidacy. She doesn't need a planning group six months in advance of the first day on the job.

BO is doing more to wake up the conservative base than McCain has been doing.

Boston Globe, what's the matter with your direction? I used to be an avid reader of Boston Globe when I lived in Boston several years ago. The quality of your news was a world apart from Boston Herald, but this year's election demonstrates to me that Boston Globe is somewhat competing with Fox News in this genre of sensational, inflated, non-issue driven articles. Additionally, ever since your presidential endorsee failed to be the nominee, you're leaning towards publishing biased and unworthy of journalistic values about Obama, such like this one: besides raising the double-standard laden subject, i.e., for a non-white person in this country, self-confidence is being viewed as "arrogance". Would you pose the same question if it were McCain, or Hillary Clinton?

Okk this is it, I have to jump in on this on Comment number 3.
You Americans are so arrogant and why would you think that you are greatest nation of the world. What specific thing do you have that you think you are the greatest nation in the world. If you keep your eyes open and even know whats going on in the world apart from the war in Mid - east and Politics in US, you will know that there are pretty good nations out there which are even better than US. If you ask me your nation is filled with make belief characters and Americans will always believe anything you say to them as long as its a "compliment".

Humanitarian!!!

The Peoples Transition Bureau will continue with the neccessary planning in order to ensure a smooth and efficent transition on 9 January, 2009. Any published criticism of the People's Plans will be noted and archived in order that the responsible parties are offered the opportunity for voluntary re-education.
Minisiter Obama understands that it will take patience and understanding to remove over 200 years of illogical thought from the minds of the People. Beginning the change over today will allow for the proper conditioning of the Peoples Press so that the message is better understood.

Viva Barakistan! Viva Che Obama!

The problem is that Obama is more concerned with Obama than he is with America. We are in dire straits here, and this is his priority? Every day it becomes more evident that Obama is a narcissist who will do and/or say anything to get elected. He'd better put a hold on that transition plan because Average Joe is going to get his say in November--and it may not be what Obama wants to hear.

Some of the idiots ask "what's wrong with planning?" You are fools, just as Obama has fooled you. For your information as well as Obama, the United State of America has ruled: we conduct a presidential election this November and the victor moves into the White House in January of 09. This is called democracy. This country is not Africa which Obama does not seem to know. He has a 'presidential sea', has already started redecorating the Lincoln bedroom, is making speeches all over the world as though he were president of the greated country in the world. He's arrogant, egotistical, a hugh liar, and some of you are supporting him? He will not listen to the military generals if he were elected because he thinks he knows more about this subject than they do. Hitler thought he knew more about how to run a war than his generals (some of whom were brillant military men) and he lost the war (thank God). Obama is a closet Muslim. No one could win the presidential election if he/she were not Christian in this country. Don't vote for this silver tongued hypocrit.

Can anyone be surprised? After all Barack Obama already had his "presidential seal" and claims that he is in Germany not as a candidate but as a senator. Never mind that the plane is plastered with "Change We Can Believe in" As Rev. Wright said, he just another politician.

The McCain supporters here are completely right: it makes no sense whatsoever to make reasonable contingency plans. Hey, it worked in Iraq; it's worked for our energy policy. I could really get behind the general GOP 2008 slogan: "Planning for yesterday."

I agree that this article is a little ridiculous. Let us examine counter arguments shall we..

1. No planning. No planning until one is elected. That seems a little foolish and ignorant. Don't you plan your life given the uncertainty six months from now? If you disagree with planning and still survive, good on you--not everyone is as talented.

2. Not now. Plan later. Alright so you've conceded there needs to be planning but the timing is just off. What does it matter if you plan now or 4 months from now? Since you've already conceded planning is needed, you can't necessarily dislike the fact one wants to be more prepared.

3. No planning ever. None. Zip. Let's not even go there..

Just my two cents..

RRFL called Obama a "Narcissist". That's him, dead-on.

I read his book. This guy is the most self-involved, self-absorbed SOB I think I've ever seen in public life, bar none.

That kind of narcissistic personality disorder can be truly, truly, dangerous in a leader. He has no feeling for other people other than to supply his needs for his ego.

Truly dangerous.

Presidential transition has ALWAYS been planned AFTER the election....it isn't until a person has won the election that their Intelligence Briefings are upgraded to secret status.

This is yet another sign of the Team Obama arrogance. More telling than that, it is yet another sign of how little experience they have, how afraid they are of winning, and not having a clue.

Obama has always planned ahead. While a junior state senator, he was planning for US Senate. While a US Senate freshman, he was planning for the US Presidency. Should he win in November, I'm sure he will be planning for his memoir.

I love planning, it's far better than real work!

This is just another example of the depravity of the McCain campaign. Let's look at Obama's options here: A. Planning ahead so that should he win the general election, he will be well-prepared to transition into the White House and hit the ground running. B. Doing nothing to prepare to transition into the White House should he win and being utterly unprepared to take office, and having to spend the first 100 days playing catch up. It would seem obvious that the better choice is A. If McCain thinks that B is the way to go, then he's simply demonstrating his incompetence to manage the executive branch. Its amazing how many times McCain's attacks on Obama, when carefully scrutinized, really amount to admissions of his own incompetence.

i think this once again shows the arrogance of obama.

I love the inane comment #20 Hillary could have moved right into the White House without planning. Of course just like she could win the nomination without planning beyond the first week of February. Business 101 says plan for everything if you do not need the plan so be it. Being President is like running a business a very very large business. Running a campaign is running a business. But Obama haters do not want to hear this. It is very very comical. McCain spent the week looking old and confused. Right down to knocking over the applesauce or what ever in the supermarket. McCain is too old to be President. (I am a 63 yr old female in Tampa)

McCain and his team are already planning their transition, and may have been doing so months ago. They simply refuse to discuss this with the media. If it were not so, McCain would be a simpleton and a fool, and I don't believe he is either. That Obama's team admitted the beginning of the planning process ("to begin thinking through the process") is simply honesty and openness, a quality that Obama has repeatedly stated will become a hallmark of his presidency. If Obama were not confident he could win this election, why would he run? That's not arrogance. Who enters a race figuring to lose? That's confidence. Obama has run a masterful campaign, demonstrating his organizational and management skills since the campaign began. McCain hasn't. The essence of American Democracy is that the candidate who runs the most effective campaign generally wins (when cheating is eliminated). Whether that's the BESTcandidate or not is a philosophical debate that could take months to clarify. Right now, Obama is definitely doing a better job on the campaign trail.

It's arrogant to plan for winning? Give me a break! Winning the election isn't the end goal. Improving the country as president is the goal. Planning for the long term is what separates democrats from republicans. One looks to the future, the other looks at the here and now. Consider a few things.. global warming, education, health care, tax policy, iraq. Dems look to the future, Reps to the here and now, and so we will suffer from the damage already done by the Reps.

I would like to think that the insults coming from the McCain camp merely show their desperation. But the underlying truth is that the averate street republican of the past 20 years generally has refused to have rational intelligent discussions. Instead, we get denials of scientific evidence, torture, corruption. We get insults about ourselves like "ignorant", "naiive", and flat out lies about our candidate like "closet muslim" and "communist". It's time to grow up and take this stuff seriously, for our kids' benefit.

All of you have to be kidding me! If John McCain was "planning ahead" you would be calling him all sorts of awful things. Oh, but but Obama--he can do no wrong.

Posted by Jon July 24, 08 01
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Don't be fooled by that old ancient fox. He is probably planning ahead as well! He and his campaign jump on Senator Obama no matter what he says and does. Truth is McCain is out of touch with the world!! Good grief, he didn't even know Chechoslovakia no longer existed!! He thinks Pakistan borders Iraq, he cannot tell which faction is which in Iraq, he thinks the Sunis joining our military in fighting agains Alqaida and insurgents is the result of the surge, when in fact this was happening long BEFORE the surge. He is also out of touch with the American citizens. He is out-of-touch with our technology, doesn't even know how to use a computer!! Talk about backwards!!! The man has been entrenched in Washington D.C. for at least the last 30 years. Just what did McCain do to make our country better during thost years?? Absolutely nothing!! In fact he is a big contributer to where our country is today. What was his reaction ot people losing their homes to foreclosures??? "If the homebuyers were that ignorant, they do not need our government bailing them out, they are responsible for getting themselves out of losing their homes/foreclosures." He has since changed his tune a little, but not much. McCain still wants to stick it to the average folks by carrying on with Bush's taxing us and giving big business and weathy people the tax breaks. McCain, McSame, McShame, McBush all fit him nicely. The man is downright dull and boring and keeps changing his stance on issues as if he were playing musical chairs. His constantant lies and slanders against Senator Obama only PROVE how insecure that old gizzard feels about himself. He's got to demean his oponent to make himself feel good. I hope Americans see McCain for who he really is. Everyone should google "McCain and the Dineh Navajo, Black Mesa" for some enlightening documentary.

Some people actually do planning, based on the desired outcome.

It is adult behavior.

Some people dont wing it, like Rove and his Iraq policy with NO EXIT STRATEGY.

Do Not be fooled by that old ancient McCain. He is probably planning ahead as well! He and his campaign jump on Senator Obama no matter what he says or does. Truth is McCain is out of touch with the world!! Good grief, he didn't even know Chechoslovakia no longer existed!! He thinks Pakistan borders Iraq, he cannot tell which faction is which in Iraq, he thinks the Sunis joining our military in fighting agains Alqaida and insurgents is the result of the surge, when in fact this was happening long BEFORE the surge. He is also out of touch with the American citizens. He is out-of-touch with our technology, doesn't even know how to use a computer!! Talk about backwards!!! The man has been entrenched in Washington D.C. for at least the last 30 years. Just what did McCain do to make our country better during those years?? Absolutely nothing!! In fact he is a big contributer to where our country is today. What was his reaction ot people losing their homes to foreclosures??? "If the homebuyers were that ignorant, they do not need government bailing them out, they are responsible for getting themselves out of losing their homes/foreclosures." He has since changed his tune a little, but not much. McCain still wants to stick it to the average folks by carrying on with Bush's taxing us and giving big business and weathy people the tax breaks. McCain, McSame, McShame, McBush all fit him nicely. The man is downright dull and boring and keeps changing his stance on issues as if he were playing musical chairs. His constant lies about and slanders against Senator Obama only PROVE how insecure that old gizzard feels about himself. He's got to demean his opponent to make himself feel good. I hope Americans see McCain for who he really is. Everyone should google "McCain and the Dineh Navajo, Black Mesa" for some enlightening documentary.

Can anyone be surprised? After all Barack Obama already had his "presidential seal" and claims that he is in Germany not as a candidate but as a senator. Never mind that the plane is plastered with "Change We Can Believe in" As Rev. Wright said, he just another politician.
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President Obama went to the Middle East as a U.S. Senator. His last leg of the trip, Germany, France, and England, is on the campaign's $$ and he is going there as the candidate for president of the U.S.A. Exactly the same way in which McCane went to Canada, Colombia, and Mexico as the candidate for president of the U.S.A.. So what is the big deal? The fact that Senator Obama gave a great speech and drew 200,000+ plus people to his speech is awesome and all of us should be proud of him. But, no, people like McCain and his supporters just cannot help trying to knock him down to their own contemptable levels bigotry!! I have NO respect for McCain, a man who has NO respect for our citizens, particularly women!! He voted FOR insurance coverage for Viagra for men but voted AGAINST insurance coverage for birth control for women!! Just recently, he voted AGAINST EQUAL PAY for Women doing the same job as her male coworker!! Guess by voting for insurance coverage for Viagra ensures him getting it virtually for FREE!! And at 71+ he would probably need a double dose for him to perk up!!

Yes, this is premature. What in the world would make Obama think that he is going to win this campaign yet? There has not even been one debate, town hall meeting and there are over a 100 days left. I wonder what else he has planned such as taking down the flat screen in the Lincoln Bedroom. The way this guy thinks is scary. He barely got elected to the senate, albeit with some sleazy tactics, what makes him think the American public are going to elect him. The polls have the race very close. Amazing.

Posted by Alydar
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Alydar, there is nothing wrong with Senator Obama making plans for transitioning into the Oval Office approximately five months in advance. I believe all smart candidates do this, most especially with the mess GWB, his administration and the Repubs (yes, that includes McCain too) are leaving behind when GWB leaves office. Five months is NOT a long time! It is best to be prepared, no matter what happens, in ANY situation. I call it smart thinking! There are no debates scheduled before the conventions....right now both Senator Obama and McCain are the PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEES for their respective parties. Until such time that they actually become the Democrateic Nominee and the Republican Nominee, do not expect debates or townhall meetings between the two. Again, I reiterate, there is nothing wrong with preplanning; in fact PREPLANNING is a VERY GOOD thing. Examples: Why do ballplayers practice months ahead of the playing season (whether you win or lose)??Why do you take notes throughout the semester in preparation for finals (whether you pass or fail)? Why do you make your flight reservations weeks, even months, in advance?? Why do you have a blueprint made for your new house? Most important things in our lives require preplanning. Didn't you preplan months in advance for your weddings, even though one or the other might get cold feet at the last minute??

I'll bet McCain and his campaign have been planning! Wasn't McCain going to appoint Gramm as his economic advisor in his administration?? Yes, yes, yes, he was!!! That is PREPLANNING! So why the heck are they criticizing the good senator from Illinois for doing the same thing??? The proper word for that criticism is: Hypocrite. McCain is a hypocrite and a lier!!

Obama is the Great Pretender.
The Antichrist.
Praise be to Obama, for he portends our Saviors coming.
Be prepared my brothers.

Lack of preplanning/planning in any circumstances is known as "STUPIDITY"! Think about it, it's when you do not make plans that you find yourselves in a pickle. Think back on your own lives. Didn't those of us who wanted to go to college start planning during our junior year of highschool?? Senator Obama is correct in planning who he would like and who would best fill the various positions in his administration, it takes time. Do you expect him to wait until Inaugeration day?? Senator Obama deserves great credit and not condemnation for planning ahead....he will have an administration/cabinet that will best serve our country and our citizens.

You guys want experience?? Try Dick Cheney and Rumsfeldt!!! Those two were REALLY and TRULY EXPERIENCED in the ins and outs of Washington.....look at what those experiences have cost our country and our citizens!!! McCain is NO different....he has been entrenched in the same old politics and policies for approximately 30 years. IF you want more of the same, by all means vote for McCain.....he'll deliver what you are used to......more of the same, especially of the last seven and a half years!! I believe the majority of Americans want change for the better and Senator Obama is the right person for our times.

McCain does not have what it takes to be president; he is an ancient troll who thinks we owe him the presidency because he was a POW. McCain was not and is not a recipient of THE MEDAL OF HONOR, the prestigeous award given to true heros. I don't know where McCain was given the title of hero for being a POW, we have had many, many POWs much more worthy of the presidency but who never used that chapter of their lives as leverage for the office of the presidency. McCain reached the "COVETED" grade of CAPTAIN during his 20 years in military service....imagine that, CAPTAIN!!! He was a junior officer, nothing more!! During the VietNam War, people were promoted much more quickly than during peace time and even during the two wars now. Looks like McCain got left behind in the dust as far as promotions went during that time! Well, his commanding officers did tell him he would never see "Admiral", since he had shamed the "McCain" name (grandpa and daddy were Amirals), shamed his unit, the U.S. Navy, and the USA. Have you ever stopped to wonder why McCain SEALED his military records??

It never fails to amaze me what ugly, negative comments people post about Obama. If he were white, or less smart, would we see the same sort of thing?

Of course he is starting to think a bit about the transition!! McCain should be doing the same.

By the way, if Obama is "arrogant" because he's not a good old boy -- like W -- sounds good to me!

I suppose it would be a little too much to ask for some sober analysis in these comments and not the same partisan barking that we keep hearing. What lengths will people do to spin some negative substance on a candidate they dont like. If Obama aint your cup of tea then just admit and say you dont like the guy..but please, next people will be telling us that John McCain is the tooth fairy. This isnt kindergarten America!

Get real people. I work in a small college IT department and I am planning next summer's upgrades now with plans actually getting finalized in October. If Obama wasn't planning for his presidential transition now, I'd be worried. Anyone who's critical of this has never managed anything bigger than their weekly grocery list. Is McCain going to tell us that he is NOT planning his presidential transition?

Obama has scammed enough money from everyone to to whatever he wants! He'a very arrogant! All of you people who are kissing up to this guy have no idea what he is not capable of doing. Quit letting the press/media decide who is going to be president!
Do your own thinking!
This guy Obama did nothing as a Senator in Illinois! Everyone knows this! He will not "Walk the Talk"! He never has!

Unless McCain and his camp are STUPID, they have begun doing the same thing rather than waiting until after the election. If I remember correctly from 2000, both campaigns began planning months before the election. Do a search for order code RL30736 which governs the transition.

This is absolutely stupid and childish! Old man McCain, is crying is crying again, because his cylinders are moving so slow that he cannot think beyond today. Instead of wasting time whining about the opponent thinking ahead and preparing just in case, why not follow suit and prepare yourself? Is that too much to ask for? If the only thing you have to do to your opponent is criticize them for executing a well developed PLAN (which includes marketing), then maybe you need to accept defeat now and quit wasting money! Considering the size of the job that the president walking in has to deal with, one cannot sit and wait until they get elected to begin the thinking process. It is like getting news of a possible attack months before it happens, do you wait until the date of the attacked to begin thinking of what to do? Strategic planning and project management is simply looking ahead to evaluate milestones and risk, and developing a PLAN to mitigate them. I guess this novel idea of planning is a bit much to expect of a presidential candidate.

How many Republican talking points can we fit into our parroting responses? Obama is arrogant. Obama is a narcissist. Obama is presumptuous. He gave a 'presidential' speech in a foreign country before becoming president. He is a communist (I can't believe nitwits still pull this one out of the fear closet).

1) George W Bush was planning for his transition at this time during his first run. Many have. McCain probably is. It is the smart thing to do. The governement is complex. 2) Sen. McCain gave a speech in Canada that was equally 'presidential' just weeks ago. 3) According to Progressive Scorcards, Obama is FAR from being the most liberal senator in the Senate. He is liberal but he is far from being the most liberal. 4) Obama has sponsored 272 bills and Co-sponsored 834 in the US Congress. He was equally active in Illinois (those of us who live here know that). 5) George W. Bush was the governor of Texas for 5 years. A state that anyone who follows politics know has one of the weakest executive branches, by design, of any state in the union. Kennedy had even less experience. Many have. While I find that the experience criticism is certainly valid the rest of the personal comments border on freakishly obsessive.

To attack Obama's experience without acknowledging Bush's utter lack of experience in 2000 and the cult of personality and ideology that got him where he is intellectually dishonest and pathetically pedestrian. The Globe is irresponsible to report talking points and political attacks as news.

What an outrage that the Party which has brought fiscal ruin to America and political failure in the world is producing a man with one foot in the grave to lead us into a recovery. The GOP allegiance is now to the global market of which they know nothing and in quest of which they have undermined America in the Wall St. and the Main St. We need a young, stable and informed president who has the energy and judgment to mobilize the best of America, to lead the world in a complex global economic and political system.

So Jake, you forgot experienced, noble, a man with integrity and loves his country AND has foreign policy experience. So then, who would that be on the Democratic ticket? When you climb in your car with your family, would you HOPE it is safe or go with a proven model? Oabama hates this country (as does his wife) and they are not shy about it.

It is scary how naive some people are. Hate for the GOP does not entitle Obama to be president. Ignorance is bliss.