Wash Post: "Obama Hits Back, Too Softly For Some"

AMERICAblog.com

Interesting article in today's Washington Post. It encapsulates the angst many Democrats are starting to feel about the election, McCain's increasingly negative attacks, and the Obama campaign's responses to those attacks. Democrats we talk to are worried. They're not just the chattering class on TV. It's Democrats across the board. They're worried because they want Obama to win, but more generally, they want our party to win. This election is about far more than Barack Obama. It's about Democrats taking back the White House, taking back our country. All Democrats share ownership of that goal. Here are a few of the key points in the article, and my thoughts: 1. "We are not going to base our campaign on the concerns of so-called campaign strategists on cable TV," spokesman Bill Burton said. In fact, lots of Democrats are expressing concern, including senior Hill staff, senior consultants, senior activists, and more. 2. "The price [McCain] paid for his party's nomination has been to reverse himself on position after position," Obama told a crowd of more than 1,000 at a high school gym in Elkhart. "That doesn't meet my definition of a maverick. You can't be a maverick when politically it's important for you but not a maverick when it doesn't work for you." This is great, seriously. Hit McCain on his strength, his "maverick" status. Guaranteed to tick him off. 3. [Y]ou have to counterattack. You don't want to look like a whiner. You want to look tough." This is a point I've raised several times. I think John Kerry and Al Gore paid a high price for being intellectual pretty-boys who didn't show enough of a tough-guy side (interestingly, I think Wesley Clark has the same PR problem - way too nice of a guy on TV, and never shows his inner general). The public knows Obama is smart and good looking, now they need to know that he can be an asshole too.

http://www.americablog.com/2008/08/wash-post-obama-hits-back-too-softly.html