One of the arguments that ardent Obama supporters have used to rebut the charge that the Illinois Senator lacks experience in the national political arena is the sheer quality of his campaign. Look, they say, he's mounted a massive national campaign with excellent infrastructure, terrific grassroots organization, an unprecedented Internet operation, and a cohesive brand centered around change. He out-organized Clinton in the caucus states, raised more money, and brought in more new voters. The Obama '08 operation in itself is the strongest argument for the Senator's national executive ambitions. And speaking frankly, it's an argument that has resonated strongly with this Clinton supporter.
Lately, however, the Obama campaign has been making the wrong moves and it's troubling to a Democrat who wants his second choice to run strong against McCain come November's chill. Senator Obama allowed his supporters in Michigan to oppose a revote he might easily have won, and in doing so, removed one of Clinton's best arguments for going on the Denver. He's thrown away his massive lead in the media primary by refusing to meet regularly with the press, and acting as the most aloof of the three remaining candidates for President. And now, he's refusing to debate Hillary in Indiana or North Carolina.
This is almost indescribably stupid. For one, running and hiding from Hillary looks, well, like running and hiding from Hillary. It cements that growing perception in the press that she's tougher, and that he's a brittle political actor - all smiles when the polls are moving upward, quite another story in stormy seas. When you're running against a beloved American war hero and the Republican attack machine, this is never a good posture.
Secondly, it leaves Obama's terrible performance in the last debate at the top of people's minds when they think of the two Democrats duking it out. For all the hand-wringing about the inane ABC News questions in the debate's first half, it was Obama's sullen and seemingly lost persona that was the Philly battle's real story. Coming out strong - and well-rested, it must be said - in Indiana or North Carolina could do wonders for the battered Obama brand.
Finally, refusing to meet on the field of political combat continues to support the growing narrative that Senator Obama is trying to run out the clock against Hillary Clinton - that he's using a kind of passive-aggressive strategy to eke out a narrow win as Clinton runs out of playing time, content to take the nomination even while losing a string of primaries. This is a disastrous story for him - the very idea that after all that success, he has to just "hang on" to beat Clinton, putting out the equivalent of a political prevent defense in the last three or four minutes. That very strategy simply gives the Clinton campaign more rope to play with - and her ultimate goal is to force overtime in Denver.
A week ago, that seemed almost impossible. But as Barack Obama hides from the very public debates that could seal a decisive victory, overtime is looking more and more likely in this long contest for the Democratic nomination.
UPDATE: Hillary has challenged Barack to an unmoderated debate: "Just the two of us, going for 90 minutes, asking and answering questions. We’ll set whatever rules seem fair.” He can't possibly refuse, can he?
