This Lee Cary article in American Thinker provides some perceptive answers to the question, "Where Did Obama's Mo Go?" Included is a brief analysis of the Democrat's "three-legged" campaign strategy: opposition to the Iraq War, the personification of Change and Hope, and the attempt to cast John McCain as the third term of George W. Bush. It is a strategy that Cary says is in "deep atrophy."...The relevance of his early opposition to the Iraq War is fading as the situation there continues to improve.
Obama has not articulated what he means by his vague promise of Change and Hope. He's done little to embellish on his Blueprint campaign document, which has faded from obscurity to invisibility. In short, the sizzle of his primary victory speeches has been unaccompanied by steak of explanatory content.
Writing for CNN, David Gergen, who clearly favors Obama, suggested he execute a "game changer." -- "Still this [McCain's gain in the polls] should be a huge wake-up call to Obama and the Democrats. From my perspective, Obama needs to introduce a game changer -- and fast -- before public opinion starts to gel around the notion that he is a phenom who deserves great respect but is not seasoned enough and would be too much of a risk in the Oval office."
With regard to the Bush Third Term strategy -- only those who have been in a political coma for the last eight years see McCain as a clone of Bush. While the BTT strategy might have worked against some other Republican candidate, it's passé against McCain.
Obama should be detailing a vision of America's future under his administration. Instead, he leans more toward criticism of America, and therefore its people.
His recent emphasis has been on trivial matters like McCain jokingly defining "rich" as earning five million dollars, and how many houses McCain owns. Technically Cindy McCain and their children own them, and McCain has stayed out of his wife's wealth. The Old Big Media will frame the successive waves of attacks in Obama's favor, but it won't shift sand on the public beach.
Meanwhile, McCain's fight strategy is landing blows on Obama. He's effectively counter-punching Obama's jabs (e.g., McCain campaign's response in the homes episode). He's dialed-up the zeal with which he compares-and-contrasts himself with Obama. And, he's effectively touting his credentials as an experienced bipartisan change agent in the Senate. The longer conservative Republicans compare McCain to Obama, the better McCain looks...
