He's won 10 in a row, enjoys a delegate lead, and has opened up a 14 point margin against Hillary Clinton in the national polls. Furthermore, Barack Obama has an edge of 4 points or so when the pollsters match him against his November opponent, John McCain.So, it's pretty much a done deal, right?
Or is it?
Here's an interesting group of reports suggesting that the rock star candidate may have a much rockier road to travel in the days ahead.
* First, here's Marie Cocco's comments on how different an opponent McCain will be for Obama, one who will make the latter's lack of experience really stand out.
* Second, here's Michelle Malkin's column in the New York Post which concerns Michelle Obama's only recently discovered pride in America.
* Third, the American Spectator's Philip Klein weighs in on the same incident and what it portends for the fall. If the Republicans are bright, they'll be talking (and talking a lot) about Michelle Obama's chilling faux pas until election day.
* Number four in our list this morning is a brief piece from Froma Harrop discussing the "growing creepiness" that even some in the MSM are feeling towards the unsubstantive Obama campaign.
..."He's the fashion plate of the moment," an editorial page editor remarked, "but fashion week is over."
Sophisticated commentary now notes the growing creepiness of the Obama campaign: Its aversion to substantive policy discussions. The sermonizing -- "In the face of despair, we believe there can be hope." And the messianic bit -- "At this moment in the election there is something happening in America." (That would be he.)
Volunteer trainees at Camp Obama are told not to talk issues with voters, but to offer personal testimony about how they "came" to Obama. Makes the skin crawl.
Centrists generally do not find cults of personality entertaining. The mass hypnosis reminds them of the mortgage frenzy -- all these people buying into a dream and not caring about the fine print.
The Republican Party, meanwhile, has given them a choice. This is despite the best efforts of its right wing to pick a candidate against whom any Democrat would be better. And the more the radicals beat up on the Arizona senator, the more he looks like a contender to moderate Democrats...
* And finally, here's a salient article that shows that even Europeans are beginning to see through the "wires and mirrors" campaign of Barack Obama. It comes from Gabor Steingart in the online edition of Der Spiegel. An excerpt:
The rise of democratic frontrunner Barack Obama signifies an alarming victory of style over substance. Not unlike the dot-com hype, his campaign promises more than he can deliver. The one thing his voters can count on is that they will ultimately be disappointed.
The future Obama is promising seems foggy and indistinct. He wants to change the rules of engagement in politics, but he neglects to explain how and in what direction. He wants to write a new page in the history books, but what handwriting does he plan to use to make his entry? He wants to drive out lobbyists, but if he does, who will champion the interests of union members, war veterans and chemical corporations? He wants to negotiate with the world's dictators, but to what end, exactly?
In fact, Obama's most dangerous land mines are hidden in foreign policy. A quick withdrawal from Iraq? Sounds great. But the mistake of having started this war in the first place cannot be corrected by ending it in a mad rush to get out of Iraq. A rapid withdrawal of the US military would most likely be followed by a bloody civil war. Al-Qaida would manage to sink its teeth into Iraq once and for all. Iran would rejoice. And Osama bin Laden and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be the real winners of the 2008 American presidential election...
