He's an unknown, a change, a mental shift, for Republicans who'd been gearing up for Mrs. Clinton. He's skillfully tapped into a bitterness with the status quo, and his optimistic message of hope is tough to counter (just ask the tearful Mrs. Clinton). Is Obama-mania at its start, or its peak? The great fear of Republicans is that it's the former.
Mrs. Clinton has a ceiling on her support. No matter how great a race she runs, any victory will be unlikely to result in significant Washington realignment. But Mr. Obama? If he really has tapped into something deep in the American soul, and if he can keep tapping until November, it's conceivable he could bring with him a new wash of Democratic seats that could reshape the Washington political landscape for years to come. That's a big gamble.
photo by Sara Swatosh
Looking at the upside, the reason for hope Republicans can beat Obama, Mr. Murdoch’s “Fox News Journal” talks about ways to attack Obama—for a “curious real estate deal” (which Obama has clearly shown he was a clean party in,) and that he’s more liberal than… whoever. Strassel writes,
"I can see it take hold, that he's the most liberal Democrat nominated by the party in years and years, and despite his obvious intelligence isn't ready to be president in a time of war. I can see that getting traction in a Republican and independent electorate and keeping him below 45%" says Whit Ayres, a GOP strategist. "On the other hand, three-quarters of the people in this country are dissatisfied. And I can see him with his eloquence, and his ability to use the language and frame an argument, so inspiring people that they say, 'let's give this guy a shot'."
It’s clear, the Republicans ,with their pathetic fundraising this year, will be depending more than ever on PACs and 527 swiftboat organizations. The question is, will the victorious Democratic candidate be able to anticipate and neutralize the certain to appear swiftboat ads? Here in Bucks County, Patrick Murphy was told, probably thousands of times, that he would surely be a victim of swiftboat ads. The amateur political prophets, myself included, proved to be right. And Patrick was ready. His response was swift and effective, possibly even helping his campaign.
If Hillary or Obama can do the same, then they will, like Emerson described, be able to promote his or her candidacy based up that particular angle; that shows deep and beautiful colors. But that’s a big “if. ”
My take on this article is that Obama is the bigger unknown. That means, for the Dems, he's a bigger risk-- lower disapproval, but more potential stuff that could come out of the closet. As Strassel wraps up her article, considering different match-ups of Clinton or Obama between the various GOP candidates, she closes, saying, and I agree, "Whatever the combination, hold on tight."
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