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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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Is the tide turning?
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Race
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| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Aug 19, 2008 08:13pm |
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| Category | Analysis |
| News Date | Tuesday, August 19, 2008 02:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | CNN Blog by David Gergen.
An excerpt...
"Heading into the candidates’ appearances on Saturday night at Saddleback Church, the conventional wisdom in politics was Barack Obama should have a clear upper hand in any joint appearance with John McCain — one the young, eloquent, cool, charismatic dude who can charm birds from the trees, the other the meandering, sometimes bumbling, old fellow who can barely distinguish Sunnis from Shiias.
Well, kiss that myth goodbye.
McCain came roaring out of the gate from the first question and was a commanding figure throughout the night as he spoke directly and often movingly about his past and the country’s future. By contrast, Obama was often searching for words and while far more thoughtful, was also less emotionally connective with his audience.
To be sure, Obama held on to the loyalty of his own supporters — many have written in blog sites since how much they respected both his nuanced answers and the honesty of his convictions, especially his Christian faith.
There is no evidence that he lost ground through Saddleback. Moreover, Democrats can poke lots of holes in McCain’s arguments and can charge that he is too much the warrior who would be too quick to send troops hither and yon. So, there is much for Democrats to chew on.
But the point is that McCain showed that he can be a much more formidable and effective campaigner in a joint appearance than hardly anyone imagined. The debates this fall are going to be pivotal to the final outcome of the election, and McCain gave a clear wake-up call to the Obama team that he may be much tougher to beat than expected.
Moreover, McCain is now on a sustained roll in his campaign. Since the time he shook up his organization a few weeks ago, he has been much more focused and has started to get through to voters. Democrats — and the press — didn’t like the quality of those ads, but they seem to have worked politically." |
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