The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

(above: “the Wanderer” by Caspar David Friederich)

1. Conservative columnist David Brooks in the New York Times nearly hits the nail on the head as to why Obama is not pulling away in the polls: he is a wanderer or “sojourner,” who throughout his life never fully embraced any milieus he was a part of:

“If Obama is fully a member of any club — and perhaps he isn’t — it is the club of smart post-boomer meritocrats. We now have a cohort of rising leaders, Obama’s age and younger, who climbed quickly through elite schools and now ascend from job to job. They are conscientious and idealistic while also being coldly clever and self-aware. It’s not clear what the rest of America makes of them.”

2. The Politico’s Mark Penn examines how perceptions of strength (or lack of them) are still at play in an election year that should overwhelmingly favor Democrats:

“We hear less and less about who the voters would rather have a beer with or ask to baby-sit for their kids — the voters have had it with those kinds of choices. [Thank Heavens -Vote08]

So take key issues such as the economy, health care and Iraq. Once again, the Democrats lead on those issues by large margins. Americans don’t want their troops in Iraq for a hundred years or even for two years — they want to see the war end and the money spent on military action in Iraq going instead to help relieve our country’s problems at home. They favor alternative energy over drilling and nuclear energy, and they see the health care system falling into increasing disrepair.

So if they overwhelmingly favor the policies of the Democrats, why is the presidential horse race not reflecting a 10- or 15-percentage-point edge for Barack Obama? Because of the same concerns that the public had about past Democratic presidential nominees Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and John F. Kerry. The image of Dukakis in a tank still haunts the Democratic Party.

3. Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post dissects how Republicans are trying to inject race in the campaign by accusing Obama of injecting race into the campaign:

“This battle over Obama’s image as a black man is arguably the central front of the presidential campaign right now. Once-sharp lines between the candidates on issues such as withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq or allowing new offshore oil drilling are becoming blurred. The Democratic Party’s structural advantages going into the election are formidable. It’s hard to imagine how McCain could possibly win unless he generates doubt in voters’ minds about Obama.

One way to do that would be to fabricate the impression that Obama is demanding special treatment and privilege because he is black — in other words, turn a self-made man into a stereotypical beneficiary of affirmative action.”

What do you think?

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