To those multitudes who admire him, at least, Obama's independence and strength are pretty stunning. After eight years of a weak, ignorant president who had to be propped up and manipulated by his powerful coterie, watching a candidate who is worldly-wise, self-disciplined and able to turn around whatever is thrown at him is bound to make us both admiring and a little suspicious. We've forgotten what a strong and respected leader looks like even as we'd forgotten what a strong and respected America can be. Some potential voters -- and many in the media -- are cynical about Barack Obama's success and are waiting for the upstart to show signs of weakness and failure. Frank Rich, writing at the New York Times, is not one of them.
"He never would have been treated as a president-in-waiting by heads of state or network talking heads if all he offered were charisma, slick rhetoric and stunning visuals. What drew them instead was the raw power Mr. Obama has amassed: the power to start shaping events and the power to move markets, including TV ratings. ..."
Obama has been getting flak recently from the right who, for years, have tsk-tsked at the left's complaints about media bias. It would be an unconstitutional scandal, they say, to return to the bad old days of even-handed political discussion in the broadcast media. Now, of course, the scandal is that their candidate isn't drawing as much attention as this progressive upstart. Poor John McCain is allegedly suffering from being at the edge of the spotlight, but the media, who are expected to pounce on Senator Obama if he slips are pretty forgiving to ol' John.
"... It was laughable to watch journalists stamp their feet last week to try to push Mr. Obama into saying he was 'wrong' about the surge. More than five years and 4,100 American fatalities later, they’re still not demanding that Mr. McCain admit he was wrong when he assured us that our adventure in Iraq would be fast, produce little American 'bloodletting' and 'be paid for by the Iraqis.'”
The next big question is whether Barack Obama's hard work and good timing have given him an excuse for a swelled head. Vanity, as Rich points out, or the appearance of vanity could be a problem. Over on the other side, in the meantime, John McCain persists in digging his own political grave. He's his own worst embarrassment.
"... His sound-bite-deep knowledge of the country’s No. 1 issue, the economy, is a Gerald Ford train wreck waiting to happen in any matchup with Mr. Obama that requires focused, time-limited answers rather than rambling.
During Mr. McCain’s last two tours of the Middle East — conducted without the invasive scrutiny of network anchors — the only news he generated was his confusion of Sunni with Shia and his embarrassing stroll through a 'safe' Baghdad market with helicopter cover. He should thank his stars that few TV viewers saw that he was even less at home when walking through a chaotic Pennsylvania supermarket last week. He inveighed against the price of milk while reading from a note card and felt the pain of a shopper planted by the local Republican Party."
Whether he wins or loses, Senator Obama's campaign has already changed minds about Iraq.
"The election remains Mr. Obama’s to lose, and he could lose it, whether through unexpected events, his own vanity or a vice-presidential misfire. But what we’ve learned this month is that America, our allies and most likely the next Congress are moving toward Mr. Obama’s post-Iraq vision of the future, whether he reaches the White House or not. That’s some small comfort as we contemplate the strange alternative offered by the Republicans: a candidate so oblivious to our nation’s big challenges ahead that he is doubling down in his campaign against both Mr. Maliki and Mr. Obama to be elected commander in chief of the surge."
