The past few weeks have been quite eventful for the rock-star candidate. However, unlike previous periods, its had a legitimate mix of ups and downs, a new experience for a campaign that has, heretofore, been steeped only in good news.
Let's start with the bad news -- if for no other reason than it allows me to finish on the highest possible note.
Obama became a victim of raised expectations following a lackluster performance in the first televised debate among democratic candidates. Packaged as Mr. Charisma, everyone expected to be wowed as his superior rhetorical skills were put on national display.
That didn't happen. Instead Obama put forth a lackluster performance, leaving the pundits less-than-inspired. Obama's camp attributed the performance to nervousness on the part of their candidate.
It is speculated Obama's debate performance (or lack thereof) led directly to the second piece of bad news, which is Hillary re-opening a poll margin Obama had closed in recent weeks. While his campaign-stop crowds are as large and enthusiastic as ever, this is Obama's first experience in this campaign with poll numbers going in the wrong direction, so it'll be interesting to see what, if any, response it solicits.
Speaking of crowds, let's move on to "mixed" news of the past few weeks. First, there was the revelation that Obama is receiving Secret Service protection earlier than any candidate in history. That his campaign has enough credibility to warrant it is a good thing. The fact that such protection is actually needed is less so. Anyone that has been to an Obama rally (as I have) can tell you that he is very vulnerable. Not just in the big events, either -- no doubt a glory-seeking assassin would not hesitate to buy a ticket to one of the more exclusive, intimate fundraisers, where he is likely to find himself closerthanthis to the party's beloved rock-star.
Continuing on the mixed front, Rush Limbaugh's "Magic Negro" controversy has provided plenty of blogosphere fodder over the past week. To it's credit, the Obama campaign has largely ignored the tempest in a teapot, but hot on the heels of the Don Imus debacle, others have been not so quick to forgive and forget. A video (removed from YouTube, but still found here) further added to the controversy. Limbaugh threatened on-air several news sources that attributed the video to him, although he used the song parody several times as bumper music for his syndicated radio broadcast.
(Just for the record, my favorite Obama parody song is the Christmas one)
Finally, let's brighten up the Senator's life with a recap of good news over the past few weeks.
For me, a very bright spot was the deliver of two on-target policy speeches that begin to flesh out the Senator's position on key campaign issues. The first speech, given on April 23rd to the Chicago Council of Foreign Affairs, covered foreign policy. The second speech, given to the Detroit Economic Club, outlined Obama's plan for weaning America from its dependence on foreign oil. Rather than being incarnations and rehashes of his stump speech, these were genuinely well-expressed and mercifully original addresses that, for the first time, gave specifics on Obama's vision for America.
Those of us that read "The Audacity of Hope" were not particularly surprised, since the speeches represented a finer-tuned delivery of similar policy outlines presented in the book, but it was nice to hear them from the candidate himself.
The energy speech was particularly powerful, not so much because of what he said, but where. It is not easy to criticize the American automobile industry in Detroit. However, Obama's courage is doing just that earned him, if not a warm reception, more valuably, a respectful one -- a candidate not afraid to say to Detroit's face what he will certainly echo in other states soon.
Another piece of good news comes in a poll I just saw (but can't find the link back to!) that Obama has the largest margins of any Democratic candidate over the Republican contenders.
All in all, its been an interesting few weeks for Barack Obama. But it goes to show that being a rock-star doesn't exempt you from the rather human travails of the American political system.