Obama will struggle to win as the real American. He has to do it on his terms
Jonathan Freedland
The Guardian
With startling chutzpah, Republicans are again casting the opponent as out of touch. Democrats shouldn't play the game
The funny hat - usually stars and stripes, often involving glitter - is one tradition of the American political convention that has not faded. Plenty are on display here at the Democrats' gathering, but one in particular caught my eye. It was studded with badges from previous campaigns: there, frozen in time, were the smiling, hopeful faces of a succession of Democratic nominees for president, all the way back to 1968. Trouble is, with only two exceptions, every one of those men failed to reach the White House: Kerry, Gore, Dukakis, Mondale, McGovern, Humphrey - the woman's hat was a roll-call of losers. She might as well have worn a giant L on her head.
The current worry of many Democrats, who once thought Denver would be a celebration en route to a coronation, is that Barack Obama could be about to join that uncelebrated company. Polls show the race with John McCain locked in a dead heat, Obama's lead eroded to zero. The question delegates and bigwigs are asking each other in the hotel lobbies and on the shuttle buses is: "Why aren't we ahead?"
They all know the landscape has rarely looked more favourable to their party. A Republican president is the most consistently unpopular since records began. Nearly 80% of Americans say their country is heading in the wrong direction. The economy is tanking and US soldiers are still dying in an unpopular war. As the California strategist Bob Mulholland told me, straining to be heard over the convention house band: "If George W Bush was seeking re-election, we'd be 20 points ahead."
But he's not. Nor is McCain an incumbent vice-president tarred by the record of the outgoing administration. Instead, he can pose as a maverick who more than once has challenged Bush.
(Continued here.)
The Guardian
With startling chutzpah, Republicans are again casting the opponent as out of touch. Democrats shouldn't play the game
The funny hat - usually stars and stripes, often involving glitter - is one tradition of the American political convention that has not faded. Plenty are on display here at the Democrats' gathering, but one in particular caught my eye. It was studded with badges from previous campaigns: there, frozen in time, were the smiling, hopeful faces of a succession of Democratic nominees for president, all the way back to 1968. Trouble is, with only two exceptions, every one of those men failed to reach the White House: Kerry, Gore, Dukakis, Mondale, McGovern, Humphrey - the woman's hat was a roll-call of losers. She might as well have worn a giant L on her head.
The current worry of many Democrats, who once thought Denver would be a celebration en route to a coronation, is that Barack Obama could be about to join that uncelebrated company. Polls show the race with John McCain locked in a dead heat, Obama's lead eroded to zero. The question delegates and bigwigs are asking each other in the hotel lobbies and on the shuttle buses is: "Why aren't we ahead?"
They all know the landscape has rarely looked more favourable to their party. A Republican president is the most consistently unpopular since records began. Nearly 80% of Americans say their country is heading in the wrong direction. The economy is tanking and US soldiers are still dying in an unpopular war. As the California strategist Bob Mulholland told me, straining to be heard over the convention house band: "If George W Bush was seeking re-election, we'd be 20 points ahead."
But he's not. Nor is McCain an incumbent vice-president tarred by the record of the outgoing administration. Instead, he can pose as a maverick who more than once has challenged Bush.
(Continued here.)
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