There is a very real danger of any campaign - and particularly one that
will have stretched for two years by the time it reaches its natural
end - losing its identity.  The demands a candidate faces to give in to
unreasonable demands by inches yields yard after yard until a complete
about-face has been executed and the "flip-flop" charge gets levied. 
So I have to say that I'm encouraged by Barack Obama's ability to turn
the news cycle away from the  ill advised "tax-holiday" on gasoline.



It shows the great inner strength of the candidate - the man - who
would be President.  Conventional wisdom holds that the worst thing a
candidate can do is refuse to give voters what they want - and they 
always want to have lower taxes.  If speaking truth to power is a
virtue, and power in a democracy lies in the hands of the people; then
Barack Obama has shown that he is willing to speak truth to power and
voters are responding to it.



This is the problem with all of the advice Obama is getting from
pundits - they all want Obama to be something other than what he is. 
Or, more to the point, they want him to do what he has already done,
but to do it in a way that demolishes his opponents.  Obama may be
susceptible to Clinton's charge that he can't "close the deal", but he
cannot be accused of trying to destroy Hillary Clinton or her career. 
Honestly, I can't say the same of her (but that's a separate post).



Take, for example,  Leon Fink's analysis of the "working class".  He says that Obama can win the Archie Bunkers of the world by:  

Such a speech might clear the air for wavering Democrats.
Obama could repackage his commitments on jobs, taxes, Social Security,
Immigration and trade union rights. On health care, he should make
clear that if his initial proposal does not bring about effective
universal coverage, he will move quickly to remedy any deficiency.
Finally, he needs to tie his consistent opposition to the Iraq war to
the inequality of sacrifice in this country, an inequality that stacks
the children of workers into graves and hospital beds.

Ahem.  Take a look: 

The costs of war are greatest for the troops and those who love them, but we know that war has other costs as well. Yesterday, I addressed some of these other costs in a speech on the strategic consequences of the Iraq war. I spoke about how this war has diverted us from fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and from addressing the other challenges of the 21st Century: violent extremism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.

And today, I want to talk about another cost of this war - the toll it has taken on our economy. Because at a time when we're on the brink of recession - when neighborhoods have For Sale signs outside every home, and working families are struggling to keep up with rising costs - ordinary Americans are paying a price for this war.

When you're spending over $50 to fill up your car because the price of oil is four times what it was before Iraq, you're paying a price for this war.

Obama doesn't need to morph into all things for all people - doing so would only underscore the insincerity of those efforts.  He simply needs to get his stride back - to get angry and fill his heart with the love of what America could be if only those who lead us would look after America's best interests instead of personal profits, both financial and political.  He needs to return the campaign to his most fertile grounds with a clear statement of "This, I believe..."

Americans are desperate - despite the "non-recession" we are skidding through, there are plenty of people who are suffering.  They aren't afraid to work and they aren't afraid of tough times - they are afraid their sacrifices will go unnoticed.  They are afraid that all of their back-breaking labor will simply go to pad another multi-billionaire's next luxury retreat rather than their own kid's school.

Obama has moved from a rather unimportant second-rate candidate for US Senate to the front-runner in the Democratic primary for the US Presidency.  He has done it his way - by being himself and talking directly from his heart.  Rev. Wright may have pulled him off of that slightly.  But policy details won't win this election.  One of the most successful Democrats of the twentieth century used to say that elections are won by a vision of the future, not an explanation of the past.

That was Bill Clinton.  So let Barack Obama show that he listened.