Wow, I just youtubed the South Dakota statements by Obama today responding to the Repubs.  And it reminded me of Obama's painful spring.

As many pundits had mentioned, he was on the defensive for much of the period (esp. between Penn and NC/Indiana).  And I also sensed a lower energy malaise also and now I realize why.  While some people complain Obama's camp and Obamabot bloggers may have (fairly or unfairly) been pointing out Clinton's weaknesses, I think that most reasonable folks admit that Obama himself avoided the heavy hitting.

Unlike Clinton, Obama realized (of course he had a nice comfy lead) that what comes out of the candidate's mouth does carry much more weight than the words of his/her minions.  As such he refused to hammer a fellow Democrat on her personal issues even as he was being buffeted by his own.  That meant he couldn't pivot away from his own problems which made his defensiveness seem listless and weak.

Like he said in some town hall, he wouldn't be so nice with the Republicans (if/when he became the nominee).

And now that he has something to pivot into, its nice to see him slamming and punching hard again!